Whether skiing in winter or cycling in summer, St. Corona am Wechsel inspires its guests all year round. Together with Axess, the area has converted ticket sales to 100% online, as well as allowing customers to pick up tickets completely contactless.

It's a gorgeous ski resort in winter and a sports paradise for bikers in summer. The adventure arena St. Corona am Wechsel has long known how to completely inspire guests of all ages. Whether easy slopes for the little ones or a bobsled run for the particularly brave, on a total area of 70,000m2 no wishes remain unfulfilled and nothing stands in the way of a ski day for the whole family.

Originally, the smart systems from Axess were only planned for the lifts during summer operation. The main aim was to push online bookings and to be able to check guests' tickets at any time and from anywhere. In both areas the Axess HANDHELDS was a perfect fit. The mobile readers can be used for ticket control and can be used effortlessly throughout the day thanks to their low weight.

The robust AX500 Smart Gates NG Flap provides access to the area. Antennas on the gates detect a valid RFID ticket and trigger the opening. A sensor detects when a person is approaching and opens the barrier. Another sensor in turn detects when the person has passed through and closes the gate again. The whole process works without touching the gate: Perfect for contactless operation!

Despite the restrictions due to Covid-19, St. Corona is not despondent, but saw the situation as a new opportunity. Together with Axess, regular ticket sales could be shifted 100% to the online shop. The cash desks are now only used for special requests, such as rebooking a ticket that was previously purchased incorrectly. Set in scene by a huge wooden passageway, Axess PICK UP BOXes 600 ensure the fast and contactless pick up of tickets. They offer guests the possibility to print a ticket previously purchased online in a matter of seconds, using a completely contactless process. You simply hold the received QR code on the cell phone or voucher to the scanner and your ticket lands in your hands.
The PICK UP BOXes fulfill a kind of "drive-in" function, whereby guests have to walk away to the front after receiving their ticket and no traffic jam can occur. Guests are informed about how the ticket vending machines work online when they buy their tickets. In addition, the ant mascot "Corona" and, on busy days, employees of the company provide on-site information.

For an even distribution of guests over the entire area, they have thought of something very special. When buying a ticket, guests can choose the period they would like to ride. Guests can choose between the morning, the afternoon and an afternoon extension. Of course, there is only a certain amount of tickets for each time period.

Karl Morgenbesser, managing director of the adventure arena, sees great potential in the new concept for the future: "It was always said that guests don't want to buy their tickets online. This is a complete misconception, all the feedback we have received has been positive throughout. The online purchase of tickets as well as the division of the day into several time periods was more than enthusiastically accepted. The guests hardly have to queue anymore due to the distribution and can therefore spend more time on the slopes. With the afternoon extension, guests can ski until 7:00 p.m. thanks to our floodlights. A quota system and guest control should, or will, lead to more customer satisfaction with increasing revenues."

For the future, a lot is expected from the cooperation with Axess. And not only in the areas of ticketing and access management. The entire mountain is planned to be offered to guests as a sort of platform, where they can repeatedly book and buy the exact activities they like to do or require online.