Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
resort (apart from perhaps a direct marketing piece) until the next visit. Now, a skier can purchase
a ski ticket online, and have their card (with a built in chip) delivered to the door. When a skier
arrives atVail, he or she can then engage withVail's EpicMix social media campaign.
The idea of
EpicMix is to track activity on and around the mountain via radio frequency scanners installed
at the 89 lifts across Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly. The scanners
interact with the RF-enabled chip embedded in lift tickets, listing lift rides, vertical feet skied
and days on hill. Special accomplishments - like clocking up 10,000 vertical feet - are recognized
with collectible digital pins which can be instantly fl aunted on Facebook after downloading the
EpicMix app. Users can also create colourful collages, mixing professional photos with their own
snapshots, any pins they have won and snow reports or resort stats - effectively designing their
own promotional postcard to commemorate their holiday. This gaming option wonVail a Webby
award in 2011.
Leveraging social media
Social media platforms like those employed by Vail are emerging as the dominant digital
communications channel, particularly for people under 34 years of age (McKinsey 2011). In
2011, 33 per cent of consumers in the US used social networks to navigate content on the Web,
up from 13 per cent in 2008, and the same year social network use doubled among those over
55. As consumers spend more time on these networks, decisions about what to purchase often
refl ect interactions with friends and other infl uencers.
Figure 35.2
shows recent consumer
research related to how social media is changing travellers' experiences. A large percentage of
consumers read reviews of hotels, attractions and restaurants prior to vacation, and over half
'Liked' Facebook pages or posted Facebook updates before their holiday. Whilst on vacation over
70 per cent post vacation photos on a social network or update their Facebook status, and nearly
half check-in to a social media location. The same research found that 85 per cent of travellers
are using smartphones during their vacation. After returning home travellers are still active on
social media networks, posting reviews or photos, or 'Liking' Facebook pages related to a specifi c
destination.
Figure 35.2
The behaviour of today's networked traveller (source: Lab42 2012).
