Dynamic pricing in winter sports resorts: No trivial "exercise"

More and more winter sports resorts are implementing dynamic pricing systems to strengthen their profitability. However, the dominant orientation towards demand-dependent sales maximization is not enough. Prices inhibit a large number of different properties, which should be integrated into pricing. And then there is another important ingredient missing from any “normal” dynamic pricing (in other serice industries): limited capacities.

Automated driving: It's not only about the technology but also about the people!

Together with Alphabet Fleet Management (Switzerland), we at the SBB Lab at the University of St. Gallen have carried out a study on customer benefits and acceptance of automated vehicles in Switzerland. In contrast to the emerging economies of China, Turkey or Brazil, where more people are interested in automated driving, the study shows that people in Switzerland are more skeptical about it. More than half of the respondents are not interested in using a fully automatic vehicle.

Dealing with overtourism: A complex solution for a simple problem

This contribution starts easy and ends complex. Overtourism is a simple and easy-to-explain challenge. Solutions might be quick and easy. However to get there, we are encountering a serious challenge: The allocation of property rights with regard to public goods.

China Outbound Travel continues to flourish – at the benefit ofAustralia

Australia might only have a modest market share in China international outbound travel. But its foundations and therefore the prospects are more promising than for most of other areas in this world. This shows another analysis of data of a pilot study on the travel behavior of the Chinese population, recently collected in a survey-at-source with 1’000 respondents (representative of the Chinese travelling population) by myself in cooperation with Survey Yes (Suzhou Zhongyan Network Technology Ltd.).

Digitization in Tourism – Hold your breath and focus!

Digitization is a multi-layered development in which one easily can lose the overview. However, there are a few clear avenues for entrepreneurial tourism practice that need to be reconsidered, with the primary objective of increasing productivity and earning more revenue: (1) business model configuration (macro level), (2) process design (micro level) and (3) dealing with data (resource level).