Interview with the founders of MYSKITICKET.COM

MUNICH - Aug. 17, 2015 - PRLog -- Snowpass GmbH launched the platform myskiticket.com dedicated to winter sports, where skiers can purchase online ski tickets, rent equipment and book ski lessons.

How did you come up with the idea of selling ski pass online?
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “Well, we are all passionate skiers. Normally, during winter, we grasp every possibility we have to enjoy one weekend on the snow. Oftentimes together. Last year we decided to spend one weekend together in Austria, in St. Anton. We met up in Munich, very early in the morning and took our car. We really wanted to be the first ones on the slopes. There is nothing better than skiing on an empty slop. Anyway, we arrived on time at St. Anton but we were not prepared for the situation we had to face. It took us almost 45 minutes to buy our tickets. By 10 a.m., we were already stressed and we haven’t even touched the snow. That day we started thinking about possible solutions for the long queue at the sales counter. It would have been so much easier to buy the tickets online in advanced. “

Did you always want to found your own start-up?
Richard Seitz, co-founder: “I always wanted to create something on my own. To develop an idea from the very beginning and to be witness of its growth. But no, of course, at the beginning it was just three guys hoping to improve the world a bit”.

What exactly is myskiticket about?
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “The idea is very easy. Myskiticket is a sort of ski holiday planner. Before actually going on holiday, skiers will be allowed to purchase every relevant aspect online. Ski passes, rental equipment and ski lessons can be purchased online.”

A major advantage.
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “Indeed. Our goal is to save customers from the queuing at the sales counter, at the ski rental shop and in the skiing school. No more wasted time.”

Some ski areas already sell passes online. How is your portal different?
Max Ehret, IT-Manager: “There are some relevant differences. Our portal gives actually the possibility to compare hundreds of different ski resorts. Let us suppose you want to go skiing in the Alps, in Tiyol. It’s Thursday and, on Saturday, you plan on leaving. As it is well known, Tyrol has more than one ski resorts. How do you decide? Well, there are many factors to take into account: snow conditions, weather forecast, ski pass prices, number of open lifts, availability of ski rental, ski courses for your kids. And what if you want to stay for a couple of nights? Eventually, to check all of these aspects, a skier would have had to go to every single website: weather forecast, ski resort, ski school, ski rental shop etc. In addition, sometimes happens that information is missing or that a shop has no online shop.

Through myskiticket it will be possible to easily compare all the relevant information and to buy all you need in one only page. This is our strength.”

Do skiers have to pay more to buy tickets online?
Richard Seitz, co-founder: “Not at all. The use of our platform is entirely free for end-consumers and the website in as user-friendly as possible.”

Do skiers already buy ski passes online?
Richard Seitz, co-founder of Snowpass: “It depends. In some areas, like Switzerland or France, we noticed a strong tendency toward online buying. In other areas, like Italy or Austria for instance, the process is a little bit slower. In general, however, skiers are not aware of the possibility of buying tickets online. Before launching our idea, we talked to many skiers. They did not think about the possibility to buy tickets online, but they were definitely interested.”

How will you make them aware of it?
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “Through a focused marketing campaign we will be able to make costumers aware of the possibility of buying tickets online. The general tendency present in the market to buy online plays already in our favour.”

Will an increase of interests affect your strategy?
Max Ehret, IT-Manager: “Over the next winter season, we are expecting to reach 1 – 2 Million users. We are prepared to handle this number of users. Clearly, the more the interest rises, the better deals we could offer.”

Are ski resorts showing interest?
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “Yes, many have already contacted us. Schools and rental equipment too. We are moving very fast”.

What is your next step?
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “Marketing campaigns. Definitely. Consumers have to become aware of the possibility of comparing ski resorts’ conditions and to book all they need online.”

Your customers come from all around Europe. Do you consider cultural differences?
Richard Seitz, co-founder: “Of course. As a starter, anew version of the website, translated into 4 different languages (German, English, Italian and French) will be active later this week. Moreover, we will try to adapt our campaigns to the own culture of the ski resorts. Also for this reason, we decided to gather an international team: a group of experienced young professional that will be able to address best the needs of different customers.”

How did you meet?
Dominik Cadmus, co-founder: “Our families new each other. They used to take us skiing together”.

About Snowpass

The Munich-based start-up Snowpass was founded in 2015 by three passionate skiers. It specialized in the enablement of online sales for ski tickets, to allow the customer to avoid queuing. In order to market this idea, the internet platform www.myskiticket.com was created.