Vail, CO – What may have looked like children’s play with arts and crafts supplies was serious adult work trying to solve a significant threat that could decimate the ski industry.nMore than 100 representatives from 30 ski resorts across the United States, Canada, Switzerland and Australia who gathered recently at a Resort Technology Partners (RTP) summit in Vail unexpectedly found themselves building models with craft materials in an attempt to identify innovations for growth.
They were challenged to find new ways to engage baby boomers, millennials and Generation X’ers in outdoor, activity-based travel. With baby boomers slowing down and younger generations more mesmerized by augmented reality than the reality resorts offer today, the resort industry is ripe for change. Teams were also encouraged to look at how resorts can make themselves more attractive to women since they tend to take primary responsibility for planning family vacations.
When the dust settled and the glue dried, the group converged around three ideas: integrating technology into outdoor activities; rekindling or discovering active adventure as a family along with some independent activities for children and parents; and being socially connected while creating and sharing memories.
“We have to start thinking and acting differently, especially if we haven’t already made that first step,” says RTP President and CEO Charlie L’Esperance, who spoke of the need to better assimilate new and emerging technologies. “We all have to innovate and optimize to solve problems faster and with less labor. The real win is combining new technologies and improved business processes to both reduce costs and improve product and service delivery.”
“Optimization is about innovation. It’s not about how much you know or how you actually see it; it’s literally seeing through – and around — something, to discover new and innovative ideas that are tangible and translate to financial growth,” says Dr. Todd Siler, leader of the workshop. Siler is the co-founder and president of Think Like A Genius, LLC, which holds workshops worldwide that generate innovative solutions to challenging and confounding business and social problems.
Siler’s methods include using visual representations of ideas and thoughts as a means of uncovering innovative, breakthrough ideas and communicating the concepts. At this workshop, attendees learned how to open their minds to new possibilities for creating a resort experience that will resonate with each generation.
Teams sat at tables piled with myriad supplies, including poster board, foam shapes, string, dowels, magazines and pictures, pipe cleaners, tape and aluminum foil. Along with the supplies at each table were a list of parameters and two questions. Team members could choose which question they each wanted to represent and then were asked to create a visual answer to that question.
After completing their models, each team presented their ideas. While many tried to remain quiet, it was obvious they all had ideas very similar to those of their fellow attendees.
“Some of these models might not win a beauty contest, but the essence of the ideas in them is huge and can be literally transformational to that industry,” Siler says.
“Having global customers in the same room with Dr. Siler created an opportunity to identify innovative solutions that we could all deliver to the marketplace,” says Michael McDermott, RTP’s senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management. “Exploring how resorts can use technology to engage guests before, during and after their visit in ways that will be interesting – and valuable – to future guests will transform the progressive-minded resorts.”