Stowe Mountain Resort and LRA Worldwide Develop and Implement the Stowe "Ski Experience" Tracking Study

STOWE, Vermont/HORSHAM, Pennsylvania: March 8, 2006 – Stowe Mountain Resort, the legendary Vermont winter sports destination known as “the Ski Capital of the East,” has partnered with LRA Worldwide to develop and implement a guest satisfaction and loyalty research tracking study. The survey has been designed to measure the “Stowe Experience” across all of the various “touch points” at which the resort and its products, people and processes interact with guests.

The comprehensive study is being administered electronically to guests within days of their resort experience. The results register in real-time on a web-enabled reporting suite, and any negative survey results are e-mailed immediately to the appropriate Stowe representatives. This immediate flow of customer information and reporting functionality allows Stowe to keep a close eye on the day-to-day resort experience, respond immediately to any guest problems and correct any operational deficiencies noted in the feedback.

“The program has been a revelation,” reported Stowe’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Michael Colbourn. “The response rates have been great and our team has been very engaged in monitoring and acting on the data thus far.”

LRA Worldwide, one of the leading providers of Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions, has designed and developed a number of similar guest satisfaction and loyalty tracking programs for some of the leading names in sports, leisure and hospitality. Among the organizations that have benefited from LRA’s expertise in this area are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the PGA TOUR, Pestana Hotels and Resorts, Hyatt Vacation Ownership and the ARAMARK Corporation.

“Stowe took a bit of a leap of faith moving away from the winter resort research program that most ski areas use,” explained Jill Bronson, LRA’s Senior Research Consultant and the Stowe project lead. “I think they are just beginning to reap the benefits of the LRA approach. The combination of rich, high-quality data and real-time immediacy has been an eye-opener thus far for the Stowe team.”

“The Stowe Ski Experience tracking study has the potential to profoundly influence the way we interact with our guests and, more importantly, grow the resort experience in years to come,” Colbourn continued. “Collectively, we feel empowered to react quickly to individual guest needs and wants during the season, and are assured that a post-ski season analysis of the aggregated data will help steer the resort’s long-term guest strategy.”

About Stowe Mountain Resort:
The revitalization of Stowe Mountain Resort began last year with the addition of two new lifts, enhanced snowmaking and additional terrain at Spruce Peak. This is just the beginning of many significant changes to come on the once sleepy side of Stowe’s two mountains.

This year, the old Big Spruce Double chair was replaced with another state of the art high-speed quad - Sensation. In addition, top-to-bottom, fully-automated snowmaking coverage was added on Spruce Peak. A 111 million gallon snowmaking pond was also added, along with an expanded grooming fleet in order to provide the best possible snow surface resort wide.

Improvements to the mountain experience are just the beginning of what is now a $400,000,000 revitalization project that is transforming Stowe Mountain Resort into the premier winter destination in the East. A mountainside alpine village befitting the history and architecture that has made Stowe an internationally known resort was not easy to conceive, as it took about ten years before construction even began. The new village will have a base lodge, outdoor ice-skating, performing arts center, restaurants, retail shopping, a mountain links 18-hole golf course, and a Destination Resorts hotel and spa. Now in its second year, the development named “Spruce Peak at Stowe” is going vertical. To learn more about Stowe Mountain Resort, visit www.stowe.com.

About LRA Worldwide, Inc.:
LRA Worldwide, Inc., is a leading consulting, training and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in “operationalizing the brand” – turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA’s tactical CEM practice areas include Customer Experience Strategy Design, Standards and Practices Development, Organizational Development & Training, Customer and Employee Research and Quality Assurance Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific client tactical need. LRA has deep sector expertise in the automotive, financial services, healthcare, hospitality, leisure & real estate, retail, consumer goods & services, sports and entertainment, and travel and transportation industries. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com.

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