The raising popularity of Skiing is proving to be a double-edged sword for ski resorts
On the positive side it is bringing an incredible amount of revenue opportunity for Ski resort owners but at the same time it is throwing up management issues of myriad kinds which range from an wide range of people attempting to try their hands at the sports to increasing demands for higher standards of hospitability.This calls for installing of more sophisticated devices and tools to come up to their expectations. Among the other challenges that surface immediately when it comes to Skiing is the chance of snowboarders getting injured. Lack of proper training or equipments can lead to severe consequences in certain cases. Therefore, the resort management not only has to ensure proper arrangements for proceeding with the job but also keep the safety measures in place, in case a casualty occurs. One of the ways to avoid occurring of mis-happenings can be "abiding by the area policies". Such act also helps in determining the interest of the management in providing skiers a "safe experience&qu ot;.
Also, a group of well trained and educated instructors should be hired to aid visitors in skiing. Moving on, another hurdle to be overcome relates to the role played by "weather" in this adventure sport. The temperature range should be paid the desired attention for calculating the most suitable time of the year to open the resort. Also, the terrain should be studied to suitable extent for knowing the safe area that can be snowboarded.
The additional facilities offered by a given resort are an important factor in helping it climb the competitive ladder. Some of these can be- sledding, dog sledding, snow mobiling. This is to say that the location of the resort has an important place in pushing up its popularity. Taking it the other way round, the surroundings should be made beautiful to lure visitors and snowboarders. Consequently, the number and proximity of the amenities (like cafes, restaurants and nightclubs) are to be arranged for to stand out in the industry.
The services structure should be made suitable enough to make visitors come back periodically. This comprises status of chairlift systems, transport equipments and length of trails. Pulling all these aspects together asks for implementation of an efficient management performance device to enable timely tracking of performance. Balanced Scorecard i.e. BSC is such a solution, which with its related set of metrics serves the purpose.
The perspectives that can help relate to- Internal Operations, Services Structure, safety measure and Financial. Internal Operations can be measured using indicators such as "uphill capacity per hour", "average waiting time", "average daily skiing hours" and "VTF per hour". Services Structure perspective can be calculated using KPIs like "number of additional facilities", "number of chair lift systems", "number of transport equipments" and "number of instructors". Safety Measures can be evaluated using parameters such as" medical facilities availability", "average patrolling frequency", "area policy abiding ratio" and "customers" view on safety aspects". Finally, the Financial assessment is possible with "revenue on per skier visit", "average gross revenue", "average operating profit" and "increase in revenue per employee". By framing such a st rategy, it is possible to ensure that the Ski resort receives enough monetary gains together with providing "safe and pleasant experience" to the visitors.