Digital tools and data give destinations and tourism service providers the opportunity to reinterpret appreciation towards their guests. Those who collect relevant data and evaluate it correctly get a better picture of their guests' needs. Destinations, in turn, can use these new insights to target specific segments through targeted communication and delivering the right mix of offers to intensify guest relations. For the destination, this results in increased customer lifetime value and higher customer loyalty.
Now, at the end of the 2022 bike season, we would like to present the exciting case of the Top Rider Program from Bike Kingdom and share it as a success story for riders as well as destinations.
The Top Rider Program - The Club of the 20 Best
The Bike Kingdom App records thousands of trails and over 100,000 bike kilometers within a season. As in most destinations, a few particularly active guests are responsible for a large proportion of the kilometers ridden on the mountain as part of Bike Kingdom.
A look at the statistics clearly shows: the most active 20 bikers account for a significant share of the total trackings on the Bike Kingdom app. Here's how they ride together per season:
- over 6'500 trails
- over 1'250'000 downhill vertical meters
- a distance of over 10'000 km (as far as the distance from Lenzerheide to Beijing)
An incredible achievement and a remarkable commitment to Bike Kingdom. Thanks to the collection of trail data via the Bike Kingdom App and the Omni Suite running as the technology platform in the background, Lenzerheide Marketing & Support AG can identify the most active riders and reward them with access to the most exclusive club in the whole Kingdom: The Top Rider Program.
In spring 2022, the first generation of Top Riders was awarded for their achievements in the 2021 season. The deciding factor for selection is who rides the most trails or explores the most different trails over the entire season. The top 10 riders of these two leaderboards can look forward to fame, honor and exclusive benefits in the following year.
New Top Riders are personally informed on their achievement and receive as a welcome gift, high-quality wooden box with presents such as a 3-day pass for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Lenzerheide, day tickets for the Bike Kingdom and other non-purchasable products from relevant business partners. In addition, everyone receives a "Top Rider" badge on the user profile in the app. True to the motto of the Bike Kingdom - appreciation lived in an online and offline combination.
Announcement Top Rider 2022 (Source)
Guest perspective: Gamification fun, community & attractive benefits
Martin & Tanja, both Top Riders of the 2022 season, are enthusiastic about the program and the Bike Kingdom app.
Martin especially appreciates the "combination of digital game world and outdoor activity" and the "high-quality wooden box with attractive prizes". For Tanja, the "community feeling" is in the foreground. Top Rider Tobias also thinks it's great how the destination supports the most active bikers in their passion and has set himself the goal of making the Top Riders again next year.
The combination of playful competition with other bikers throughout the season and the attractive benefits motivate many bikers to ride more in order to make it into the top 20 by the end of the season.
Insider Tip: If you also use the Bike Kingdom app, follow the top riders now via the "Follow" button in their profile and track their progress throughout the season.
Destinations perspective: reward loyalty & win ambassadors
For the destination Lenzerheide, the Top Rider Program means one thing above all: you can identify the most active & loyal customers and reward them with the appreciation they deserve. Marc Schlüssel, CMO / Deputy Managing Director of Lenzerheide Marketing & Support AG, describes it this way:
"With the Top Rider program, we can specially reward particularly active bikers and show appreciation for their high loyalty. Many of these "Club Members" become ambassadors who proudly represent the Bike Kingdom to the entire biker community."
The Top Rider program exemplifies the power that collecting the right data and analyzing it in a targeted way can bring to a destination. Thanks to the information collected by the Bike Kingdom App, Bike Kingdom can quickly and easily analyze its guest structures and do so with a precision that previously existing "traditionally" collected information did not allow. In addition, the direct exchange with the top riders as "regular guests" of the destination is promoted. Thanks to the program, they feel taken seriously and give honest and straightforward feedback. With the decision to specially reward the most active 20 bikers as Top Riders, Lenzerheide Marketing & Support AG has proven: newly gained knowledge can be successfully transformed into a higher appreciation towards their customers.
Who will be Top Rider in 2023?
Soon, this year's Bike Kingdom season will be officially over and the leaderboards will be settled. To make it this season, the hurdle is at least 500 trails ridden or at least 75 different trails explored. For most of us, the hope for the coming season remains...
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