Vail Resorts EpicMix November 2, 2011 UWSMC Charlie Mayfield

 Resort Operator & Real Estate Developer - $1B Revenues  6 Ski Resorts, 20 Hotels, 6 Golf Courses  Colorado - Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone M skier visits – 45% of Colorado’s market of 25 ski resorts  California – Heavenly, Alpine Meadows -1.65M skier visits Vail Resorts Publicly Traded Corporation 2

Revenue Sources  63% Mountain Operations  18% Lodging  19% Real Estate 3

Leisure Travel Sees New Channels of Distribution  Booking curve MUCH closer in  On line bookings from many suppliers  Travel agents long gone  Close in deals to generate reservations  Public PERCEPTION of snow conditions a KEY decision making factor for snowsports resorts 4

 Cancelled $M’s of ads in national publications  Conde Naste Traveler, Outside, Travel & Leisure, Ski, GQ, Mens Health, Rolling Stone, etc.  Combined advertising, pr, and social media to develop coordinated content across multiple channels  Goal to constantly engage skiing enthusiasts in real time 2009 Vail Abandoned 80% of Traditional Advertising And Went Online 5

2010/11 Introduces EpicMix  RF chip embedded in all tickets & passes  RF reader terminals installed at base of all lifts at all resorts  EpicMix allowed a rider to track lift rides and vertical feet ridden at all resorts  Earn “badges” for achieving various on- mountain activities & challenges 6

Access & Share Lift Ride Info In Real Time  EpicMix pages, Facebook, smart phone apps  290,000 guest posts to Facebook  Friends Tracker - Where are your friends? 7

8 EpicMix Member Page

EpicMix Has A HUGE Technological Cost  RF reader “archways” at each lift and other various on-mountain landmarks at 6 individual resorts  Data from all RF source points collected and consolidated  On a busy day there could be over 100,000 combined users  Data for each individual sourced and uploaded into individual EpicMix accounts in real time 9

Some Other Ski Resorts Use RF Ticket Technology, But Only For Lift Access  No one else has invested in an infrastructure like EpicMix  Proprietary software 10

RF Technology Differs From GPS - Based Technologies Like Foursquare  No “opt-in” process required  With RF, everyone is scanned, but only some their access data  200,000 EpicMix members 2010/11  10% - 15% of all guests 11

Other 2010/11 Social Media EpicMix Programs  YouTube video contest - $10,000 1 st prize  Viewers voted for their favorites  Marty Lempkin info-mercial parodies on YouTube  EpicPass infomercial 22,000 views  Goal was to “Keep The Buzz Going” 12

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2011/12 New Features Enable Guests To Visually Share Their On-Mountain Experience  VR eliminated traditional on-mountain commercial photo service  VR added 200 new staff photographers at the 6 resorts  Cameras w/ RF connections linked photos to servers and then to each ticket holder’s on-line account(s) 14

Guests Can Now Share EpicMix Information & Photos On Sites Like: - Facebook - Twitter - Flickr - Snapfish - Shutterfly - iPhone & Droid apps 15

EpicMix Website Greatly Expanded  “Buzz”  The Buzz Team blogs, Tweets and posts photos and videos  “Epic Moms”  Resort Blogs  Customer Service & Comments  Snow & weather reports 16

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Public Concerns  “They” always know where I went and when I went there  Will I be bombarded later with unwanted marketing messages?  Will they share my data with 3 rd parties?  Can I really trust these guys? 18

Question:  Is EpicMix an invasion of privacy, or does guest accept the program’s terms and conditions when he/she buys a pass or ticket?  Vail Resorts DOES allow a person to “opt out” of the program and not be tracked via RF if they so request  Its kind of a hassle, though 19

Meanwhile, In The Back Room……..????? EpicMix on-mountain activity data COULD be added to other customer information and purchase histories in the CID - Customer Information Database  Lodging  if booked thru Vail Central Reservations  If staying at VR lodging property  Lift ticket purchases  Equipment Rentals  Lessons, programs, kids ski school  Retail purchases (at VR shops)  Food & beverage at VR establishments 20

“Now They Know All About Me, AND They Have My Picture….!!! 21 How will/could this information be used?

“Ski Pass Defender”  RF-blocking ticket & pass wallet on sale at resorts to “maintain your privacy”! 22

EpicMix Has Become A Great Social Media Tool  Real time information to customers  2 Way Interaction w/ Customers  Customer to customer communication  Customers to friends & family, others  Numerous Social Media platforms engaged  Ongoing word-of-mouth buzz  Customer perceived value of (free) EpicMix 23

Sources        photo-business photo-business    html html     

   whats-changing/ whats-changing/  changed-ski-resort-marketing-ceo-video.html  resort.html resort.html   stats/  discovers-the-answer-one-run-at-a-time/    Sources (2) 25