More than ever before, skiing has transformed into an experience vs. simply a trip up the lift and down the mountain. The ancillary offerings available at resorts contribute greatly to the memories skiers and snowboarders keep long after their boots are off and they’re back home at school and work. Before a day on the mountain, we have to consider all of our options and make important decisions on how to maximize our day. Which restaurant should we stop at for lunch? Should we bring our own food or should we eat on the mountain? Which bar has the best après? Can I get rentals in town, or should I wait to get them at the mountain?

With all of the choices available to consumers, there is a big advantage if you can get them to commit in advance to lunch at your on-mountain restaurant or a drink in your bar before they even arrive. At this point, we don’t need to argue that selling lift tickets in advance has its advantages – customers are locked into skiing at your resort, they can’t change their mind about skiing, and you can reduce the impact from volatile weather. But what about all of the other things customers can spend money on at the mountain? Why not sell that stuff in advance as well with a lift ticket? In the rest of this post, we’ll share more information about how to use bundled products to drive incremental pre-sale revenue.

More and more at Liftopia we see resorts who offer lift ticket + add-on products outperform in revenue those resorts that offer only standalone lift products. The extras can be anything from rentals, to fast lane passes, to lunch vouchers, to a specific drink at the bar.

Arapahoe Basin, located in Dillon, CO, famously offers a 1 Day Lift Ticket + Bacon Bloody Mary, as well as a lift tickets + lunch vouchers, which make up 15-20% of their total date-specific sales each season.

“We like to sell the lift ticket + Bacon Bloody Mary because there is almost nothing better than skiing a day at the Basin and topping it off with our signature cocktail,” said Peggy Hiller, Vice President of Operations at Arapahoe Basin. “Last ski season, we sold almost 40,000 Bacon Bloody Mary drinks! Seriously, this is a fun product and having it available for sale on our Cloud Store lets our guests know that we are a fun place to be.”

Lift tickets + fixed dollar-value vouchers have also been incredibly effective. Imagine this: a consumer purchases a lift ticket + $15 lunch voucher for an additional $12. Not only does that guarantee that the customer will eat lunch at your dining facility, we all know it’s nearly impossible to spend only $15 on lunch on the mountain. Offering a ticket bundled with a beverage or lunch voucher guarantees more booked revenue while also allowing you to highlight offerings unique to your resort.

We’ve talked about the value of offering ticket + rental bundles in the past, but it’s worth mentioning them here again. Especially for resorts located near metros areas, it is important to lock customers in to on-mountain rentals before they can stop at a ski shop in town down the street, borrow gear, or rent it before they arrive.

Your next question is probably, how much better will I do if I offer these products? Over the past few seasons, partners who offered bundled products (food credit, beverage, etc.) or lift + rental products achieved a revenue per skier visit (RPSV) 10-20% higher than those that did not. While of course the number for an individual resort will depend heavily on the offering, marketing execution, geography and resort size, the additional revenue is really just gravy to your online sales.

Need some ideas on effective bundled products to sell at your resort? Feel free to contact us at partners@liftopia.com.