Val Thorens, the highest ski resort in Europe, has installed WiFi in all of its ski lifts - so visitors can stay connected on the ski slopes
Previously, Val Thorens only had a Wi-Fi network for internal administrative use. 3G roaming costs were proving very expensive for some tourists; more than 70 per cent of the resorts visitors bring mobile devices to the slopes and expect to access email for buisness and social networks.
Now the new service is accessible from eight in the morning to five in the evening, every day, for free!
So far, the WiFi has been an astounding success, as evidenced by the steadily increasing connection rate – which is up 30 per cent in January 2012 on January 2011. Currently the resort now sees around one hundred connections a day with each one averaging at least 10 minutes.
Due to its popularity, the wireless LAN will soon be avaialble in Orelle resort to allow tourists to connect from a restaurant terrace.
Eric Bonnel, Sales and Marketing Director of ski lift company SETAM, said: "We want to offer visitors the best services to facilitate their stay in the resort. We are anticipating their needs by offering them access to Wi-Fi on the ski lifts."
Val Thorens is part of the largest ski area in the world, The Three Valleys.
Inforamtion supplied by Travelbite