Cableways Impact Assessment Study - Final Report - saferail.nl

Risk & Policy Analysts
Western Europe
Western Europe represents the most popular destination for downhill skiing in the
world accounting for 210 million skier days compared to 80 million in North America
(currently Europe’s closest competitor). France individually accounts for 60 million
skier days per year while the Nordic region (Sweden, Norway and Finland) accounts
for an estimated 17.5 million skier days (Skistar, nd). There have been recent
decreases in the total number of skier days in 2010/2011 in France (-5%), Austria (-
3.4%) and Switzerland (-5%) while the figures for Germany remained level with
those of 2009/10.
While the vast majority of ski areas rely on domestic skiers, the Alps region attracts
the largest number of foreign visitors (30% of visitors to the Alps are foreign) and
continues to be the most popular ski destination.
Ski resort operators in Western Europe primarily work locally but recently
acquisitions and cross-border collaborations have taken place in attempt to offset any
weather related issues of owning a cluster of ski resorts in one geographical area.
Ownership of ski resorts in Europe is very fragmented; many are small companies and
some are family owned (Skistar, nd).
Eastern Europe
While the ski industry in Western Europe is maturing and skier days are decreasing,
the ski industry in Eastern Europe is the fastest growing ski market in terms of both
the number of skiers and the development of new ski resorts (32). Eastern Europe and
Asia account for 32% of ski visitors worldwide but only 20% of skier visits take place
in these regions. Therefore, Eastern Europe already has a large number of domestic
skiers and therefore the potential for growth in this market is strong. Currently,
Bulgaria is investing in the Bansko ski region and aims to double the current ski area.
Serbia is also investing €250million in a project to develop the Stara Planina area.
This development aims to be open by 2015 and will include both winter and summer
tourist attractions (such as a golf course and ‘wellness facilities’) (Winter Sports
Technology International, 2011). The ski industry is also seeing significant growth in
Russia, particularly because it will host the 2014 Winter Olympics which is expected
to increase interest in winter sports in general as well as attracting increased
investment in the ski industry. Russia is also investing an estimated €11 billion in the
‘Peak 5642’ project across five resorts in the North Caucasus mountains. The project
aims to achieve five million visitors per year by 2020. Azerbaijan is also developing
a ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains which will have ten ski lifts. (Winter Sports
Technology International, 2011b).
North America
Outside of Europe the largest ski industries can be found in North America (USA and
Canada) and Japan. North America is the second largest ski market globally and
includes 486 resorts, which attract approximately 60 million skier days per year
(Skistar, nd). However, the ski industry in the USA appears to be static and indeed
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