BY MJ LEGAULT, EVP of Growth Strategies, MMGY Global
GLOBAL TRENDS IN SUMMER OPS An expert look at what summer travelers want and what’s working at mountain destinations worldwide.
A SHIFT IN TRAVELER PREFERENCES
Justin Downes, with fellow panelists Janelle Visser and Henrik Volpert and moderator MJ Legault (left), addresses travel trends in China and Japan at the 2025 SAM Summer Ops Camp. passion-based travel. “What I mean by that is people used to say, ‘I want to go here; I’m going to book my flights, and then I’m going to figure out what to do when I get there.’ And now, the young- er generations are saying, ‘I really love doing this thing. Where can I do it?’” Millennial and Gen Z travelers, par- ticularly affluent younger travelers, are
As traveler expectations evolve— shaped by climate realities, new tech- nologies, and the desire for deeper, more meaningful experiences—the summer season has become, globally, one of the most exciting playgrounds for innovation in mountain tourism. We all know why summer matters— it helps diversify revenue, maximize lift and lodge assets, and support year‑round staffing for better retention. Here we explore what’s changing and what’s next, and look at how summer operations trends differ in various parts of the world. This article draws on a panel from the 2025 SAM Summer Ops Camp in Whis- tler, British Columbia, featuring: Henrik Volpert, CEO of Oberstdorf Kleinwalser- tal Mountains in Germany and Austria; Janelle Visser, managing editor of Arival Travel; and Justin Downes, president of Beijing’s Axis Leisure Management and operator of Hanazono Resort in Niseko, Japan.
Arival tracks all kinds of traveler trends through annual surveys to figure out where people are going, what they are spending money on, what they are not spending money on, how they are book- ing, and the answers to a variety of other questions. Over the last few years, said Visser, Arival’s global research shows a clear move from destination-based travel to
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