Skift Take
Ski resorts are uniquely positioned in the debate of tech versus nature, having to deliver a top experience to guests while also giving them the space to enjoy the outdoors as they choose. Creating products that seamlessly blend into either experience is the goal, at which Vail is largely succeeding.
Editor’s Note: This interview is part of Skift's CEO interview series. This particular series is with hospitality CEOs talking about the Future of the Guest Experience and the evolving expectations and demands of hotel guests. Check out all the interviews as they come out here. Also, enjoy the previous series on the Future of Travel Booking, with online travel CEOs.
Ski resorts are swinging into their busiest season of the year with loyal season pass holders and first-time amateur skiers preparing for one or several trips to the mountains. No brand name is as well known as Vail when it comes to discussing lofty winter travel plans, putting the resort and hospitality company in a unique position to lead the industry in innovation and experience.
Vail Resorts has been quietly confronting major challenges in recent years from determining millennials' interest in ski as a sport to determining the role of technology during their guests' largely outdoor stays. Vail CEO Rob Katz has lead the group since February 2006, introducing its EpicMix ski app, appealing to a growing "Red Bull generation," and turning the season pass into its primary product.
Katz spoke with Skift recently about balancing guests' tech and leisure demands, fostering loyalty, and attracting a younger customer base.
Skift: What are the biggest challenges that you're facing in improving the guest experience?
Rob Katz: One of the unique pieces for us is how we integrate technology into the guest experience. We have a higher-end guest and our approach is to create this incredible guest experience that is on par with the best of the best in travel. We also provide an experience that is very nature-based. People are coming us to ski and recreate in the outdoors.
The two trends that we see and focus on is asking how we can provide an absolute luxury experience and, at the same time, have it be consistent with this kind of outdoor recreational experience. It needs to be authentic. One of the challenges we face is figuring what we can do, for instance, inside the hotel room to drive loyalty and increase satisfaction while also connecting guests to the out doors. The other is technology, which has provided numerous new options and opportunities to impact the guest experience.
The question for us is how create the guest experience that’s true to our high-end nature and works within an outdoor recreational experience. The other piece for us is tha
