 Poster: A snowHead
|
Copied from Travel Mole by Phil Davies 18/12/07
Specialist ski travel agency Ski Solutions has acquired internet ski broker ifyouski.com from Online Travel Corporation (OTC) for an undisclosed sum.
The ifyouski.com brand will be retained and streamlined in the coming months, with "substantial new investment" being made in promotional programmes.
Ski Solutions, which already has a significant web presence as skisolutions.com, will continue to retain its own identity as both an online distributor and a telephone-based one.
It will also continue to build on its reputation as a leading provider of tailor-made independent ski holidays to luxury properties in top resorts.
Ski Solutions director Lizzie Norton said: "At a stroke, this landmark purchase vastly increases the presence of the Ski Solutions group as a key ski holiday distributor.
"We have been involved with the ifyouski.com brand since its inception 10 years ago, providing fulfilment services for the site. This exciting acquisition now gives us complete control over all aspects of the site and allows us to develop the online product for ifyouski's rapidly expanding customer base.
"Ifyouski.com has a well-earned reputation as both an authoritative information provider and a user-friendly online ski holiday site, offering a choice of vacations provide by a remarkably extensive range of tour operators, from the biggest in the business to, crucially, many of the small specialist operators not often featured by other brokers."
"We have always had a strong belief in the qualities of the ifyouski.com brand and we are delighted to have the opportunity to strengthen and expand this prestigious product."
by Phil Davies
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
I used to surf ifyouski, but the site was tooooo slow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
|
Seem to remember booking a holiday through Ski Solutions once.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Frosty the Snowman, I never found it a slow site, and still do go to it pretty often.
I won a pair of skis (Atomic c9 Puls) in one of their competitions about 3 years ago.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
SKi Solutions have found and sorted at least 3 group chalet holidays for me (these I find the worse to organise and it always seems to end up being me  ) I've always found them really helpful. I've rung them and they then emails all the options.
They sorted our Christmas break to Val D next week too. Even when the Inghams site said nothing doing, Ski Solutions found the hotel and holiday we wanted just flying from a different airport which is fine. No complaints.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
I have used Ski Solutions twice (though not recently). They were first class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I wonder if jwaz was included in the sale?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
boredsurfin, "undisclosed sum" normally means "not a lot" in my experience - and, as it was sold ultimately by a public company, the detail will be disclosed somewhere if anyone can be ars*d to go looking for it. I doubt OTC (which is, in turn, owned by Lastminute Plc) would let it go if it was generating significant cash and, surely, this is an odd time of year to be selling it. It's a useful website in terms of web presence, with a page rank of 6 on Google (for example Ski Club ranks 5, Snow+Rock ranks 5, Iglu.com ranks 5, Snowheads ranks 5). So, as far as Google is concerned, it's a more important site than most others and probably attracts heaps more traffic. Over the last few years the Lastminute brand has kind of usurped Ifyouski so this is no surprise (like at the ski show). Also wonder what happened to 1ski.com which was sister site to Ifyou. As far as I know Dive and Golf were not in the same league as Ski.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
theres money to be made in 'watch paint dry' websites
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| It's a useful website in terms of web presence, with a page rank of 6 on Google |
Certainly useful, as you say, though Page Rank is not directly related to traffic.
Be interesting to see what Ski Solutions can do with the site - ifyouski (in terms of traffic) has been in decline for a few years and Ski Solutions traffic levels are even less impressive. Ifyouski (and Snowheads and j2ski for that matter) appear to get much more traffic than Ski Solutions.
As they evidently rely on their good reputation for much of their business, it remains to be seen what they can do with an Internet portal.
And if anyone can dig up a figure we can see what sort of return they're expecting... 
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
J2Dave, Once again I find myself agreeing with Bode Swiller on this, if there was a value it would have been announced rather than 'an undisclosed sum' the timing is perhaps of more interest, sell in the ski season when there is traffic rather than in the summer when there is much less.
One assumes that traffic volume dropped noticeably once JWAZ was finally ended 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Personally I'm amazed and disappointed that Jef Wickes hasn't acquired Ski Solutions and ifyouski outright.
It's clearly time for JWAZ to break away and float on the stock market.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
