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Time for a moment of collective clarity

I think it was my mother who said, "It's not very smart to keep doing the same thing over and over and think something different is going to happen.
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I think it was my mother who said, "It's not very smart to keep doing the same thing over and over and think something different is going to happen."

I remember thinking, "Well, that depends on whether you think you're going to get caught or not, doesn't it?" But since I'd been caught — not that I remember what it was I'd been caught at — it seemed a rather tepid and ill-timed comeback.

I didn't realize my mother was plagiarizing Albert Einstein, but I'm pretty certain she didn't realize it either. It's not like you need to be a theoretical physicist to grasp simple truths. Maybe you just need to be simple, or at least have a moment of clarity.

I think we may need a moment of collective clarity. The problem with seeking clarity is you have to step out of the dance you're doing, calm your mind and look at things differently, otherwise, you just keep seeing the same patterns you always see, doing the same things you always do, hoping something different is going to happen. Which we've just agreed is unlikely, according to both my mother and Einstein.

As an aside, Einstein said this amounted to insanity. My mother said it was just silly. Pick your own label.

So what is it that's unclear? Good question. I don't know about you, but I get an uneasy sense Whistler is caught in a whirlpool. We seem to be doing the same thing over and over again and not getting the different result we're hoping for.

What thing is that? Chasing growth.

The theory — seemingly sound — is that a rising tide lifts all ships, growth in tourist numbers and room nights means more business for everyone, a better bottom line, a more robust economy, happy business owners, well-paid staff. Pardon me while I pry my tongue out of cheek. The reality seems to be growth just means more people spending less money at businesses that seem to be disappearing faster than snow in the valley.

The recently concluded winter season was a record. At their annual general meeting, Tourism Whistler reported room nights grew by 18 per cent over the 2010-11 winter season. Last winter also saw the resort finally scratch its way back to total record numbers; 2011-12 visitor numbers were one per cent greater than the previous record year, 2000-01.

We shoulda been dancin' in the streets, not going to memorial services for late, great, shuttered businesses.

Before we get into a lot of back-patting on how our collective business strategy of "winning back the destination market" is paying off, let us take a humility moment. In the world of ski resort business, we hit the jackpot in the winter recently past. Strategy-schmategy, we had snow and the other guys didn't. We were skiing in December while our doppelgangers in Tahoe were still riding bikes on ski runs. We were cursing our snow removal people while resorts on Colorado's front range were making sno-cones for people to ski on. Ve vere schussing while the Europeans were wondering whether Greece was going to queer the whole EU experiment.

We shoulda kicked some serious ass last winter. Ullr smiled on us like we were the Chosen One while he farted on almost every other major ski area until some time in mid-January.

But our record number of room nights, our 18 per cent growth yielded dismal profitability for many in the lodging, restaurant and retail trades. The whipsaw effect was notably described by Michael Brisbois, general manager of The Keg restaurant and chair of the Whistler restaurant association. Michael didn't see any records broken at his business. As he put it, "I've got an owner to report to and they go, 'Oh! Record in Whistler and why are your numbers not a record?'"

The same dynamic played out at the MotherCorp, although that may have as much do with accounting legerdemain as anything else. Total revenue at the mountains was up by 9.2 per cent. More people and higher prices saw to that. EBITDA — earnings before all the stuff you can't possibly comprehend — increased by 12.5 per cent. Season passes and Edge Cards were up. Net earnings, before taxes and magic, were up.

Net earnings after taxes and magic — the ones you can spend — were down 33 per cent.

When you step back and start to think about this two things become clearer. It explains why many people hate math and even more hate accounting. And, it provides some insight into why we all feel exhausted. We're all working harder — delivering great service and creating awesome memories for more and more guests — for less. We're in a whirlpool and that direction we are being sucked is down.

So is this just a modified race to the bottom we're running? What are we going to do to change direction and start seeing profitability track these growing numbers?

Well, TW is pinning its hopes on the Art of Summer. They want to convince people Whistler is not just a great place to spend the day, it is a destination. I know there really should be a question mark at the end of that sentence.

To that end, they're targeting biking, golf and events to generate increased overnight visits. Their strategic advertising campaign will emphasize the quality of mountain biking, the affordability of golf and entice people with offers of a free third night if they stay two.

In other words, the strategy is geared towards bringing more people in to spend less money to help turn this thing around.

Let us pause for a moment of silence while we contemplate working harder for another season in order to profit less.

OK, time to admit I don't know what the answer is. But given Whistler's history — particularly its history of building too much too fast — I'm thinking the smart money isn't betting on a growth strategy as being the way to pull out of this death spiral. Debasing our offering and entrenching the idea we're a cheap place to spend a few halcyon summer days enjoying free concerts and street entertainment isn't going to return us to profitability. More people spending less money just makes Whistler crowded, not cool. And that's the case in either winter or summer.

Our third-rail seems to be the tacit understanding we're a smaller resort wearing bigger resort clothes. Is there no way to rightsize ourselves? Will we have to continue to chase econotourists with buy-one-get-one-free offers simply because we're so big we need more bodies, in much the same way vampires need more blood?

I watch what's happening in Greece and the EU and wonder who's going to blink first. Who's going to be the first to say this experiment hasn't succeeded and we have to try another road.

I wonder the same thing closer to home.