Mass. travel office unveils text-messaging program that alerts skiers with smartphones to special deals

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

In collaboration with many of the state’s ski areas, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism said it has just launched a program that enables the ski areas to promote themselves to smartphone users.

Consumers who visit www.massvacation.com/winterfun and then click on “Hit the Slopes” can sign up for a service that will send them text-messages about special deals and discounts, said the travel office, known as MOTT. (Standard text messaging fees will apply, MOTT said).

The program is launching just before the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, typically a popular time for ski areas.

In a statement, MOTT executive director Betsy Wall said, “This collaboration provides an opportunity for us to support the ski season in Massachusetts and to remind people that there’s plenty of snow on our ski mountains.”