Customer Stories How Revelstoke’s Lift Tickets went Contactless with Inntopia Commerce and Inntopia Marketing Cloud

Located in the beautiful Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Revelstoke Mountain Resort serves up incredible skiing in winter and stunning alpine vistas in summer to guests from all of the world.

But like all resorts, they quickly felt the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and saw a need, and opportunity, to change how they operate. So earlier this year, Revelstoke, who is a user of both Inntopia Commerce and Inntopia Marketing Cloud, reached out with a request. Here’s how Revelstoke’s Director of Marketing, Kevin Manuel, put it.

“This past summer, Revelstoke Mountain Resort tasked Inntopia with the challenge of creating an automated email with a QR code for ticket fulfillment. Our goal was to email guests prior to arrival to allow them to pick up their lift tickets at an automated, outdoor kiosk.”

Backed by the flexibility of Inntopia Commerce, the power of Inntopia Marketing Cloud, and the assistance of their Inntopia account manager, Rebekah Stoner, they got to work.

How it Works

Revelstoke is a long-time user of RTP for their point of sale system. So with RTP connected to their Inntopia Commerce account they were able to sell tickets, lodging, and more through their ecommerce store. Once a guest purchases lift tickets through Inntopia Commerce, Inntopia Marketing Cloud steps in to deliver two automated emails that contain a scannable QR code. Guests can scan these codes to quickly pick up tickets at self-service Axess kiosks at the resort.

Instead of a single email sent weeks or even months before arrival, Rebekah worked with Revelstoke to implement two fully-automated emails that give the QR code the best chance of being seen and used by the guest.

Email #1: Pre-Arrival
The first QR code is sent in a pre-arrival campaign delivered 3 days before their arrival to remind them that contactless pickup is an option. This window of time just before a guest arrives is one full of anticipation and, as a result, high engagement with any marketing a resort sends.

Email #2: The Day Of
Revelstoke also sends the scannable QR code in an email on the day of their arrival. This email is more specifically focused on the QR code, but does include some other information as well. This timing and design ensures the guest not only sees the email, but has it at the top of their inbox right in the moment they need to scan it at the resort.

Kevin is thrilled with the result.

“The end result is fantastic. Guests receive an automated email with a QR code the morning of their arrival, with instructions to pick up their tickets at an automated kiosk. The process is quick, efficient, and alleviates pressure (and touch-points) from our front-line by moving guests outside of the Guest Services area. I look forward to using this technology further for the upcoming winter season!”

Improvements & What’s Next

It’s important to note that Rebekah and Kevin didn’t stop there. Mid-way through the season, Revelstoke optimized both campaigns to increase usage by making a few tweaks to the subject line and body of the emails. These changes made it clear the email contained a QR code and moved the code up visually in the template so it is the first thing seen by guests.

Revelstoke is also building on this success by investing in additional self-serve kiosks. They plan to continue to encourage guests to use the QR codes in summer and in winter and, now that they have their system running smoothly, expect an even higher rate of usage this year.