Today’s hi-speed technical world is driven by one topic – up-to-date information - and Scottish skiing is no different. Customers want to know what to expect when they arrive and, more significantly, they want that information there and then, and often prior to leaving home.
CairnGorm Mountain was among the first to use BBC’s Ceefax service to provide information that was, and still is, updated from the hill on a daily basis and this service will be operating again this year just as it has done for many seasons. Additionally, both Moray Firth Radio and Spey Sound Radio (96.6FM) will again provide their morning updates on skiing conditions each day of the week, a service that is much appreciated by skiers already based in the local area.
However, because they expect, and get, a regular and accurate flow of information in their daily lives, people accustomed to high speed communications are no longer content to be forced to go hunting for ski reports in newspapers, tuning into radio stations or scouring Ceefax. They expect information to be provided directly to them, using a variety of media, and fulfilling that expectation is now very much part of the marketing strategy at CairnGorm Mountain.
Over the summer months, CairnGorm Mountain has been fine-tuning its existing communications media, such as the re-vamped web site (www.cairngormmountain.com), and introducing new systems, like the electronic road signs. But all have one primary objective – that of ensuring CairnGorm’s customers know what to expect long before they arrive on site at the Base Station at Coire Cas.
CairnGorm Mountain’s web site has been available for several years as an information source albeit that getting information from the old site on local snow conditions was not as simple as it might have been. That has all changed and the maxim of “Two clicks and you’re there” now applies to those visiting the new site to find out what is available and what is actually running. With CairnGorm Mountain now firmly established as much more than a snowsports destination, the revamped website has already been receiving as many as 3,000 hits per day during the summer months. Skiers and boarders are expected to be much more IT literate and certainly much more demanding for the sort of factual information that can also be very changeable. Even the early one-day fall of snow at the end of September triggered off a flurry of activity on the website and confirmed once more that the demand for information is high among skiers and boarders keen to get going again.
More locally, electronic signs have been installed at two spots on the Glen More ski road – one on the left-hand side at Inverdruie, close to Ski Road Skis, and the other close to the snow gates at Glen More. These are information boards, used in the same way as public notice boards and provide up to date information on conditions via brief messages that can be altered and updated directly from Visitor Information services at Coire Cas. Sorry – but they can’t be used for that very special “Happy Birthday” message but the information that they display might just help would-be skiers and snowboarders to have a very special birthday on the mountain by directing them to the best areas.
Visitors last year will have noticed the numerous large information screens dotted around the Day Lodge, Base Station and Ptarmigan. The CIS (pronounced “kiss”) screens as they are known – CIS stands for Cairngorm Information System - look like large television sets and actually display what looks remarkably like advertising from time to time. But this is a serious case of “CIS and Tell” for their primary function is to show a range of information such as what runs are open and what conditions are like across the mountain. “All very interesting” you might be thinking, “But we’re already on site when we receive that kind of information.”
That has been recognised fully and has been part of the thinking behind widening the scope of the system into the valley. For a trial period this winter, a “CIS and Tell” screen is being placed in the window of Aviemore Photographic – with others planned depending on the success of the trial and the introduction of broadband into Aviemore.
Said Tania Adams, CairnGorm Mountain’s Marketing Manager:
“Ideally, to provide the best possible information for potential customers, we would like to have CIS screens in several of the villages that serve the ski area but we have to take things gradually. CIS works within a very complex system but hopefully, after this year, we can roll it out across much of Badenoch and Strathspey and even extend it into individual hotels.”
Getting information directly to people before they leave home is another major marketing activity and potential visitors can now register, via the company’s web site, to receive e-mails advising them of any change in snow conditions as it happens. The same system also allows notification of fresh snowfalls and, to keep everyone up to date, regular electronic newsletters now form part of the service to CairnGorm customers.
Even more personal is the use of Text Messaging with information on snow conditions being transmitted directly to individual mobile phones. Up-to-the-minute messages, such as “New snow @ CGorm” or “Frsh fll @ Whte Ldy” should have text freaks, who are also boarders and skiers, rushing along the A9 to enjoy the latest snowfalls and the best of snow sports. Changed days indeed!
Commented Tania Adams:
“At CairnGorm Mountain, we have been trying to provide everyone with a quality experience and that experience should start even before they set off. A modern information service that uses technology must become part of that service to our customers and we are continually looking at new ways of keeping people informed of what’s on offer at CairnGorm.”
“The days of people packing their skis and heading off hoping for the best are long gone and we are delighted to be offering a modern information service to our customers this year. Having said that, we are never complacent and, even now, are looking at ways of harnessing even newer technology to provide the very best service possible.”
One thing is for sure – at CairnGorm Mountain, it won’t be a case of wait and see but more of a case of switching on to new technology.
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