Blue Mountain Hill Resorts

Prepared By:
Arindam Malakar
Ishwarya Thirumalai
Miranda Boro
Shekhar Teny
Sumanraj Elangowan
Archana Tammali

PGP/19/192
PGP/19/203
PGP/19/207
PGP/19/227
PGP/19/232
PGP/19/235

The survey which Bob Boggs developed for capturing the interest of skiers in night skiing was
conducted during the months of February and March which was near the end of the season,
considering the situation it is likely that the responses were more skewed in favor of season pass
holders. The same assumption is made concrete by the difference in the percentage of season
pass holders in actual and that which came in from the survey. According to the survey the
number of season pass holders came in as close to 18% whereas the actual number reveal a
meagre 6% of the total as being season pass holders. This skewedness of data can lead to a lot of
repercussions in the marketing research conclusions.
The possible causes for this skewedness and its probabilistic rectification is as below:
1. Sampling Bias: Errors which crept in due to the survey being conducted during the fag
end of the season, this increases the chance of factoring in over enthusiastic skiers, to
mitigate this we can consider a correcting factor of 30-35%.
2. Response Bias: As the survey was conducted in restaurants there would be more of
season pass holders giving their responses because part-timers would be more inclined in
making most of their time skiing, this would lead to more positive responses as the
participants are more likely to be in midst of their leisure and enjoyable time. To counter
this we consider a correcting factor of 30-50%.
3. Analysis Bias: As this is a new installation potential customers may be wary of this fact
and shy away from answering in the positive, also potential higher prices may drive away
potential customers when they are registering their responses. To overcome this we
consider a correction factor of 15-30%.
Now, we can calculate the demand for night skiing buy factoring in the optimistic and
pessimistic correction factors,
Optimistic Factor = (1-.30)*(1-.30)*(1-.15) = 0.4165
Pessimistic Factor = (1-.35)*(1-.50)*(1-.30) = 0.2275
For the non-pass holder which is 27900(30000-2100) and out of this 44.4% is interested in the
night skiing. The weighted average number of visits by each skier as per table 2 is 5.2
27900*41.4*7 = 81000
Net result from non-pass holders,
Optimistic = 81000*0.4165 = 33736
Pessimistic = 81000*0.2275 = 18428

Revenue:
Revenue from pass holders: Of the pass holders 60.7% of the sample was interested in night
skiing. Analyzing the exhibit we can calculate expected revenue from pass holders and that is
40%*2100*$40 which is $33600.
As we know that the customer are not price sensitive so we can set the price of $6-$8,in an
average$7 for each ticket of non-pass holder, then the net revenue generated by the non-pass
holder
Optimistic=33736*7=$236152
Pessimistic=18428*7=$128996
Then the total expected revenue
Optimistic=$236152+$33600
=$269752
Pessimistic=$128996+$33600$
=$162596

Choice of Hill:
From the data given in Exhibit-3, Happy Valley/Apple bowl and Tranquility/Smart Alec is the
most preferred, 38%, amongst all the respondents equally. Also since most of the respondents
prefer skiing for 2 or more days with a night or more of skiing (55.6%) of age 18-34 with
majority male respondents (69% on average) who come from Toronto and nearby, it is preferred
that Happy Valley/Apple bowl is the right choice of hill.
Timings of Opening and Closing:
From the survey data, the major findings are that 38.6% prefer beginning of the night skiing at
7pm and 25.3% at 6pm. Also that the majority prefer completing the skiing between the time
frame 10pm 11pm (40.7% and 54.3%).
Considering the average distance planned to cover by most of the respondents is 35-75 miles.
Maximum of these respondents of age 18-34 years, who are single, do not prefer any ski lessons
or rentals as in other time frames.
Given these constraints, it is preferable to set Opening Time for the Night skiing at 6 pm wherein
the maximum of the 15.7% who prefer 5pm might also turn up apart from those preferring 6pm
and 7pm. Closing time preferred is 11pm given the data details where 54.3% of the skiers plan to
complete only at that time.