The document discusses the global development of ski resorts. It notes that there are approximately 2,093 ski resorts worldwide, with the majority located in 7 major markets including Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States. These countries receive most skier visits. The Alps region captures 45% of global skier visits, while North America accounts for 23% of visits. Ski resorts can generally be divided into national, regional, and international destinations based on their market range.

1. The development of ski resorts

2. The World Ski Market
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012). International report on mountain tourism - Overview of the key industry figures for ski resorts
Essentials of Tourism Destination Management

3.  There are about 80 countries in the world where ski is practised.
 Among these, roughly 70 countries offer open air ski areas, the balance having only
indoor facilities (There are about 60 indoor snow centres operating in 25 countries
around the world).
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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4.  Even if the snow fields may be much more numerous, about 2,093 ski resorts have
been identified worldwide (Estimate is 4'000 to 6'000 places of ski practice).
 These mostly concentrate in 7 major markets (Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Japan,
Switzerland and United States), where most of the skier visits are received.
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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5. Location of the Ski Resorts Worldwide
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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6. Location of the Major Ski Resorts Worldwide
A ski resort is considered as major if its attendance reaches over 1 million skier visits per season
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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7. Top world resorts ranked by skier visits
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).

8.  Most of the industry is concentrated in the resorts receiving more than 100’000
skier visits a year.
 Even if they only account for 20% of the resorts, they produce 80% of the skier visits.
 Skier visits have been for already several years estimated to reach a figure of about
400 million worldwide (Including visitors to indoor ski centres).
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9. Evolution of Skier Visits
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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10. Repartition of Skier Visits Worldwide
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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11.  The Alps are the biggest ski destination in the world, capturing 45% of the skier
visits. Four countries (France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy with 1,168 ski areas)
dominate the European market with about 220 million skier visits. France's leadership
(tied with Austria, depending on the season) is largely due to the size of its domestic
market, which represents around 80% of the business. Meanwhile, the vast majority of
visitors to Swiss (50%) and Austrian (>60%) ski resorts are foreigners.
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12.  The second biggest destination is North America, accounting for 23% of skier visits
worldwide (including South America). There are approximately 770 ski areas in North
America. The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) reported that 486 ski areas
operated in the 2010/11 season in the US, according to the Kottke National End of
Season Survey. During the 2010/2011 ski season, combined skier visits for all the
United States ski areas were approximately 61.0 million and all North American skier
visits were approximately 80.0 million.
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13.  European non alpine countries also attract 11% of the market, even if this
attendance is mostly spread over a great number of small resorts. The
Nordic region, consisting of Sweden, Norway and Finland, accounts for just over 17.5
million skier visits per year.
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14. Repartition of Skiers by region of origin
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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15.  The total number of skiers worldwide reaches 110 million and seems on a growing
long term trend.
 Although some countries have no open air ski areas they have skiers practicing
abroad. This is the case of the Netherlands, which account more than 1 million
outbound skiers.
 The Alps is the most internationally attended ski destination, attracting most of the
inbound ski travel. Despite it welcomes 46% of skier visits, it however only produces
20% of the skiers.
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16.  Ski resorts in all countries are primarily visited by domestic skiers. In the US and
Canada, foreign skiers account for slightly less than 5% of visits. The largest percentage
of foreign visitors is found in the Alps, where just over 30% of all skiers come from other
countries.
 Outbound European markets are not increasing but will be spread over more
destinations in the future. For instance, British customers familiar to the Alps have now
also the choice of other destinations such as Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria…
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17. Share of Inbound International Skiers
Source: Laurent VANAT (2012).
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18. Ski resorts can be divided generally into a tripartite location hierarchy based
on the spatial extent of their market range:
 National resorts that attract people, generally from within a state, province or region
within a country such as Oberstdorf in Germany or Cerler in Spain.
 Regional resorts that skiers will travel several hundred miles to reach.
In Europe, these resorts will entince skiers across one or several countries.
Examples are skiers travelling from Germany to Austria or Switzerland.
 International destination resorts that attract skiers from all over the world,
such as Whistler in Canada, Vail or Aspen in Colorado, Chamonix in France and Zermatt in Switzerland.
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19. A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter activities.
In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are
pistes, ski lifts, snow management system (Snowmaking & Snow grooming) and supporting
services and facilities such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, rental shops, ski
schools, retail stores, wellness centers, etc.
In North America it is more common for ski areas to exist well away from towns,
and the term ski resort is used for a destination resort, often purpose-built and self-contained,
where skiing is the main activity.
The term ski station is also used, particularly in Europe, for a skiing facility
which is not located in or near a town or village
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20. The Elements of Ski Resorts
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28. Tricable Ropeway
Length: 4.4 km
Rope span: 3,024 m
Max. Height: 436 m
28 Gondolas
2,050 passengers per hour
28 pax (24/4) Essentials of Tourism Destination Management
Speed: 7.5 m/s (27 km/h)

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32. The Galzigbahn Funitel sets techological and architectural benchmarks.
Thanks to the 9 meter high “big wheels”, the whole experience of getting on and off the lift is something unique for passengers.
The bottom station has all-round glazing. That exposes the ropeway technology to view from the outside
while making the magnificent mountain scenery visible from within.

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62. Ski resorts often have other activities, such as…
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63. Heli-skiing
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64. Snowshoeing
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65. Dog-sledging
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66. Snowcycling/Snow-Biking
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67. Ice-climbing
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68. Tubing
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69. Paragliding
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70. Ice-Diving
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71. Ice-driving
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72. Kite-skiing/snowboarding
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