Getting lost is easy at a large ski resort. Just take a wrong turn when you step off the chairlift and you can find yourself on the other side of the mountain far from the friends and family you want to spend time with. This might not be bad if you crave the steep terrain of a black diamond run and your friends prefer gentle, groomed slopes. But what if you're with your kids?
To give parents peace of mind, Steamboat Springs Ski and Resort Corp. in Colorado deployed an advanced system that helps families quickly locate each other. The new system, developed by Guest Technologies, uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that enables skiers to keep tabs on each other. The system also helps the resort identify new revenue opportunities.
"When you’re at a ski resort, you’re there to ski," says Timothy Giraldin, the founder and executive vice president of Guest Technologies in Laguna Hills, Calif. "But surveys show that you spend more time waiting than skiing—waiting for your family to come down the hill, when they've probably just taken a turn and are skiing somewhere else on the mountain."
The tracking technology, a key component of the $20 billion a year location-based services industry, is a compelling hook for visitors. However, these locator tags are capable of far more than helping guests find one another. They can also be used as tickets and payment systems, and can connect to a company's existing system. And this can add up to big savings and new revenue streams for any company using an RFID system.
Finding yourself
Here's how it works: The Guest Technologies system at the ski resort uses locators—which Steamboat Springs has branded the MountainWatch—to pinpoint your location and that of your party. Each member of a group is issued a device that allows them to be tracked. The locator bracelets are scanned and assigned to each skier. When the MountainWatches are turned on, finding a family member is easy—just wave yours in front of a reader built into the LocationStation interactive kiosk. The system recognizes you and shows you where the other members of your party are on a large, interactive map and display screen.
Steamboat Springs’ MountainWatch is more than just a tracking system, though. It also helps guests navigate ski trails, find lift and weather information, access detailed resort information, and even leave messages for anyone in their family or group.
Resorts can do much more with this technology, including:
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Eliminate tickets At Wannado City, an indoor role-playing theme park in South Florida, the Guest Technologies locator has been branded as the Wannafinder and is your admission ticket. This reduces the cost of tickets and helps keep non-paying guests out of the park. It's a bonus for guests, too, who no longer have to worry about keeping track of a ticket stub or getting their hands stamped to leave Wannado City. Guest Technologies also offers its traditional location services, so your toddler doesn't wander off in the exhibits. "Basically, you have to think of this technology as an enhanced communications tool," says Giraldin.
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Use a cashless payment system At Wild Rivers, a water theme park in Irvine, Calif., the Guest Technologies locator can be preloaded and used as a payment system. This is especially useful when all you're wearing is a bathing suit. Carrying cash, coins, or a credit card is inconvenient. But according to Giraldin, the cashless payment system yields an almost immediate return on investment. After the system was introduced at Wild Rivers, guest spending quadrupled with the average family of four spending twice their normal amount. "You can just preload the locators, and the kids can go out and get lunch or spend it any way they want," Giraldin says. The cashless system is being tested at other locations, including Steamboat Springs.
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Connect to legacy systems The Guest Technologies product is developed in the Microsoft Visual Studio development system with Microsoft .NET Framework, so it is plays well with other proprietary systems. "At the front end, if the [attraction] is using a kiosk…we can use the kiosk and make it work with the system," says Giraldin. The company also relies on Microsoft BizTalk Server to help integrate applications and technologies from disparate systems. After a system is installed, it is extensively supported. Guest Technologies does not normally sell the system outright but licenses it according to service levels and scope of deployment. Bottom line: Theme parks and resorts can rely on their RFID system being operational when they need it.
A future in radio
The next generation of RFID systems being developed by companies such as Guest Technologies can do far more than track separated group members and enable visitors to enter a theme park. Giraldin explains, "There are applications for this technology that go beyond what they are currently being used for—and [applications] for businesses that probably never thought of looking at these systems."
As more internal systems can communicate with each other and with wireless-savvy guests, organizations are more willing than ever to embrace the technology, new opportunities are everywhere you look in the hospitality industry—in hotels, restaurants, casinos, and cruise ships.
RFID technology is fulfilling the promise of enhancing the guest experience, and an operator's profitability.
