Danielle Mattice
The web sites that I chose to research in the tourism industry were ski resorts in BC. I chose to look at Sun Peaks Resort in Kamloops, Big White in Kelowna, and Silver Star in Vernon.
All of these web sites were Business to Consumer, most of these web sites are there to provide information and thus the content on these web sites were weather conditions, ski conditions, mountain/resort information, accommodation listings, contact numbers for reservations and rental and lift prices. Because all three of these mountains have activities during the summer and winter months, there were activities that were broken up for each season.
On the Sun Peaks web page, they were able to make money by providing advertising that was aimed at their target market. For the other two web sites, they provided a contact number where you could make a reservation and they are able to make money through their bookings.
The type of community that these resorts were was consumer. For the most part the site was there to inform consumers about the resort. Most people if making the next step to book a ski vacation would be to contact central reservations and book a holiday through the resort.
I found that there was some customization throughout these web sites; all of these sites have daily updated snow conditions and daily events. Other than that, I could not find any other customization.
The CRM tool that these web sites provided was through a newsletter that a person could sign up for. I signed up for Sun Peaks’ newsletter but never received anything back.
The competition that these resorts face is each other. I purposely chose resorts that were close geographically to find out what each has to offer and how their web sites compared. There are many different resorts in BC, but this area is located close to Vancouver and some key markets in Western Washington State.
There is no corporate governance on these web sites, a child would be able to log on to this web site, do some research, but never would be able to conduct any business. All of these sites are not e-business driven, there is no way to book online, a consumer would have to phone the central reservation number and book their holiday through the agents there. So, although a child could go on these web sites, they would not be able to book any packages unless they had a credit card.
The design of these websites was very good. Sun Peaks Resort had very good navigation bars on top of the page and was easy to identify. Silver Star’s page was very clean, with navigation bars on the right with activities coming on the left. There was very good graphics and I liked this page the best out of all three sites. Big White’s page was too busy and difficult to navigate. I didn’t really like it and I got frustrated trying to find the information that I wanted.
The types of products and services that these sites offered online were only information on what they offered at the actual ski resort. However, there is a complete listing of activities, services that are offered at the mountain and numbers on how to reach the resort as well as daily updated ski conditions.
The target market for these sites is the outdoor enthusiast who wants to get in contact with the resort to book a skiing vacation or the person who regularly skis who wants the updated weather conditions that these mountains have to offer.
Sun Peaks Resort has a partnership with Sun Star Shuttle that provides transportation from major airports to Kamloops. Silver Star and Big White have a partnership with Norther Air Support Ltd to provide helicopter shuttle between the two mountains.
These resorts are Bricks and Mortar, all of the services and any of the information provided on the sites are purely used for research only.
The strengths of each of these mountains are that they provide people who are unfamiliar with the resort to learn what they have to offer. There are many services offered and most people like to see what a resort has to offer before they book a ski vacation.
The benefits of providing a web site that is only information based is that the resort can build excitement by providing pictures that appeal to the consumer, they can also generate traffic by having the updated ski conditions on a daily basis, if more and more people come to check out the site, there might be a better chance of booking a ski package.
The weaknesses of these sites are that if you are looking at them from foreign countries, there is no way to book any packages online and therefore might deter people from coming to Canada to ski. The 1-800 central reservation line may not work from a European country such as Germany and the consumer might have to go to a travel agent to book a holiday and they may not want to go through the hassle.