Peter Park Identifies Sales Potential For Mountain Lift Co’s In Low Season

While there is a lot of activity in the mountain regions in winter and summer, the off-season is characterized by a certain calm. This time is ideal for mountain lift operators and other tourist businesses to make preparations for the coming high season.

This includes not only technical factors and the maintenance of the systems, but also the revision of economic aspects is of great importance. This guarantees a better profitability as well as an optimization of the costs of the operation.

Technical Analysis

In order to guarantee the safety of the passengers and the smooth functioning of the facilities, the technical revision of the mountain railways has a high priority during the off-season. Cable cars, lifts and other associated facilities must be regularly maintained and inspected.

Qualified technicians maintain and inspect the systems during the revision. Potential problems are identified and fixed, and worn parts are replaced. The technicians also check the electrical and mechanical systems and clean the facilities.

The ideal time for the technical revision is the low season, when the technicians have the opportunity to carry out maintenance and inspections due to the low number of passengers. As a result, the increased operation during the ski season and summer months is not disturbed, the early identification and elimination of problems avoids the emergence of dangerous situations.

Economic Analysis

The economic revision is also available in the off-season for mountain railway companies. Profitability and cost optimization are evaluated, and decisions are made to ensure greater process efficiency. This primarily includes investments and renewals within the company. Cost savings and the discovery of new sales potential are particularly relevant for seasonal and weather-dependent operations such as mountain railways.

The following points are evaluated:

Personnel optimization: The shortage of skilled workers hits tourism companies particularly hard. At this point it is important to record which human resources are available in order to guarantee an efficient division of tasks and to avoid overloading.

Time savings: A fundamental factor in relieving staff is time savings. An evaluation of processes is recommended here in order to check whether automation would be possible and whether time-related processes would be optimized as a result. The users of the mountain railways also benefit from these optimizations and customer satisfaction is automatically increased.

Generate sales: where is there hidden potential to generate additional income in addition to the fees for the journeys? Seasonal operations such as mountain railways in particular are always looking for solutions to create sources of income throughout the year.

Reduce costs: Of course, a higher profit also results from the reduction of costs incurred. It is advisable to look at where costs can be saved or reduced.

Digital parking space management creates economic maximus

A frequently neglected aspect in the economic audit is the parking space management for mountain railways. The digitization of the parking space offers operators the opportunity to optimize various processes.

Digital parking space management ensures efficient and service-oriented management of parking spaces. Cameras automatically capture the number plates of vehicles entering the area, making conventional barriers superfluous. There is no need to stop in front of the barrier and the parking process starts automatically.

At the end of the parking process, customers pay either at the parking machine with their EC/credit card or conveniently using their smartphone. If customers use a partner parking app, they pay without cash and can simply drive out of the parking area and thus end the parking process. The parking time is determined by recording the number plate at the entrance and exit, which also serves to automatically process the payment in the background. Visitors no longer have to go to the parking machines to pay.

Reduce the workload of staff through automation

Digital parking space management relieves on-site staff and thus enables more efficient management of parking spaces. A personal patrol of the area is no longer necessary, data can be viewed quickly and easily via a dashboard. Analysis and sales forecasts are created effortlessly for employees.

Are resources needed for other activities on site? Costs and personnel expenses are saved if the monitoring of parking violations is also outsourced to an external provider.

Year-round revenue generation

Season-independent sources of income are of great importance for operators of mountain railways - this is where digital parking space management comes into play. Parking fees can be adapted to different customer groups and the offer can be expanded to include day and season tickets, for example. Third-party parkers such as ski tourers, long-term parkers or campers can be avoided without additional costs or additional staff and generate sales during the follow-up. This keeps the parking spaces free for the paying customers of the mountain railways.

The parking management system also enables revenue outside of the cable car operating hours, as it is active seven days a week. The economic dependency of the companies on the weather and the season is thus reduced.

Hardware with low maintenance costs

A very positive effect of using digital parking space management for mountain railway operators is the cost savings, be it for maintenance and repair of the hardware or for the control staff. Downtimes due to defective barriers are avoided, these are replaced by the installation of ANPR technology and the digital management system. While conventional parking systems are expensive to purchase and maintain, the Peter Park System is not only characterized by a reduction in power consumption, it is also significantly cheaper and requires little maintenance. Operating costs of the parking area are significantly reduced, while new income potentials are created at the same time.

Happy customers

Backlogs at barrier systems and queues in front of parking machines are a thing of the past with digital parking space management. Loss payments are eliminated because paper tickets are no longer required. Thus, not only does the parking experience improve for customers, but the entire visit becomes a pleasant, hassle-free experience that makes guests want to come back.

Optimize processes in the off-season

The off-season should not only be used by mountain railway operators for technical evaluation, this time should also be used to identify further potential for optimization. This includes the introduction of a digital parking space management system in order to develop new sales potential, save costs and relieve the burden on the staff.