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Volunteers needed for study on price sensitivity of the UK ski market

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Dear skier/snowboarder,

How sensitive to price are UK skiers and snowboarders?

I am inviting you to participate in my research project to survey skiers and snowboarders from the UK. The aim of the research for my Masters dissertation is to investigate how currency exchange rates influence demand for French winter sports resorts. It is to be examined how price-sensitive the UK ski market is and to what extent cost functions as a motivator for skiing in the French Alps. My research is a crucial part of my Masters Dissertation. I would like to understand the relationship between destination choice, currency exchange rates and perceived value for money.

I have included a link to a survey about skiing in the French Alps and your last ski holiday which I am hoping you will complete online. This survey is easy to fill out and should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. You will be asked about questions about your ski/snowboarding holiday(s) in winter 2009/10, 4 questions about skiing/snowboarding in France as well as 4 general questions about you.

You are eligible for participation if …

• You went skiing/snowboarding in winter 2009/10
• You are at least 18 years old
• You are a UK citizen or you have lived in the UK for at least 3 years

Then please choose one of the following links…

• If you went skiing in France at least once in winter 2009/10, please click on the following link…

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KCJKLJ_89ad0b6a

• If you didn’t go skiing/snowboarding in France in winter 2009/10, please click on the following link…

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KCKOKL_903af721

There are no risks to your privacy if you decide to join my study by completing this survey. You are not asked for personal details such as name and address and your answers cannot be linked to you personally. All information is confidential and will only be used for statistical purposes.

Thank you very much for your help.

Kind Regards,

Christina
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
ChristinaB, Done - but the question about how much you would pay for varous types of holidays is a bit of a faff having to keep scrolling across to read all of the text
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Hi Christina

Just a thought, although you will probably already thought of it, if you're looking at price sensitivity you haven't included any mention of countries that would appeal to "price sensitive" customers such as Bulgaria and Andorra etc.

I don't know if this would fit with your research.

Steve
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Your invitation seems very similar to the survey you offered nearly a month ago on 5 July, see http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=65098 ? What has changed since the first survey and why should we have another go? Why have you posted this invitation in two places on Snowheads, here and http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=65594 ?
ski holidays
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
ChristinaB, I hope the questionaire has been a success, but am surprised your supervisor allowed it to go off half cocked! Questions do not make much sense to any of the skiing public and are not relevant! Gobbledegook!

That said it may be helpful to the industry if you start from scratch and get the questions less verbose and more applicable to the whole industry!
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Sorry, I started off on your questionnaire, but the page asking me to guess prices of holidays was lost on me... obviously need to have more skiing holidays so I know what price to expect! Having never flown on a skiing holiday, or stayed in half the places listed, I couldn't really answer!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Cool. A new monthly survey...
snow conditions
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
ChristinaB, I can't answer the questions about how much would you be prepared to pay for various holiday types. Partly as not clear if you are looking for overall price or a price per person.

Plus what do you mean prepared to pay - I'm not prepared to pay much at all, I know that means I won't get a catered chalet in Verbier, but that's fine I don't want a catered chalet in Vebier.

To me a better question would be - what do you pay/prepared to pay and what do you get
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Boris, on the "prepared to pay" question I answered 0 for the room with no facilties - I just wouldn't do it. The survey insisted I answer so I put in 000 and it liked that ok wink
ski holidays
 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Looked at the survey but as the answers are all seem to be about using a tour operator and no reference to anyone booking independently didn't do it. Maybe should have added some questions on what would persuade the independent traveler to use a tour operator would have been useful.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Call me cynical but are you entirely independent of TOs? Curious choice of subject matter for a survey and overly concentrated on France.
ski holidays
 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I've completed this but didn't answer the question about how much I'd be prepared to pay for the listed holiday types. None of them were holidays I'd consider at any price, they were either the wrong type of accommodation or wrong departure airport. They are complete deal-breakers for me. I was just trying to be as honest as possible. I do wonder what the OP is trying to achieve with this research.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Completed. The questions comparing my attitude to this year's trip to last year's didn't specify whether 1 was 'agree' or 'disagree'. It was probably the same as previous screens but I'd already forgotten which way round they were and could't go <back> to check Embarassed

There's a question about the quality of 'instructure'. Is this supposed to be 'infrastructure' or 'instruction'?
snow conditions
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I agree with fatbob. Surely this is just a piece of marketing for the French ski tourist board (or whoever they are) to try to gauge how people feel about them regarding their pricing structure.

I love surveys, especially anonymous ones. Making up answers is always good fun Toofy Grin

holidayloverxx and queen bodecia's approach to deal breakers seems curious though. If I was offered a corner of someone's broom cupboard for a week including flights from Edinburgh (nothing wrong with it - just a long way from where I live), transfers and lift pass it would have a value to me albeit not a very high value. The fact that I might choose not to take up such offers when I am actually choosing a trip is a different matter.

For example, if queen bodecia was offered the same holiday that she has booked for next year (I forget where but I seem to recall she has told us) except that it departed from Bristol, if it was half the price why would you not take it? What if it was 1/4 of the price? or £10?

