International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism

The 17th edition of the International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism presents the 2023/24 ski season around the world. In fact, no big reset happened post covid-19 and despite the general climate looks more adverse, the ski industry is still able to perform. it looks far away from the end of the story that so many mainstream media love to describe for tomorrow. In fact, figures demonstrate that the ski industry worldwide confirms its consolidation after the pandemic.



With more than 366 million skier visits, ski season 2023/24 demonstrated for the third time in a row that the ski industry is healthy. The average worldwide visitation to ski resorts for the 3 post-covid-19 years is even higher than average visitation of pre-covid-19 years of the current century. Winter 2023/24 was indeed again a business as usual season.


In fact, attendance at ski resorts continues basically to be shaped by the snow and weather conditions. By analogy to Herzberg hygiene-motivator management theory, snow is rather a driver of unsatisfaction if it lacks while sun is a driver of satisfaction when it shines. Climate change impacts rather negatively the first when it impacts rather positively the second. If there is sufficient snow, a sunny day will motivate skiers to hit the slopes, and record visitation days experienced at some resorts still demonstrates it. Although climate change obviously impacts the operation of ski resorts, it seems at this stage not to have a substantial impact on global visitation.


Highlights of the 2023/24 season confirm that …


  • Ski business currently demonstrates a strong resilience to climate change, with limited impact on attendance over last 20 years;
  • Even if in limited numbers, there are still new ski resorts appearing throughout the world;
  • It is still possible to realise all time visitation records in mature markets such as Italy and Chile, which made their best ever season;
  • China has resumed its growing path with a new record season;
  • International skiers’ flows are subject to unexpected changes;
  • Geopolitical issues may have increased influence on the ski business in the future;
  • Industry consolidation currently stabilised;
  • After more than 20 years of promises, the digitalisation still does not deliver easy access to the slopes and poorly contributes to customer journey improvement.


The 2023/24 ski season saw mixed results across countries, largely influenced by weather and snow conditions. While China led the recovery, surpassing its pre-COVID 5-year average, other strong performers included the United States, Italy, Scandinavia, and Russia. However, France and Austria have yet to fully recover, and Japan and Germany experienced historically low visitation levels. Overall, the season was a near zero-sum game, with gains in some regions offset by losses in others.



Ski resorts are embracing anticipation by actively preparing for climate change by improving snow management, reducing carbon footprints, and investing in sustainability. The US ski areas focus on optimizing snowmaking and resource use, while French resorts aim for carbon neutrality by 2037, with innovations in hydrogen-powered grooming and eco-friendly practices. Advanced climate modelling, like CLIMSNOW in France and similar projects in Switzerland, helps resorts plan for future snow conditions and adapt infrastructure. These efforts will ensure the industry's resilience and long-term sustainability.

 

Coverage: There are currently 68 countries in the world that offer equipped outdoor ski areas covered with snow. Even if snowfields are much more numerous, about 2’000 ski resorts have been identified worldwide. Besides the major ski destinations in terms of skier visits, there are a number of other, smaller destinations, where skiing has been an industry for a long time, or is currently developing. The most obvious emerging destinations are Eastern Europe and China, but there are a number of other small players spread out across the globe: Cyprus, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Lesotho, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey and many more.