What is the Trade Exchange?
The Trade Exchange is a contracting trade show held over several days where ski product buyers meet one-on-one with ski service suppliers in a pre-scheduled appointment format.
 
When is the Trade Exchange?
2011 details coming early fall.
 
Who is a buyer?
Buyers consist of tour operators and wholesalers from all over the world. Approximately 50% of the buyers are domestic and 50% are international. To participate in the Trade Exchange as a buyer you must be a purchaser of a ski vacation component.
 
Who is a supplier?
To participate in the Trade Exchange as a supplier you must be a seller of a ski vacation component. This includes ski resorts, hotels, lodging properties, property management companies, tourism bureaus and organizations, car rental companies, ground transportation providers, ski rental companies, activity operators, travel insurance companies, as well as other sellers of mountain vacation products or services.

What is the format of the show?
The Trade Exchange format consists of the buyers sitting in booths and the suppliers rotating from appointment to appointment to meet with the buyers.
 
How do I participate in the Trade Exchange?
To participate in the Trade Exchange and obtain pre-scheduled appointments you must be registered and fully paid for the Trade Exchange prior to the registration deadline. Attendees who register after the registration deadline will not have pre-scheduled appointments but will have the opportunity to schedule their appointments during manual and open scheduling sessions if registration for the Trade Exchange is still open.  Early sign-up is strongly recommended as the Trade Exchange has been sold out the past several years.
 
BUYERS: Tour wholesaler and/or tour operator companies may request additional sets of appointments when sending multiple people to the event by submitting a request to azelinsky@mtntrvl.com.
 
SUPPLIERS: Each supplier company will receive one set of appointments. No exceptions.  A supplier company may have as many delegates from their company attend but will receive only one set of appointments.

How do other buyers or suppliers know that I am attending the show?
Each company participating will be required to complete a company profile when they register for the event. This profile will be posted in an online Trade Exchange directory which will be viewed by other participant companies.  The directory will also enable you to review the profiles of all participating companies for the purpose of selecting your appointment requests. Note: Only the lead contact from a company with multiple delegates will be able edit the company profile.

How does the appointment process work?
Profile review and appointment request selection:  all participating companies will submit a list of appointment requests. Using the online Trade Exchange directory you will be able to review and search the company profiles as well as submit your appointment request list.  Requests must be submitted by the appointment request submission deadline to be included in the pre-scheduling of appointments. Note: Only the lead contact from a company with multiple delegates will be able to submit the appointment requests for a company.
 
Scheduling Process: The scheduling will be done electronically based on 1) buyer requests, 2) perfect matches, and 3) supplier requests.

Please note: MTS requests that tour operators accept 10 supplier requests. Tour operators may decline to accept a supplier's request by notifying MTS prior to scheduling. MTS makes no guarantees regarding the number of appointments received. It is the responsibility of the attendees to market themselves to the companies with whom they would like to meet.

Appointment schedules: Approximately one week prior to the event, you can login to the Profiles & Appointments section and view the list of companies with whom you will be meeting.

What is "open scheduling" and how does it work?
Open scheduling refers to the block of time before the Trade Exchange in which attendees are given the opportunity to add appointments to their existing schedules. Essentially, open scheduling is a way for both buyers and suppliers to seek out companies they want to meet with but currently do not have appointments with. In addition, attendees can also reschedule or remove any existing appointments on their schedules.
 
During open scheduling, a 2-way appointment scheduling is implemented. The first half consists of the buyers going from booth to booth seeking supplier companies they want to meet with. The same thing occurs during the latter half but with roles reversed, i.e., the buyers are situated while suppliers go from booth to booth.