Response to cost of fuel question by Jim Smith

The High Cost of Fuel

Response to a Blog Question

By Jim Smith

With the high cost of fuel and some balloonists already expressing that they will not attend the rally this year because of the cost, could the high cost of fuel be harmful to our sport?

Harmful ? In the aspect that it will limit our enjoyment of the sport, it sure is!

Limit Balloon participation at events? Likely!

Have a negative effect on what events offer in return for your participation? Definitely

!

As an organizer, participant of rallies as well as a commercial ride operator I experience the pain of increasing costs from all sides.

Sure we would all like more money for participating in rallies but the facts are that rallies are feeling the crunch just like us. Sponsors are dropping out, or, cutting back on their participation. New sponsors are ever so more difficult to find, and everyone is leaning more to 'show me the return' for the bucks rather than an 'advertising opportunity'.

Events work hard to contain costs in order to survive. Don't be surprised to see a reduction rather than an increase in the 'perks'. With a flat or limited budget, events will be forced to reduce the number of balloons, perks, or even the number of event days.

Look at the total package provided by events in your evaluation. 2 or more nights lodging, meals, entertainment and provided propane should all be considered in the 'perks' provided by events. Sure it’s a great incentive to see an event offer more show up money, but when viewed within the big picture the increase isn’t all that great. Often the trade off for increased show up money is ‘find your own room’. Taking advantage of preferred rates offered through the event, or finding the best rate available is a way to hold costs down. The responsibility for controlling costs is now yours. Fuel cost hit events as hard as us. Last year we paid $1.65 per gallon for Propane. This year we're looking at $2.50 or more. It doesn't take a calculator to see that propane costs now match or even exceed the show up costs for an event. The alternatives available to events aren’t pleasant for the sport of ballooning.

So how do rallies react? Throw in the towel, reduce number of participants, encourage more local participation, reduce event days, or ‘…’? So far this year I have seen examples of each. Here in the Northwest we are lucky to have a number of quality events within a day's driving distance. Our continued support of these events will do a lot to insure their survival in these tough economic times.