Axess Premieres In The UK At Glencoe Mountain Resort
Axess goes UK: With the Glencoe Mountain Resort, Axess is travelling to the island for the first time. The premiere project is one with a lot of prestige: Scotland's oldest ski resort, which has now matured into a year-round destination. Axess provided both the hardware at the resort and an online shop solution.
Operation in summer & winter
Glencoe Mountain Resort is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty on Rannoch Moor, some 74 miles north of Glasgow on the West Highland Way, and covers 200 hectares. It is recognised as the oldest alpine ski resort in Scotland and currently operates eight lifts and 20 ski runs, including the longest and steepest descent in the country. Since the first ski lift was installed in 1955, the resort has developed into a modern year-round destination. While skiing and sledging are the order of the day in winter, summer visitors enjoy hiking, biking, disc golf, and tubing, always surrounded by the spectacular natural scenery of the Highlands and the legendary Meall a' Bhùiridh mountain.
Upgrade for 365 days a year
The operators of Glencoe Mountain Resort were looking for a holistic access management concept for the 2023/24 winter season. Thanks to the many international references, the high standards of hardware and software, and the direct contact, Axess was chosen. "The installation of the new Axess ticketing system at Glencoe Mountain Resort has eliminated the early morning queues that have always been a feature of the resort on busy days. This has led to greater customer and staff satisfaction. Although it has been a real learning process this winter, we look forward to fully utilising the benefits of the system next winter. Martin and Bernhard, who carried out the installation, were absolutely great and were always available at short notice when we needed additional support," says Andy Meldrum, Managing Director of Glencoe Mountain Resort.
High-tech for the Highlands
The processes in Glencoe had to be considered symbiotically in order to realise the project. A holistic solution was needed that could cover everything from online ticket sales to on-site admission, and all this in a tight timeframe of just six weeks. Thanks to the integrated Axess solutions, Bernhard Stöllinger and his team were able to realise everything as desired: "The geographical location poses numerous problems for reliable communication, as the connection has to be established via a satellite broadband link. System reliability was therefore at the top of the list of requirements. The innovative Axess solution for ticketing and access management, which was developed specifically for such challenges, offers hybrid cloud and on-premise technology.
This means that visitors benefit from a constantly available online booking website and local automated facilities. These include the self-collection of purchased RFID tickets at the Axess PICK UP BOX 600, the rental of equipment with Axess RESORT.RENTAL, and the booking of individual lessons with Axess RESORT.LESSONS as well as access to the ski resort via Axess Smart Gates. Axess technology also extends to food and beverage management with RESORT.F&B in the mountain café. Axess is delighted to welcome Glencoe Ski as the first Scottish ski resort to join our family!" says Stöllinger.