The Beginner Experience—Don’t Lose Focus
NSAA’s research over the last few years has told us that a renewed focus on the beginner experience is one of the most, if not the most, important priorities for the winter resort industry today and for the foreseeable future. Keeping this effort a high priority will be a challenge. It is human nature to think that once a system is refined, it will work well indefinitely. But the task of welcoming new participants will require constant renewal. Improving and perfecting the entry experience will be a proverbial work in progress. This process has no end.
While the task is daunting, we have much more information today that tells us what our customers want and how they feel about their first time. Research done this past year by RRC and NSAA in cooperation with eight resort partners gives a much better understanding of what works and what does not work. We selected the initial eight test sites in part for their focus on beginner programs and updated beginner facilities, including reorganized rental shops, improved beginner terrain and uphill transportation systems. A detailed presentation on this research will take place at the NSAA annual meeting in San Diego on May 29 through June 1. But preliminary results provide some very useful information.
- About half of the respondent sample was skiing or snowboarding for the first time (called “never-evers”). Twenty-nine percent had skied or boarded before, but were returning to the mountains (called “revivals”), and 17 percent had skied or boarded before, but were trying out different equipment (called “crossovers”). The high proportion of revival skiers and riders is significant because bringing these lapsed participants back into the sport has been a focus for many resorts. The study results show some encouraging success.
**What are the motivating forces that cause people to try skiing and snowboarding?**
- The most important factors influencing respondents to try skiing/snowboarding are the desire to try a new sport or experience and the challenge and excitement of doing so. This finding provides insight into the personality of people who come out to learn skiing and snowboarding. Also quite important are the social aspects of the sport, the ability to share the experience with someone close. For younger, single participants, spending time with friends is important. Older participants with families value spending time with their clans.
- Notably, a special offer or deal, something read or seen on television, meeting new friends/acquaintances, and going with a formal group or club were generally not important motivations for beginners.
**Pre-arrival information and how we get it to the new customer is critical.**
- Similar to anyone trying a new experience, becoming educated about what to expect ahead of time is important to skiers and riders. Three-quarters said that they talked to friends to find out what skiing/riding would be like, and another 30 percent said they talked to family. Clearly, word of mouth is the greatest factor in learning about skiing and snowboarding. The only other information source of significance was the resort website, with 47 percent responding that they used it to learn what snowsports would be like before arriving at the resort.
- Each of the test sites have created relatively comprehensive web pages dedicated to the introduction of skiing/snowboarding to new entrants, with information about what to expect, what to wear, what to bring, where to go, when to arrive, and other information. The study indicates that these web pages receive active use and are important in communicating with new entrants.
**And yes, the rental shop is still one of the critical elements in the first-time experience.**
- Ninety-six percent of beginners said they rented their equipment, and of those, 96 percent rented at the resort. Renting equipment is the most universal experience for beginners. This means that the most effective way to reach the broadest segment of beginners is to intercept them in the rental shop. Renting equipment is typically the first thing a beginner does to start the day, and that further underscores the importance of a positive experience in the rental shop.
- Helpfulness of the rental shop staff and quality/condition of the equipment were the two top-rated aspects of the rental experience. This underscores the importance of keeping rental equipment properly tuned and waxed.
- Respondents were most dissatisfied with the length of time the rental process took, the time spent fitting the equipment properly, and the level of crowding in the rental shop. These three factors spotlight the need to develop strategies for crowded times in the rental shop, with the goal of processing people more quickly and efficiently, though at the same time giving adequate attention to getting equipment that is appropriate and fits properly, particularly the boots. (Ed. note: for an example of efficient crowd handling, see “Total Integration,” page 58.)
**The lesson is often better than the overall on-hill experience.**
- Of those who took lessons, the split between skiers and snowboarders was about even—54 percent snowboarded and 46 percent skied.
- The average group size was 9.1 students. Group size and the compatibility of students within a group are key factors in determining satisfaction levels. Satisfaction with many aspects of the lesson declines consistently and substantially with group sizes of eight or larger.
- Respondents were generally quite satisfied with their lesson overall, most substantially with their instructors. Clearly, the selection and training of instructors has paid dividends with satisfied students.
- Least satisfying were aspects of crowding in the beginner area, including the length of the lift lines and the level of crowding on the learning slopes. Those starting out in skiing and snowboarding require a larger than usual amount of space, or “comfort zone,” to feel at ease in the learning environment. Strategies to provide such space are important to the learning atmosphere. (Ed. note: For a few ideas, see “Construction Site” report on Mount Sunapee, page 65.)
Improved success with entry-level participants is key to our future, so we must continually improve our conversion rate. It is not glamorous work but it is necessary work. It requires continued focus and continued effort, but consider the alternative.
A Voyeuristic Eye for Figures
*by David Rowan*
Nowadays, everyone is having epiphanies, and I want to report I recently had one myself. “Why,” I asked myself in a truly epiphanic moment, “do we keep reporting in *SAM*, and breathlessly on our website, on the quarterly and annual reports of conglomerates like Vail Resorts, Intrawest, Booth Creek Holdings and American Skiing Co.?” The reportage dutifully highlights such riveting news as the restructuring of senior debt, a decrease in the EBITDA of resort operations and a drop in depreciation and amortization because of goodwill offsets.
Hey, you know something, it sorta sounds good. But is it relevant to the people reading it, the vast majority of whom are not investors in those companies? Is it enlightening information that affords insights into one’s own operation?
Or is it, perhaps, an opportunity for voyeurism—a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the awesome debt problems of ASC that makes your operation look like a model of fiscal conservatism? Truth is, fluctuations in the conglomerates’ stock prices are mostly of interest and concern to institutions that own shares and to senior executives whose pay is tied to stock options.
That’s all very well, you say, and so what? Well, our preoccupation with the financials of these conglomerates indirectly affects how we think about the rest of the industry. It used to be that when a ski area enjoyed a fairly good season, the old expansion plans were dusted off and RFPs sent off to the suppliers for the quad that had so long been a gleam in the eye. For decades, ski areas invested in the future and aggressively marketed for growth. But now, following the model for publicly traded companies, decisions reflect stock price and earnings-per-share. And, since ski areas rarely enjoy the sexy earnings performance that Wall Street rewards, the investment in growth just isn’t there—or if it is, it’s funneled into real estate, and/or into short-term strategies for parting the skier from his money. (Yes, we’re triumphantly increasing revenue-per-skier, but we’re niggling the same customer for this lolly.)
So it is that, in the aftermath of a pretty damn good season, we are looking at a construction picture that falls far short of shock and awe. A pity. Are we, I wonder, being spooked by such headlines as “Vail Resorts Second Quarter Net Decreases 22.6%?” That would be a shame, because this news is irrelevant to every other resort in America.
Ultimately, the epiphany that started this piece is really that we should all stop allowing our fortunes to be defined (and limited!) by Wall Street. We’ve had a terrific year and we should build on it. We should pay heed to what Chris Brink says in his analysis on page 49 about our collective failure to market for growth, and recall the phenomenal performance of those who have managed wisely: Mountain High, Mount Sunapee, Wachusett, Spirit Mountain—to name a few who seized opportunity and made the most of it by being aggressive.
