It’s more than just 10 year jackets. Its about financial gains and investing.
Returning guests build a strong foundation of trust and reputation in a niche, and often high-investment industry. Loyal customers not only provide steady revenue through repeat bookings but also become passionate advocates, sharing their exceptional experiences with others. Fostering loyalty ensures long-term sustainability, helps maintain high service standards, and creates a vibrant community around your unique experience offerings.
Collecting data is critical and helps create personalized experiences, build meaningful relationships, and craft targeted offers that encourage guests to return.
STEP 1 – Capture guest info
- Personal Details: Name, contact information (email, phone), and birthday to personalize communication and offers.
- Preferences: Skiing ability, preferred terrain, favourite routes, and equipment preferences to tailor experiences.
- Booking History: Dates of past trips, frequency of visits, group size, and types of packages booked to understand guest behavior and upsell relevant options.
- Feedback and Satisfaction: Guest reviews, comments, and any complaints to improve services and address concerns promptly.
- Special Requests or Needs: Dietary restrictions, medical conditions, or special accommodations to ensure safety and comfort.
- Engagement Channels: Preferred communication method (email, phone, social media) to maintain effective and timely contact.
STEP 2 – Look at, analyze, and USE the info (examples)
- Loyalty tracking: by season, by visit, by days
- Demographic info: by age group, geographic, skier type
- Compile operations info – life time vertical, favourite runs, incident reports (great examples for the helicat industries)
- Summarize feedback and survey results – are you even sending these?
- Reports in seconds – by country, by age, by spend, booking history, favourite room and more are you still using salesforce and excel spreadsheets?
The helicat and fishing lodge industries are premium and experience-driven, making returning guests especially valuable:
1. Higher Lifetime Value (LTV)
- Cost per trip: Average heli or cat skiing trips cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000+ per day (depending on region and service level).
- Returning guests often book multiple trips over several years, increasing lifetime revenue substantially.
Monetized Insight:
- New guest: 1 trip × $2,000 = $2,000
- Returning guest: 3 trips over 3 years × $2,500 (due to add-ons) = $7,500+
2. Lower Acquisition Cost & Higher Retention ROI
- Marketing campaigns targeting new guests involve costly digital ads, partnerships, and influencer marketing. Acquisition costs can range from $500 to $1,000 per new guest because the market is niche and the ticket price is high.
- Retention strategies (VIP events, loyalty perks, personalized communication) cost far less per guest, estimated $100–$200 per returning guest per year.
Monetized Insight:
- Acquire one new guest = $700 avg. cost → $2,000 revenue
- Retain one guest = $150 avg. cost → $7,500 revenue (over 3 years)
- The ROI on retention is 5x higher or more.
3. Increased Spend on Add-ons and Upgrades
Returning guests often:
- Upgrade to private or small group tours.
- Add equipment rentals, lessons, or premium lodging.
- Buy branded gear and apparel.
Monetized Insight:
If a new guest spends $2,000 on the trip, a returning guest may spend $2,600–$3,000 on the same trip plus add-ons.
4. Referral Value & Community Influence
Community-driven experiences with high social proof value.
- Returning guests recommend to friends and ski groups, who tend to have similar high spending patterns.
- According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations.
Monetized Insight:
One returning guest could generate 1–2 new bookings annually worth $2,000+ each.
Summary Table for remote HeliCat and Fishing Lodge experiences
| Metric | New Guest | Returning Guest |
| Average Trip Cost | $2,000 | $2,500 + add-ons ($3,000) |
| Trips per 3 years | 1 | 3+ |
| Acquisition Cost | $500–$1,000 | $100–$200 (retention cost) |
| Total 3-year Revenue | $2,000 | $7,500+ |
| Referral Impact (annual) | Low | 1–2 new guests ($2,000+) |
We know that you know how to place extreme high priority on great service and an amazing guest experience. The Adventure Engine booking and guest management software will help you capture, analyze and use data. Then we will help you track loyalty because returning guests are far more valuable than one-time guests.
A few great reads and sources:
Skift – shift in luxury travel experiences
Skift – creating rewarding experience for the experiential traveller