Quality requirements for aerial cableways and their services — The case of Switzerland Available to Purchase

In recent years, the “experience” theme has increased in significance for tourism. For aerial cableways, the mountains provide natural experience zones, and hence a good foundation for satisfying differing guest requirements. Thus, appropriate expansion ofcableway services and carefully staged activities can reduce dependence on the weather and tap this growing potential. This article is based on a recently completed study (Michel 2001) on the “mountain experience” and conduct an in‐depth analysis of the topic of quality in aerial cableways. The study has been done in the alpine regions of Switzerland and considers the special situation of the small and medium structure of the branch with lack of management know how. Also the vertical integration of the service chain is rather poor. Using a factor analysis, an attempt was made to highlight groups and identify various themes among the 117 survey variables in the “mountain experience” service chain. Twelve factors in all were identified: 1. safety and maintenance of ski runs and facilities, 2. accessibility and suitability for private transport and 3. friendliness and atmosphere. Fun and entertainment has become last of the twelve factors in the overall view. But special groups like snowboarders and younger people are more likely to attach importance to fun, entertainment and special ski‐run amenities. This difference in evaluation of the entertainment and events aspect by the various groups could conceivably lead to conflicts in ski regions, showing that quality is heavily dependent on the expectations of the target groups.