New Expo Targeting Texans For Skiing and Adventure Sports Set To Launch In Dallas
Mountain Time Enterprises LLC, released details of the inaugural MOUNTAIN TIME Expo & Forum to run October 19-21, 2018 in Texas. Dallas Market Hall will host the Mountain Time Expo, a 3-day equipment sale, vacation planning resource, and idea generator for the 1.2 million+ Texans who actively participate in skiing, snowboarding and other mountain sports. Though the Mountain Time name mirrors prevailing trends among resorts in its deliberate appeal to year-round mountain sports and travel, organizers admit the timing will be especially beneficial to winter sports marketers, providing a long-missing venue to meet face-to-face with their lucrative base of customers in Texas just ahead of the ski and snowboard season.
The exhibitor list already includes a who's-who of mountain resorts, destinations, sports gear, apparel, transportation & travel vendors, and properties. While exhibit space is still available within the Expo, organizers say sponsorships are sold-out for Friday's Mountain Time Forum immediately preceding the Expo at Hilton Garden Inn nearby. Representatives from Vail Resorts, Aspen Skiing Co, Telluride, Big Sky, Crested Butte, Ikon Pass/Alterra Mountain Resorts, Purgatory, Monarch, Ski New Mexico, Club Med, and others have signed-up as sponsors to spend the day with Texas travel-trade and media professionals and speak at the Forum. "Acceptance has been phenomenal," says Julien DuPont, driving force behind both events. "Marketers haven't had anything like this in over a decade even though Texas is the 3rd largest market in the nation in numbers of active skiers and snowboarders."
DuPont says the Expo is taking no chances regarding attendance. "We launch a massive advertising campaign in September targeting Texans who meet our exhibitors' customer profile." To that end, his team has assembled a roster of strategic partners with their own customer-base matching the target profile. Notably, Brad Douglas, owner of Doug & Lynda's Ski Shop, Climate, and CD Ski & Sports, with outlets spanning the state, has signed-on as the winter sports retail partner. Doug & Lynda's, will host a 3-day sale at the Expo, bringing 7200 sq. ft of gear and apparel from Rossignol, K2, Spyder, Burton, Salomon, Oakley, Giro, Obermeyer, Bogner/Fire & Ice, and other top brands to be sold directly to attendees.
As a bonus, the Expo is now the sole Texas stop on the 2018/19 premiere tour of Volkswagen presents Warren Miller Entertainment's "Face of Winter", the 69th installment in the iconic film series, with daily screenings included in the entrance fee. Other Expo partners include Ninja Nation, led by Brian Arnold of American Ninja Warrior fame, providing a ninja-style obstacle course with 12-ft "warped wall", Summit Climbing and HighPoint Expeditions hosting a rock-climbing pavilion, and Revolver Brewing, hosting a Beer Garden with complimentary tastings.
Organizers have also partnered with Dallas's D Magazine, one of the top city magazines in the country, to produce a special Mountain Time travel section to hit newsstands just ahead of the event, providing additional exposure and reduced ad rates for Expo exhibitors.
