A key feature of efforts to develop SkiStar from purely a winter and lift company to a mountain tourism company all year round with a focus on guests is the updated strategic plan elaborated within the strategic framework.

These efforts are based in part on shifting travel patterns, new holiday habits year-round with a focus on activities together with friends and family in Scandinavia, and in part on greater demand among guests for all-in mountain experiences whereby quality accommodation is playing an increasingly important role, together with modern, weatherproofed skiing areas with a focus on alpine skiing.

In 2020/21 we therefore updated our strategic framework, developing our vision and more concrete targets and strategies. Our previous six strategies were transformed into five. To achieve our goals and strengthen our position as the leading holiday organiser for Scandinavia, we need to further develop our core operations, find more sources of income, manage sustainable property transactions, meet customers where they want to be and create future business. Our foundations permeate everything we do. Safe and Secure is our promise to guests, as is sustainability, together with our employees and culture, which are a prerequisite today for achieving success and results.

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Further develop core operations

To strengthen our position as the leading holiday organiser for Scandinavia, alpine skiing will remain SkiStar’s main focus when creating memorable mountain experiences. During the financial year, we continued to invest even more in the summer and autumn seasons, thus creating new sources of revenue. To increase the number of skier and activity days and thus boost revenues, the key is to attract more guests to our destinations who are more satisfied with their experience and more guests who return year after year. Another important aspect is to strengthen the competitiveness of the destinations, with important factors such as the range of products, development of ski systems, summer activities and offering guests better accommodation while away than at home. As people’s lifestyles and holiday habits are shifting, with them moving in recent years towards more active holidays spread over different periods of the year, work is under way to review how we can meet demand for adapted opening times, lift-assisted summer activities and guaranteed snow. At the same time, we are continuing to make investments in our mountain resorts, such as new lifts and skiing areas with plans to implement several new lifts to weatherproof and windproof Åre.

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Find more sources of revenue

SkiStar wants to be at the cutting edge and further develop operations with a focus on increasing the number of guests and activity days at our destinations and driving sustained profitable growth. Sales of our SkiPassare at the heart of our revenue. Based on that successful product, we have since developed new revenue sources in the form of ski rentals through SkiStarshop, our snowman Valle and Valle's Ski School, the SkiStar Living accommodation concept and much more. Another important part of finding new sources of revenue is to even more efficiently base our actions on guests’ behaviours, purchasing patterns, satisfaction and preferences through the customer data we have from skistar.com and guest surveys, but also through memberships in SkiStar Member, using an updated strategy and development programme. By linking our sustainability target of seven million skier and activity days to the new SkiStar Member (as each skier day or activity day will give entitlement to a bonus), we are linking our guests and members closer to our sustainability targets within ‘activity and recreation’. Guests also receive all the benefits of being both loyal guests and members over time, such as bonus points on all purchases in the SkiStarshop, be it in physical stores or online, as well as on bookings and rentals via skistar.com. To put it simply – it should pay to be active.

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Sustainable property transactions

For SkiStar, it is important for all land exploitation and property development in the Scandinavian mountain world to be sustainable. An important goal for us is to see a positive performance in the value of our exploitable land. This is achieved by active detailed development plans, which lead to new projects being launched more quickly. Another vital aspect of the strategy is to ensure a strong performance in the value of the property portfolio by developing and enhancing the efficiency of properties owned by SkiStar, not least in terms of energy efficiency and systematic maintenance.

Digitalising the user experience

For SkiStar, digitalisation means developing our destinations and digital platforms based on customer insight and data analysis with the concepts of simplicity, satisfaction, accessibility and the safety of our guests serving as a guide. Over the past year, SkiStar has continued to develop a number of products and services – everything from the SkiStar app to digital check-in and check-out at our accommodation. The Valle app is being developed into a ‘digiphysical’ tool as part of our efforts to give more children a sense of adventure and a love of the great outdoors. Digital business development will continue over the coming years with a focus on further guest-centric adjustments. It is a question of being at the forefront of digital interaction with guests, to create a memorable and carefree alpine experience before, during and after their trip.

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Creating future business

Based on our brand and existing assets, we identify, analyse and generate future business through ongoing business development, thus reinforcing and intensifying our pace of innovation. The pace of development was high during the year, not least relating to the all-year-round initiative, with more attractions being developed for the summer season, including the new adventure arenas in Trysil, Sälen and Vemdalen.