Great Wolf Resorts

Source: Retail Digital

Date :01/06/2007 13:25:45

Great Wolf Resorts asks, why travel so far? High-end family vacations can be close to home.

Written and produced by James Buchanan and Nick Ledue

If you haven’t yet heard of Great Wolf Resorts you no doubt will, as this unique and growing company offers families a high-end vacation experience close to home at a reasonable price. In fact, the experience this chain of resorts offers can best be compared to a land-based cruise.

“Yes, that is something I have heard before,” says Kim Schaefer, COO of Great Wolf Resorts. “When you look at the diversity of amenities that we offer at all of our resorts the experience of our guests could be compared to what a cruise line offers. The major difference, though, is that we are a lot closer to home.”

The Vision

Through its history, Great Wolf Resorts has been through a series of iterations leading to its current incarnation. It began as a development company, then evolved into a hospitality company, before its management team came up with the Great Wolf Lodge concept and began to grow it into a national brand.

The initial resort, located in Wisconsin, was purchased from the family that originally developed it. Great Wolf Resorts, says Schaefer, realized that the combination of their company’s development and operational abilities could allow them to expand upon the one-site concept into a chain of branded resorts.

Off and running, the company took on the moniker of Great Wolf Resorts and started an ambitious building plan. From the one resort the company has grown to include nine resorts with two more on the way. According to the company, over the next four to six years the company hopes to build another 10 to 15. In all cases, the guiding philosophy is to put the emphasis on high-quality economic deals in high-demand markets rather than focusing on a specified quantity or rigid timeframe.

The key to achieving the above, says Schaefer, is finding strong locations within what the company terms “tourism districts.” According to Schaefer, tourism districts are defined primarily through the numbers of a certain area such as the economics of the families that are coming to that area and for what purpose. “The tourism numbers of most cities and areas are readily available,” says Schaefer. “We also don’t want to come in and compete against something else. What we really like to do is be part of the community and compliment the area so that we can enhance the whole experience.”

The company’s Williamsburg, Va., location is the best example of what they are trying to do. Williamsburg offers a number of existent amenities such as the historic colonial section of the nearby Jamestown and Yorktown and local amusement parks. Great Wolf Lodge offers their guests a location near these other amenities, but also their own unique amenities such as restaurants, spas featuring Aveda products, Starbucks coffee shops, an indoor waterpark, educational programs for kids, arcades, as well as other entertainment and shopping opportunities.

The Resorts also provide families with suites that can handle up to eight occupants. Family themed suites offer kids their own private rooms with bunk beds, TV, Nintendo, and more. The rooms also come with a kitchenette and common areas. “Our target market is families with children age two to twelve,” says Schaefer. “There are two different kinds of families that we try and attract. There is the upscale family who uses us as a weekend getaway as one part of their overall yearly vacation time. And then there is the family where this is their yearly vacation. They’re busy, their kids are into a lot of things and they just don’t have the time or inclination to get on a plane and travel a long distance. We are their vacation.”

One of the themes for the brand is that the resorts are close to home. Great Wolf Resorts is not trying to be another Disney World where families must oftentimes either drive long distances or travel by plane to reach their destination. Rather, they locate their resorts in areas close to urban or high-density population areas.

“What we are looking for and hoping for,” says Schaefer, “is that people will choose to spend time close to home. It is certainly a risk, but it is something we are very excited about providing, where you only have to drive about a half hour or an hour.”

The Business of Hospitality

So far the initial vision of Great Wolf Resorts seems to be paying off. Originally, the company had planned on building only one new resort per year. However, taking the company public has provided them with the investment capitol to take on a more aggressive growth plan. According to the company’s third-quarter report for 2006 (fourth quarter data was not available as of this writing) the company has approximately $49 million of unrestricted cash on their balance sheet to fund future expansion. They also reported revenue of $40.8 million with $4.1 million in profit for the quarter.

The planned resorts are also going to be physically larger. Current resorts hold an average of 300 rooms whereas the newer resorts will be closer to 600 rooms. As the process unfolds, development teams peruse possible sites for population, tourism trends and economics. Again, the focus is on the quality of the site and the deal rather than rigid time frames and quantities.

Increased size will be coupled with increased amenities such as teen centers, miniature golf, larger meeting space for corporate retreats, a live action adventure game, and etc.

Also, to help assess customer satisfaction and better target continuous improvement, guests receive an email survey after checking out to measure their satisfaction with their vacation experience.

Innovative use of unique technologies is also part of Great Wolf Resort’s strategy to help differentiate their resorts from competitors. For example, the new resorts will be equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) wristbands developed by Precision Dynamics Corporation. This will allow guests key-less access to their rooms and to purchase items throughout the resort in the same manner as a credit card without the guest having to carry added cards, wallets, pocketbooks, etc.

Above all else, the critical element to the current and future success of each of the resorts says Schaefer, is the ability of the company to hire, train and retain the best possible employees. According to Schaefer, the company tries to hire and promote from within, but when seeking employees from outside they place the emphasis on personality and experience within the entertainment and hospitality industry.

“You can train skills,” she says, “but you cannot train for personality. As a measure of our success at this we often hear guests telling us how friendly our housekeeping staff is, which is a major point of contact for us.”

Schaefer adds that the company trains employees for leadership and management skills that are customized to the Great Wolf Resorts brand. This training gives the staff a strong foundation for what is expected of them, which allows for a management style that rejects the notion of micromanaging everything an employee does. They are aware of what is expected, but they can innovate within that framework.

The net result, says Schaefer, is high employee moral and retention, which translates into a better guest experience and a stronger brand.

Another aspect of their brand building efforts is the use of ubiquitous suppliers at all of the resorts. This allows the company to develop brand consistency while also allowing them to develop strong vendor relationships, which leads to better negotiated pricing schemes.

The keys to their current success and future growth are finding strong locations for their resorts, well trained and motivated employees, attractive amenities, and an innovative take on providing the best guest experience possible. This includes all of the standard elements of the hospitality business, but also includes locations that allow families very easy access to the resort. After all, an hour’s drive for a high-end family vacation seems more manageable and cost effective than plane flights and long drive times.