Has it not! And what we are seeing now is an exciting rush to high tech, using bar codes and scanners, magnetic stripes, integrated microchips, radio relays and laser beams. The technology is catching ticket cheats, delivering messages to skiers, accumulating mountains of database marketing data, automatically debiting customers, rewarding frequent skiers—and incidentally performing the functions of the traditional low-tech paper ticket.
How are these systems working? We focused on six new systems installed at six U.S. areas which installed new systems this past year and asked an executive at each to give a brief rundown for our readership—write a review. These systems range from a new, computer-based ticketing system installed at Red River, New Mexico, with no pretensions to access control, on through to a system that appears to be ticketing, marketing and accounting departments all rolled into one packet of electronic wizardry. Readers should also remember that five of the six systems described were previously untested in the field, and a lot of “debugging” was assumed.
There are other systems; we cannot cover them all here. We chose to give the readership a broad sampling. SAM’s editorial columns will be exploring these technologies further.
Before Breckenridge Ski Resort developed its own Automated Ticket and Lift Access System (ATLAS), it had experimented with several systems provided by outside contractors, but none was sophisticated enough to meet the area’s needs. Breckenridge’s Management Information System (MIS) department took on the task, then, of creating from scratch a fully integrated system that would provide automated ticket production, scanning, data retrieval and lift access functions.
MIS personnel—principally Steve Walker and Jordan Redner—created the software that is the “brain” of ATLAS. The system’s “brawn”—computers, laser-beam scanning units, VDT terminals, etc.—was purchased from outside contractors. The system was tested last summer on its summer lift and slide operations and performed admirably.
ATLAS was fully functional when the resort opened for skiing in early November, and has since been providing senior management with daily business reports that include skier number totals plus breakdowns of ski pass usage by type, source/origin, price, date purchased, etc.
All tickets are barcoded, including those sold offsite. Laser-beam scanners read the codes, transmit data to a host computer by radio signals that are relayed, virtually instantaneously, by a radio relay unit. For this first year, access control was employed by checkers at the four quad chairlifts which provide entry to the rest of the skiing. Next season, Breckenridge will be scanning on all lifts.
For control purposes, the system can instantly create a “hot pass” status for any individual ticket or pass—deadbeats, employees, ski safety violators, etc. When the holder of such a pass attempts to pass through a lift maze, the system alarms and appropriate action is taken.
On the positive side, ATLAS makes many “user-friendly” purchasing options possible. This season, for example, the resort introduced its Breck Express Pass, which provided users with a combination of convenience, economy and reward. Guests purchase the picture-ID pass for a one-time fee of $10. When they ski Breckenridge, pass holders bypass ticket windows and go directly to lift mazes, where their Breck Express Pass is scanned by an attendant. The system automatically deducts a $29 fee from the guest’s credit card account and rewards frequent skiers generously—every seventh day of Breck Express Pass skiing is free.
“ATLAS is truly the next generation of ski industry marketing and ticket processing technology,” says Pete Gutman, president and CEO. “It provides us with vast amounts of invaluable data, while at the same time enabling us to create a host of innovative passes and programs that directly benefit our guests,” he added.
Breckenridge is planning to market ATLAS to other potential users.
