Question

1. Competitive Advantage

List and explain the components of competitive advantage for Canadian Mountain Holidays. You may research the company in any way you want to find this information

Answer 1

Components of competitive advantage for Canadian Mountain Holidays

One of the fastest growing sectors of the adventure tourism industry is heli-tourism. Under this catchy compound name, several subcategories have evolved, offering the public a diverse range of activities encompassing everything from heli-fly fishing to heli-picnicking. But the most popular are winter heli-skiing and summer helihiking. One company that specializes in both is Canadian Mountain Holiday (CMH). CMH, a helicopter pioneer, was founded in 1965 and operates in 11 mountain areas of South Eastern British Columbia.

CMH is several times the size of its next competitor in heli-ski visits, its operations include 30 helicopters, and seven remote lodges - many accessible in winter only by helicopter. There are three main strands to its business: heli-skiing; heli-hiking; and mountaineering.

Components of competitive advantage for Canadian Mountain Holidays

1.Environmental Policy

CMH have a specific environmental policy.The company has published a sustainability report, one of the first major tour operators in Canada to produce a corporate report of this kind. CMH has implemented a program called ‘Second Nature’, an in-house comprehensive program of social and environmental initiatives which is an attempt to put all of their environmental and sustainability projects under one umbrella.

The company is very often a source of information about where things are going to;and because they are proactive, it has given them credibility in Government.

2.Garbage and Waste Management

CMH claims to reduce waste at every opportunity. For example in the Adamant Lodge in the Selkirk Mountains, food waste (that used to be consumed by lodge pigs until footand-mouth scares encouraged CMH to change procedures) is eliminated by using a prototype composting system.

CMH implemented the ‘President’s Award for Environmental Initiative’, a program which empowers all staff to take a look at what they can change in their own jobs that will help the environment.The company also employs the latest technology in sewage treatment and use only environmentally friendly soaps and paper.

3.Fuel Management

Each of the helicopter fuelling locations use leading edge technology to prevent fuel spills from reaching the ground or the water. These systems include the use of engineered containment berms and a state of the art emergency spill response system. Use of the helicopters is minimized wherever possible as this is the greatest direct cost of operations. The fuel for the helicopters is stored at the lodges, and at remote fuel caches, using leading-edge storage facilities.

4.Energy and Recycling

CMH continually seek to reduce the amount of fuel used for heating and power. For example, propane use has been reduced significantly by recycling the heat produced by generators to heat the water in the lodges. Most of the lodges are powered by diesel generators, while propane is used for heating and cooking. By using heat exchangers on the generators, they save about 30,000 litres of propane per area, per year. And by using low-flow shower-heads, energy efficient light bulbs, new methods of handling laundry, treating waste water and a full recycling program, they reduce energy consumption even further.

5.Forest Harvesting and Trail Construction

Guides at CMH are trained in the latest low-impact travel techniques for alpine areas, and they share these approaches with the visitors. In the summer they hike on routes that are hardy, such as rocky ridges and dry meadows. For the winter products, CMH works with local forestry companies coordinating efforts to harvest in ways that work best for skiers while reducing the visual impact of harvesting. Landing and pick-up locations are also placed in areas of minimum impact on the forest. To help rejuvenate the forests, the company plants a tree each year for each hiker and skier.

6.Community Relations

CMH is also committed to contributing to, and remaining, an important part of the communities in which it operates. The company supports a range of community projects, sport teams and education institutions. In response to the tragic death of former President of CMH, the Mark Kingsbury Foundation was formed to act as a long-term legacy to support Kingsbury’s vision and passion towards the environment. Employees have taken the lead in getting the Foundation up and running, and some of its purposes are: to encourage, support and nurture projects and initiatives designed to protect and enhance the ecological and social components of sustainable tourism; to provide environmental education programs for tourism guides; and to support research projects designed to improve operational practices for tourism operations from an environmental perspective.

7.Education and training

The company is committed to ensuring that guests who come from all over the world to experience the mountains will have the opportunity to learn more about these special areas.” In addition, CMH wants to share this knowledge with educational institutions, community groups and other users of these special areas.

To run their operation CMH employs high number of people, and training is taken very seriously. Guides are encouraged to share with the guests their techniques for low-impact travel in alpine areas, and each year, the company brings in experts to guide training to ensure that guides are kept up-to-date

8.Wildlife

CMH has trained its guides to keep a vigilant watch for wildlife. The guides plan their flying and skiing routes to avoid contact, and all wildlife sightings are provided annually to the Government of British Columbia for their overall management purposes. They use computer software to map wildlife sightings, and to maintain a sense, over time, about the areas where animals spend their time at various times of the year. CMH also looks to external biologists to give them a sense of how best to behave in these habitats.

9.Vegetation

In the summer, existing trails are used where possible, and use is dispersed throughout each operating area so that impacts on fragile alpine environments are minimized. The company claims that the potential impact on the land in the winter is negligible because visitors leave only tracks in the snow. They also have the ABLE (Applying Backcountry Landscape Evaluations) project underway, where they are measuring and re-measuring a series of permanent plots in their hiking areas, and looking at how these areas might be changing (or not) over time as a result of their activities.