At a time when skiers’ expectations are changing and digital technologies are becoming increasingly prevalent, mapping is entering a new era with Itinemap: an interactive experience that is personalised, connected to the terrain in real time and designed to meet today’s needs.
Renowned resorts have already been won over. In Spain, Baqueira Beret deployed Itinemap at the start of its winter season, integrating the solution into its mobile app with impressive results from day one. In France, the Compagnie des Alpes took the plunge, notably with Serre Chevalier and Pralognan-la-Vanoise. Serre Chevalier and Pralognan-la-Vanoise, convinced by the speed of implementation, the flexibility of the tool, and its ability to enrich the customer experience while streamlining the management of the ski area. streamlining the management of the ski area.
Itinemap, a new way to find your way around and experience the mountains
Itinemap’s approach is to transcend the artistic representation of a station by equipping it with the technological power of modern cartography. The result? A map that is accurate, lively, aesthetically pleasing, but also capable of guiding visitors with the help of tailor-made itineraries or recommendations. capable of guiding visitors with the help of tailor-made itineraries or recommendations from the managers themselves, depending on the number of visitors, the amount of sunshine or the type of slopes. pistes.
For younger generations, particularly digital natives, this approach is a given. Parents no longer have to guide every trip to the resort: Generation Z consults its Itinemap on their mobile phones to find out in real time which slopes are open, how long a route will take, where the restaurants or activity areas are located, and much more.
Connected to tools such as Digisnow (light panels in stations displaying real-time data), Itinemap centralises information and displays it in a fluid, intuitive environment with high visual impact. For managers, it also provides an opportunity to monitor usage via heat maps, optimise flows, and optimise usage. usage via heat maps, optimise flows, and better understand behaviour on the site.
It also provides real peace of mind: thanks to a precise geolocation system (six times more accurate than standard systems), skiers can locate themselves accurately on the map, either continuously or on demand. locate themselves accurately on the map, either continuously or on demand. This is a relief, especially in large resorts or those you are visiting for the first time. Unlike systems based on community contributions, Itinemap relies on official geographical data from resorts, obtained from geographic information systems (GIS). This guarantees a perfect match with the reality on the ground and enhanced safety for both users and operators.
Baqueira Beret: when the interactive map becomes second nature from day one
In the Spanish Pyrenees, the resort of Baqueira Beret was one of the first to place its trust in Itinemap. For Pep Casasayas Palà, the resort’s marketing manager, the choice was an obvious one: “It’s a solution that people have been waiting for for a long time. It responded to a real demand on the ground: to be able to locate yourself in real time, know what is open or closed, and easily plan your route according to the conditions.”
The integration took place in an already structured environment, with a domain management system connected to Digisnow (Socialbox). The collaborative work with the Itinemap team was particularly appreciated: “Communication was very simple and smooth. We requested changes, and they were made. Itinemap is a young company, but their level of professionalism is impressive.”
The project was ambitious from the outset, with a clear desire to test the solution quickly: “It was a risk, but with a solution that was almost finalised. Today, the results are excellent. When our customers open the station’s app, they have direct access to the Itinemap, which is updated in real time.”
From the very first day the station opened, the figures speak for themselves: over 1,200 Itinemap map openings. The map is immediately visible each time the application is launched, which made it easy to use. At the same time, the resort tested a new strategy: using QR codes to replace or supplement the distribution of paper maps, with the aim of increasing the use of digital maps and encouraging eco-friendly behaviour.
Pep Casasayas Palà explains the station’s plan for rolling out Itinemap: “It’s still too early to draw any definitive conclusions. We deliberately launched it quietly, without much communication during the first few days of opening in early December. With Christmas approaching, we have just informed all Baqueira Pass holders. In February, we should have a better idea of how it is being used and what improvements can be made.”
For Baqueira Beret, this innovation embodies a genuine technological strategy, designed to add value to the customer experience and enrich knowledge of behaviour in the ski area. Pep concludes: “It’s an accessible solution, whether for a small or large resort. And above all, it’s a long-term project, with data to be enriched year after year.”
Today, Itinemap provides access to valuable usage data, such as heatmaps that show the most frequented areas, or the points where users most often request to be located. All of this is done in strict compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. This concrete data is useful for improving signage, streamlining traffic flow and enriching the tourist offering.
Serre-Chevalier and Pralognan-la-Vanoise: digital mapping designed for a large group
On the side of the Compagnie des Alpes, Anthony Lathière, Marketing & Digital Manager within the Ski Areas BU, shares some particularly valuable feedback. He recalls that “it has now been more than three years since we developed our own white label mobile application, with a deliberately simple design to meet customer expectations.”
It was in this context that the decision to collaborate with Itinemap became obvious: “They have developed a product that perfectly meets our needs and the direction we need to take. On the one hand, our users are always looking for new services tailored to their needs, and on the other hand, we have a duty to bring these services to life and make them dynamic, reflecting the vitality of what happens on the ground during the ski season.”
