Liz Mezzetti has been part of the ski industry for her entire life. First a competitive ski jumper, and then an employee at the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), Liz now oversees Marketing for Whiteface Mountain, Gore Mountain and Belleayre Mountain. Not unsurprisingly given her role, a big part of Liz’s job is to attract new skiers to the resorts. We recently interviewed Liz to understand how Liftopia.com fits into her marketing strategy each season. 

So Liz, why do you sell tickets on Liftopia.com for Whiteface, Gore and Belleayre? What are your goals?

We sell lift tickets on Liftopia.com because Liftopia is a solid brand, recognized by thousands of skiers and riders as a leading tech company in the industry for purchasing lift tickets with ease.  We first established a relationship with Liftopia because we wanted to sell lift tickets online (a decade ago). We weren’t familiar with e-commerce nor the strategy for online sales, but Liftopia helped get us up and moving quickly and took care of all the behind the scenes details. Today we continue our relationship because of the reach of Liftopia.com to skiers and riders because Liftopia has been a fabulous partner in developing overall strategies and sales support for our mountains.

Liftopia’s distribution and marketing efforts are like an extension to our own marketing efforts.  Simply put, there are thousands of skiers and riders who utilize Liftopia to find deals and new options for skiing – especially with the younger generations.  There is a good potential to capture a new skier to your mountain that you might not have otherwise reached through traditional marketing efforts.  

How do you think about the costs of Liftopia.com compared to selling direct on your website (and its associated costs like Marketing, Google SEM etc.)?

It’s all part of the strategy – if you set yourself up correctly thru all your mountain pricing/discounts – the cost of services with Liftopia is very reasonable.

How has distribution via Liftopia.com impacted or contributed to the resort’s overall revenue?

Working with Liftopia.com was our entry point to e-commerce.  It has dramatically shifted the way we’ve done business – and has overall helped us increase revenues.  Specifically we’ve been able to maximize revenues during key holidays and weekends – while also increasing length of stay and pushing mid-week travel.

How do you use Liftopia.com data to inform ORDA resorts pricing strategy, if at all?

Over the years, Liftopia data has been vital for strategic development at our resorts. Whether it’s our GMs making decisions on a daily basis utilizing the dashboard – or ORDA corporate leveraging end of season reports and the reporting tool in the system, Liftopia’s data has provided key insights to not only our resorts – but what’s happening in the industry in general.

What insights have you gained from Liftopia’s reporting/analytics?

MANY!

• Travel / booking patterns
• Yield management strategy
• Comp set information

Anything else you love about Liftopia.com?

The best part of LIFTOPIA is the team!!  Reliable, dependable, smart and you always feel like they are there to help you when you need it.  I have reached out many times – from 5am on a holiday to 11pm at night….these guys have been the best at responding and being helpful when we needed it most!