The pre-arrival: a carefully timed messages sent to soon-to-be-arriving guests with info that increases revenues or the experience.

I used the Stash today to test them out in terms of performance, and they passed with flying colors:

Looking at clicks/send, links in pre-arrival emails were clicked 23x more often than those in a newsletter. Not too shabby.

Three Ideas
Some resorts are already doing this, but knowing that these emails get so much visibility, I’d love to see it applied in more areas. Here are three ideas.

Day Ticket Buyers
If you’re selling date-specific tickets, get those skiers an email a couple days before they come with advice on the three biggest challenges I face at a new mountain:

1. Finding good parking / knowing where to park
2. Finding good food for lunch that matches my budget
3. Tips to avoiding crowds as the day progresses

Social Media Users
Smartphones and mountains don’t always cooperate, so why not help out the 50% of skiers who have such devices with some info like:

1. Dead zones in coverages
2. Lodges with good or free wi-fi
3. Places to take the best pictures
4. Resort hashtags and usernames

Lodging Checklist
Some pre-arrivals do cover a few of these items, but mixing upsells and helpful tips in the form of a checklist might be a way to get guests to do more while they’re there:

1. Dining: “Want a romantic dinner? Our two top restaurants recommend reservations.”
2. Taking a Break: “Can’t ski 9-4? View this map of our favorite lodges to warmup in.”
3. Rentals: “Leaving equipment at home? Slopeside rentals start at $25.”
4. Family Photos: “Want to preserve the memories? Check out our five favorite family photo spots.”
5. Lunch: “Do you have lunch covered? Load money on your families passes.”

So, those are kind of lame ideas, but you get the picture.

When a message gets so many opens because it is both targeted and relevant, try moving relevant messages from other channels (newsletters, blog posts, on-mountain signage) into pre-arrivals to increase the chance it will be seen by and benefit the guest.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.