Summer is over (Engl.)

Summer is over, the days are getting shorter and we are using the heating instead of the AC. So we were wondering, as we are skiers, how can ski resorts use new media formats, espacially in the internet.

The web-sites of the ski resorts improved continously and offer various information about their slopes, ticket prices, weather updates or snow heights.

But there are still lots of functions and services waiting to be implemented. Those services could be benefical for the users and the ski resorts. To get started we could have a look at other comparable areas like airlines, hotels, last-minute travelling, ferry. They use platforms to offer spare tickets to achieve a better capacity utilization. For users the process is more transparent since they can compare offers.

Flexible Pricing of lift tickets

Ski resorts can use flexible pricing systems. They can offer early booking discounts and receive a early cash-flow starting in automn. On the other hand, they can offer discounts during the week or with bad weather conditions.

In the US, Liftopia (www.liftopia.com) offers a platform, where ski resorts can sell their tickets in advance or short-term and other services. The number of US and Candadian resorts registered on the platform is growing as well as the users ordering tickets over the platform. This is crucial for the sucess of the platform and the participation of the resort.

For Europe, we are still waiting to see more resorts using the platforms like Liftopia.