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Skiing and winter sports holidays are very popular: This is the result of a current study on winter sports demand commissioned by the cable car association and the federal tourism and leisure sector of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ), which was presented in Vienna the previous week.
To do this, Manova GmbH surveyed around 2.800 people about the current mood, including the future outlook for winter sports demand, and analyzed the results. “Despite challenging times and years of crisis, Austria is very popular as a winter sports destination with domestic and especially foreign guests - the demand for winter holidays is unbroken. At the same time, companies continue to invest intensively in climate-friendly measures with a sustainable effect,” said Franz Hörl, chairman of the Austrian cable car association, and Robert Seeber, chairman of the tourism and leisure industry division, quite optimistically when looking at the coming winter season.
Cable cars remain on the road to success: “High demand and climate-friendly – Austria is already showing the prospects of tomorrow’s skiing today!”
The current figures provide confidence in the cable car industry. Accordingly, the 2022/23 winter season brought a significant increase compared to the previous year: both overnight stays in the mountain regions of Austria (+24%) and first-time arrivals (+15%) increased significantly again after the first Corona winter. This means that the number of overnight stays in particular is almost at this level again compared to the average of the last three winters before Corona. Last winter's result would probably have been significantly better if the weather and natural snow conditions had been more favorable.
Winter sports are a successful export product and bring billions into the domestic economy
The prospects for demand for winter sports for the coming season are also encouraging. The majority of skiers say that they want to go skiing as much or more often in the next few years. Around 80% of guests come from abroad to the local mountains in winter. This clearly shows that skiing and winter sports are not only important drawcards for domestic guests, but also an export hit. Over 50 million skier days in Austria bring valuable income for the federal government and the regions: sales tax alone accounts for around 1,9 billion euros per winter (value for 2022/23). The total gross turnover from winter sports enthusiasts is 12,6 billion euros and shows the great economic importance of alpine winter sports.
Winter tourism is a key source of inspiration for the business location
Robert Seeber, Federal Chairman of the Tourism and Leisure Industry, also underlines this: “As a top winter sports destination, winter tourism is traditionally of enormous importance in Austria and an indispensable source of inspiration for Austria as a business location, especially in the regions.” Even if skiing remains the main reason for is a winter holiday in Austria, alternative offers such as wellness, hiking, culinary delights or shopping are well received, says Seeber: “Our tourism companies are constantly and successfully working on the further development of their product range. Alternative offers are popular and are gaining in importance as complementary activities to skiing on the one hand and as activities for accompanying people who do not ski on the other. The fact that the broad tourism offer is working is shown not least by the increased number of overnight stays, which have developed more strongly than the number of skiing days.
“Around 70 million overnight stays in the last winter season impressively demonstrate Austria's role as a top winter sports country. On the one hand, we owe this result to the great work of our companies and their employees. The offer scores with a great price-performance ratio on the one hand and the good cooperation of all partners on the other, i.e. tourism, cable cars, sporting goods retailers and the ski industry. This will create 250.000 jobs and bring added value to the regions. We must continue on this successful path in order to master the challenges of the future together,” says Seeber.
The cable car industry is investing in the path towards climate neutrality
Franz Hörl, chairman of the Austrian Cable Car Association, emphasizes something similar: “Our companies offer a unique skiing experience – also in terms of price-performance ratio – and at the same time invest intensively in their path towards climate neutrality. The surveys show that skiing remains the main reason for a winter holiday in Austria.” In addition, Austria’s cable cars continue to rely on feedback from around 50.000 winter guests who are surveyed annually about their skiing stay. Around 70 percent of guests come to Austria because of skiing and 88,6 percent are satisfied or very satisfied with the product. In addition, there is a high return visit rate of over 80 percent and an unchanged high proportion of children and young people of 26 percent.
With a view to the climatic changes, Hörl points to the operators' comprehensive skills in snow and slope management. “Today we can guarantee a sustainable skiing experience with a clear conscience. Cable cars are 100 percent electromobility, the proportion of renewable energy in the ski areas is now 90 percent,” says Hörl. After the industry has already been able to save 20 percent of energy over the past ten years, this positive effect will continue in the coming years.
Seeber adds: “Winter tourism only requires 0,9% of Austria’s total energy consumption. Our companies invest sustainably here in order to further improve this value. Energy consumption per night alone has been reduced by 54% in recent years.”
As part of a communication offensive, the cable car association will also present more than 100 sustainability projects over the coming season, which will illustrate the diverse measures taken by companies for the responsible development of skiing.
“Red-white-red offer and quality are right! Austria is a great tourism country with a very diverse offering! We are looking forward to the upcoming winter season and our companies are well prepared - anyone looking for a high-quality and sustainable holiday in Austria will find it and have an excellent recovery," the chairmen concluded.