I can see that this might be different if you are choosing between TO/flight and DIY/self drive as they are not comparable but the trade off between hotel/chalet/self catering is certainly not as clear cut in my mind (albeit that I definitely prefer some to others and that preference affects the price I'm prepared to pay).
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Tiger2, personally I wouldn't consider self catering at all, and I would only consider a chalet if everything else was bang on brief. I'm not keen on chalets and would always prefer a hotel, but it's not a total deal-breaker. Regarding departure airports anything outside of a 2-hour drive away is not a consideration. These are just my personal requirements from a holiday. Everyone is different.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Tiger2, I can afford better than a B&B with no facilties, thus such a deal has no value for me. That doesn't mean to say I always go 4* and indeed I don't. I'm very fond of Mountain Sun in Tignes which is cheap & cheerful but you do get ensuite facilities and a very good dinner.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I can't disagree with what you both say - after all, as queen bodecia says, everyone is different but I've been on package deals to places that have been really cheap (£89 pp for example) and literally used them as a cheap flight/transfer package and actually stayed somewhere else or booked a return flight half way through the week and left, thereby getting a very cheap short break. So even though I don't want the package and wouldn't choose it the "deal" is worth something to me - even if it is only the value of the lift pass!

But it's a bit tricky being able to describe all that as part of an "agree strongly - disagree strongly" kind of survey.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Tiger2, well that's completely different - I would do the same
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
Got fed up with it and abandoned it half way through. In fact I've come to the conclusion that all post graduate surveys have to be confusing and tedious and will abstain from future ones.
ski holidays
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I gave up. Strange questions. After all - did the exchange rate in France live up to my expectations? Well, yes. 100% I expected and got a frighteningly poor rate. I imagine nearly every other UK-based sH was, like me, well aware of what the exchange rate was going to be.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
yes, the questions only "fit" quite a narrow cross section of skiers. I couldn't get past the second question asking when my trips were. I had two trips, the first from Christmas to early February, the second from early March to late April. And as achilles notes, the question about exchange rates is just plain daft.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
The question "was the service/product better or worse than expected" is certainly a poor question for the reasons given by achilles but is asked by a lot of service providers.

However, if you were a tourist board trying to attract people to your area then a question about whether the exchange rate is a factor in someone choosing or not choosing your area over somewhere else (USA or Canada for example) would be useful. Obviously you can't change the exchange rate yourself but you would know that your "offer" was not the reason people weren't coming to your country to ski (or, in the case of France, it might be Toofy Grin ).
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Ashamed to admit that I too gave up. Too long and an odd structure. I think a few phone chats with skiers/boarders and ski companies could have helped create a far more logical and involving survey that with the capacity to generate some interesting data.
ski holidays
 You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I was doing alright until I came to the question "when did you book the different elements...If you went on multiple trips during the 2009/10 season, please consider your MAIN snow sports holiday of the season"

They're all main ones! I'm afraid I too gave up then as it would have just been making up an answer
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I suppose to answer the question on price sensitivity:

I'm not - I will sell my children to medical research/slave labour before I stop taking ski trips
ski holidays
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
cathy, I struggled a bit too, but decided to choose the 1 trip out of 5 where my husband was with me Little Angel
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
holidayloverxx, I was going to put the one without the OH Toofy Grin but purely as it was the most expensive of course Little Angel
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
interesting survey - very subjective
snow report
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
OK done it - if the helmets survey was controversial this was on a whole other level. I found the package pricing exercise bizarre and if I take it at face value was unable to answer sensibly many questions. Generally I'd rate France as poor value for money relative to many other locations - it doesn't mean that I wouldn't choose to ski there, accessibility, length of season, snowfall all have a bearing.
ski holidays
 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I've done it. Very odd. Like holidayloverxx I wouldn't stay anywhere without an en-suite bath/shower. But one question said en-suite for one holiday, no en-suite for another and didn't mention it at all for another Puzzled . And how do they know whether it's the lack of a bathroom, the presence of the double bed, the catering/lack of, the inconvenient airport or just the fact that you've been to the resort before and hated it, for deciding that you wouldn't pay anything for that particular holiday. Totally random rolling eyes Puzzled
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

but am surprised your supervisor allowed it to go off half cocked! Questions do not make much sense to any of the skiing public and are not relevant!

Quote:

Got fed up with it and abandoned it half way through. In fact I've come to the conclusion that all post graduate surveys have to be confusing and tedious and will abstain from future ones


.... welcome to my world rolling eyes

Apologies to ChristinaB, as I don't know her, nor have I looked at her survey...and I guess that you will be a lovely person, and good luck with the survey and all...but...sigh..

I would assume that moderators etc have given this the go ahead. For example, if you decided you wanted to withdraw your data (a standard request in most research) [perhaps in a fit conscience because you thought it may screw up the data analysis or whatever], you may not be able to do that.
The research may be crucial to the dissertation [kind of goes without saying] but this can be viewed as coercion of participants.
The anonymity thing is also great, as we have absolutely no idea who this person is, nor for what purposes this information is going to be used.

Hmm. Like I say, welcome to my world...
Evil or Very Mad
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