Vail trying to lure Tahoe tourists

STATELINE - With spring break right around the corner, Vail Resorts is enticing Bay Area residents to come and play in Colorado's back yard by offering luring ski packages, instead of hitting the slopes in Lake Tahoe.

"We know that Colorado is coming after us this year," said Terry LeBan, executive director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority.

Vail Resorts is promoting a $200, round trip airfare in conjunction with American Airlines. Complementing the ticket, hotels in Colorado are offering ski packages. To get those spring skiers, the resort is offering a $408 package which includes airfare and three nights lodging in a Vail condominium.

In its second year targeting the Bay Area, Vail Resorts has dotted freeways with billboard promotions, newspapers with advertisements, as well as placing ads on the Internet and radio.

Despite the competition, Tahoe ski resorts have not seen a decline in business.

"Overall it's not impacting us at all," said Ben McLeod, public relations supervisor for Sierra at Tahoe. "The majority of our visitors are day skiers and we also feed off of Lake Tahoe's destination visitors also."