Ski resorts in Austria weather the financial crisis

Operators of ski lifts, hotels and restaurants in Austria are drawing an entirely positive interim balance for this year’s ski season. November alone saw around 3.6 million overnight stays in Austria, roughly matching the same month last year. Booking numbers even rose slightly in December, possibly helped by unusually heavy snowfall.

Between Christmas and shortly after New Year’s Eve, most ski huts and hotels—from Styria and Tyrol to the Salzburg region—were fully booked, impressively confirming the positive trend of the previous weeks. Hans Schenner, tourism chair of the Austrian Economic Chamber, is particularly pleased by the strong response from Eastern Europe. Ski tourists from Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic drove increases in the double digits, once again confirming Austria as a world-leading ski destination this winter season. Slightly more ski tourists also came to Austria from Germany, Italy and Switzerland, the countries that send the most winter holidaymakers to Austria, although growth rates there were very small.

The financial crisis is not expected to affect Austria’s ski and winter tourism until March, toward the end of the ski season. Compared with other European countries, however, Austria could escape relatively unscathed: potential downturns in the Alpine republic are currently estimated at no more than 2.5%, while elsewhere revenue losses of up to 5% or more are feared.