Among the features that quickly resonated with the teams, the administration site emerged as one of the most relevant tools. Anthony Lathière explains: “We have identified several specific situations where the responsiveness of the plan update feature really comes into its own. For example, when a skier wants to use a slope that is temporarily in poor condition, we can update the characteristics in just a few clicks, translate them into several languages, and distribute this information to all users. Or, from one season to the next, when a slope’s level is reassessed, the tool makes it very easy to change without going through cumbersome processes. The changes are immediately visible to all users.”
Furthermore, thanks to the administration site, Itinemap also allows you to update the GPS tracks of the slopes and lifts, as well as their artistic representations on the map. Whether for technical or marketing teams, the tool meets everyone’s needs and centralises complementary types of information that were never available before. All this is done under the constant supervision of the domain manager.
A second, even more structural issue concerns the use of the Itinemap API. “Being able to freely exploit data is strategic for us. We were able to feed all the information we needed into our application. Thanks to this tool, it opens up new perspectives for future functional developments. We are considering new personalised navigation and flow management services, as well as marketing activities and ways to promote our properties, so that every customer can enjoy their stay to the fullest.”
Even more remarkable is that it is in the very process of digitising the piste map that Itinemap has managed to bring about a real breakthrough. Anthony shares an insightful observation: “Digitising a piste map is a complex task. We quickly realised that these representations are often inaccurate due to perspective distortions. When this erroneous data is transferred to a digital environment, it leads to inaccuracies. With Itinemap, we work as closely as possible to the terrain. Their triangulation system allows users to position themselves accurately and find their way around smoothly.”
The implementation of the solution was extremely rapid : in Serre-Chevalier, Itinemap was deployed in less than two weeks. This efficiency can be explained by the agility of the young company: “We are dealing with a responsive team that is directly in tune with our needs. They know how to offer concrete solutions and develop the product in line with our expectations. Our teams immediately noticed an increase in agility and productivity, and are already seeing the possibility of implementing new use cases. It’s a real asset for improving the customer experience.”
Finally, Anthony Lathière concludes by broadening the perspective to the entire group: “At Serre Chevalier, we have always had a pioneering spirit. It is important to challenge established models. As part of the resumption of operations at Pralognan la Vanoise, Itinemap is strengthening and optimising our processes. Each technological success fuels our thinking about wider deployment in other resorts.”
Itinemap: a deeply human technological vision
Behind the technological innovation driven by Itinemap lies, above all, a profoundly human vision. All feedback converges on a shared observation: the Itinemap team does not simply offer a powerful and innovative solution: it supports its partners with active listening, constant responsiveness, and a remarkable ability to adapt.
As highlighted by Thomas, co-founder of Itinemap: “Each station receives individual support. We take the time to listen, understand and, above all, train the teams. This is essential for us. We make ourselves available, we are educational and quick to execute.”
This proximity to local areas and desire to collaborate are an integral part of Itinemap’s DNA. The model is based on solid values, starting with open and responsible data management: data remains the exclusive property of the stations and is accessible at any time via API, without any restrictions.
And Olivier, co-founder of Itinemap, agrees: “This is a key point for us. Bringing together and making available all this data, whether it’s GIS, marketing, design or data. Everything must remain accessible. That’s also why we took the time, in addition to the API, to design an administration site for teams, allowing them to bring the plan to life with great responsiveness, even without technical skills. It’s a real plus for stations.”
In addition, there is clear pricing with no hidden costs, designed to suit the budgetary reality of each ski area, large or small. Finally, the user experience is at the heart of the system: Itinemap does not offer a fixed solution, but a flexible tool that can be adapted to the topography, the graphic identity of the area and the specific uses of each resort.
Much more than a plan: a strategic lever for connected stations
With Itinemap, the piste map goes beyond its primary function as a navigation tool to become a truly interactive dashboard. It offers an immersive, contextualised experience, enriched by dynamic data, intelligent itineraries and an accurate representation of the terrain.
For ski area managers, Itinemap is a strategic tool on several levels. It helps to streamline skier flows, avoiding sensitive areas prone to congestion. It also helps to promote less frequented areas by directing visitors to new areas of interest. Finally, by collecting real-time usage data, it provides greater visibility into user behaviour, thereby facilitating the operational management of the ski area.
As Thomas summarises:
“We firmly believe that maps can become a central tool in the tourist experience, without ever losing the soul of the place.”
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DID YOU KNOW?
The Discover licence, at €32 per month excluding VAT, allows you to launch a simple, fully manageable interactive map, ideal for small stations or discovery purposes.
The Explorer package Explorer, at €232 per month excluding VAT, adds real-time geolocation of users and significantly improves the browsing experience, making it a suitable solution for areas where it makes sense to facilitate location tracking on a map.
Finally, the Pioneer package, at €632 per month excluding VAT, includes on-demand route calculation and the contribution of routes for exploring the area, usage statistics, priority support and training, for stations that wish to fully exploit the full potential of intelligent interactive mapping.
These three basic packages can be supplemented by four options to tailor the tool’s capabilities to each individual need. Multi-user contribution with rights management, translations and heatmaps. Additional maps are available for complementary activities such as cross-country skiing, bike parks, hiking trails, etc.
