Blue Mountain Resorts The

Service
Quality Journey

Abhishek Tyagi(231011) Ananshi Chugh(231022) Anurag

Goel(231031)
Ashutosh Jain(231035)
Divya Sinha(231053) Bhavya

BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORT

Located in Ontario
One of the most popular resorts with 18%
of Ontarios snowboarders and skiers
visits in 1998-99
Expanded and modernized as sports
gained
popularity(During 1980s)

1999

1980
Added a year
round 4*
1941
hotel,
conference
Founded center and
by Jozo Golf course

Became
4 season
resort

Vision
To be best
& Exceed
Customer
Expectatio
ns

Dominant
Activities
Skiing
Snowboarding
Results in 65%
Revenues

Statistics about the Resort and Services

Offered
251
skiable
area

15
different
ski and
snowboar
d
package
options

50
acres
for
future
trail

Longe
st run
1.2
km

721
feet
vertica
l drop

Weekend
Individuals
Midweek
Individuals
Full Season
Pass

17% B
42% I
41% A

Constitut
ed 54%
of lift
ticket
sales

RINGS OF SERVICE

Basic
Service
Support
Service
s
Enhanc
ed
Service
s

Skiing,
Snowboarding,
Golf, Tennis
Call center,
housekeeping,
a/cing
Unexpected or
over & above
services

Trusting
Commit
ted

Caring
Value
Statem
ent

INFLUENCING FACTORS

Locatio
n

Cost

Quality
of the
runs

Speed
of Lift

Capacit
y of Lift

Ameniti
es

Intrawest Investment in BMR

BMR Announced to sell 50% interest in the company

to Intrawest corporation
Expansion included acquiring of 16 acres land, 1000
condo hotel units, 200 townhouse units and 100,000
square feet of commercial space
Quality restaurant, nightlife- Basically developing a
Victorian style Ontario village
BMR no longer remained just a ski hill- but also a
four season resort, auto slides, tennis fields, etc.

GAP MODEL OF SERVICE QUALITY

Customer Gap
Provider Gap 1 (Listening
Gap): Non availability of
services like poor signage,
basic information, etc
Provider Gap 2 (Service Design
& Standards Gap): Parking
problem, familiarization of
guests with services
Provider Gap 3 (Performance
Gap): Long line ups, Wait time
on phone
Provider Gap 4
(Communication Gap):
Carrying Capacity of Resort

SERVICE QUALITY INITIATIVES AT BMR

EARLY Initiatives: Change in Hiring Practice,
Annual Service Reports

The Move to Enhanced Services: Wow the

Customer

PROCESS Teams: Cross functional teams,

Standard processes for teams

SWOP Program: Three significant opportunities to

improve (Customer flow, Speed of Service and
Information Technology)

SERVICE ENCOUNTERS

Service Encounters

Moment of Truth : Customer interacts with

the firm

Remote

TechnologyMediated
Face to Face

SERVICE ENCOUNTERS AT BMR

Remote
Website

TechnologyMediated
Call Centres
Information
booths
Computer
Terminal
kiosks

Face to Face
Mountain
Guides
Hotel Front
Desk
Activities
Housekeepi
ng, Dining

Common Themes in Critical Service

Encounter Research

Service Encounter Themes (1/2)

Theme 1- Recovery
Level of Satisfaction

Dissatisfied

Instance

Basic Level services missing

Over 1000 Missed calls in March of 199394 season
Inability to direct customers to correct
location
Long Line-ups

Theme 2- Adaptability
Level of Satisfaction

Satisfied

Instance

Ski-Hills operations, presence of

adequate staff for assistance
15 full time, 15 high time ski patrollers,
75 volunteers promoting safe skiing and
snowboarding

Service Encounter Themes (2/2)

Theme 3- Spontaneity
Level of Satisfaction

Satisfied

Instance

Wow the customer

Provide enhanced service at hills by
handing out hot chocolate drinks and
snacks on silver platter

Theme 4- Coping
Level of Satisfaction

Dissatisfied

Instance

Guests looking for administrative desk

for an issue directed from one place to
another

Recommended Service Behaviours- How did BMR

handle them?

Recovery
Investing heavily in
Infrastructure and
Communication
Aim to answer 80% calls in
2 less than 20 seconds

Coping
Appointing staff/ attendants for
parking lot
Identifying areas of customer
problems and evolving
solutions Eg. Line ups, desk
services
A lot more could be done!

Service Quality Dimensions

RELIABILITY

RESPONSIVEN
ESS

ASSURANCE

EMPATHY

TANGIBLES

Ski/Snowboarding, Golf,
Tennis, summer
attraction, F&B,
conferences
Call centre,
housekeeping, front desk,
Lifts, Maintenance, HR

No control over
weather; investment
in hill grooming and
snowmaking
Hard Goals: 80% of
calls to be answered
in 20 seconds

Trained ski professional

for teaching

Front line staff was invited

for hiring help

Night sking facility with

lights, 15 lifts

Day care facility for

children
11 trails on 88 acres
of land

Current Scenario Proposed

Alternatives

Speed
of
Service
Information
Systems

The Way Ahead

Speed of Service

Information Systems

Demand Forecasting
Measures
Improved
communication and
information flow
within firm
Self Service IT
applications
Training modules for
staff

Vendor information,
Hotel guest history,
Revenue, Call centre
data
Digitization of
information
Online centralized,
integrated
database
Long term view :
Intranet System

Thank You!!