01cookjk Wrote:
What about Glencoe's Midweek Pass @ £25?
Glencoe's standard ticket price is £32, the £25 is not just mid-week but off peak and it has never applied during holiday periods. This is discriminatory pricing - the ski area has a finite capacity that was over stretched at peak times and under utilised outwith, it has clearly had the desired effect in spreading the demand out so the overall capacity through the season is better utilised.
However the more general point is that Glencoe is not a public sector entity. It's not thus in a position of can not fail, it is not in a position where it can charge less than a commercially sustainable price and continue in business indefinitely.
CairnGorm Mountain is now immune to financial gravity because the public purse stands behind the operating company, being in that position and slashing prices to undercut all 4 fully commercial operators full ticket price when as a public sector body you can not fail is an abuse of HIE's position and an example of predatory pricing against the interests of the other four snowsports areas.
This is another example of why HIE's ownership of the CairnGorm estate is problematic. What we have here is a significant and unavoidable conflict of interest.
It would serve everyone better if the Cairngorm Estate was transferred to a different public body so there would be greater transparency and a fundamentally more equatable, fair and open relationship between HIE and the four snow sports areas in it's patch.