The UK’s largest ski holiday company Crystal have decided to stop offering social skiing or ‘ski hosting’ at all of its destinations worldwide.
Crystal say the decision is a result of findings from research they carried out last winter in to their customer’s changing habits on the slopes and not connected with the legal cases in France against British tour operators which appear to be spreading to some other ski areas in Europe.
The research, carried out in spring this year and involving responses from more than 2,200 Crystal customers, found that the company’s Crystal Ski Explorer app, launched last winter as a pocket tool to the mountains was proving popular with a quarter of all customers saying they had used it in resort, with more than 15% saying they actively used the recommended ski routes to help find their way around the slopes.
By contrast the activity of social skiing, with a Crystal rep providing orientation tours to show clients around the resort’s easier slopes, was declining in popularity with only 4% of customers saying they took part in such a session last season.
Crystal had continued to offer the service in most of its resorts last season, including several in France, through a partnership with a French ski school, whilst the ongoing legal battle takes place with British tour operators over the legality of the service under French law. Crystal say they will continue to support fellow tour operator Le Ski in that legal battle.
The Ski Explorer (iOS and Android) app includes recommended ski routes for all levels by our expert resort teams. Customers can independently rate the runs and track how far and fast you ski through the day. In addition the ‘My Friends’ feature answers that eternal ski resort problem of finding your friends wherever they are on the mountain (or the bars…).
“As a result Crystal will continue to invest in mobile tools for the winter season 2015-16. Social skiing will no longer be offered, and our expert in-resort teams, who live and breathe the mountains, will continue to help customers get the most out of their time on the slopes,” said a company statement,
“Our mobile tools will mean they are always on hand to offer tips on where to ski and resort information. For instance, we all know that the hardest choices to make in the morning are how much clothing to take and which slopes are going to have the best conditions. We will be discussing with our in-resort teams how they can best liaise with mountain patrol and ski schools to provide customers with the best morning briefing possible and provide them with valuable updates during the day through the app and even into the après-ski.”