_How are ski resorts evolving?
The ski market is an evolving landscape and resorts have to adapt if they are to continue to attract tourists, residents and investors.
Twenty years ago, participation was on the rise as the baby boomer generation took to the slopes. According to the International Report on Snow and Mountain Tourism, skier numbers in the French and Swiss Alps peaked at around 80 million ski visits per annum in 2008/09.
Skiers now have higher expectations when it comes to the reliability of snow, the quality of accommodation and the facilities on offer.
Most resorts have managed to stay ahead of the game by investing in snow cannons, improving lifts and adding telecabines, but they have also realised that not all visitors are ski aficionados.
The latest data shows that around 25% of annual visitors to the Alps are non-skiers.
The uptick in non-skiers, along with the significant increase in summer tourism, has prompted resorts to host a prolific calendar of social, cultural and sporting events and deliver more non-ski activities including mountain bike trails, Winter Golf, paragliding, zip-wires, polo and ice-skating amongst others.
Why does investment matter?
Unless resorts adapt and deliver what the new generation of skiers want, they will see tourist numbers decline. For those seeking to buy a ski home, it’s logical that they will target those resorts who keep ahead of the curve in an effort to maximise rental bookings and as a result improve yields.
Investment should also boost the resort’s permanent population, which in turn will lead to increased services and amenities in the form of schools, healthcare, transport etc.
Such provisions as evident in Chamonix, now home to over 13,000 residents, further cement the town’s reputation as a dual-season resort.
Download the 2017 Ski Property Report
Apology and correction
In a previous edition of this report we included information on the Aspen & Snowmass market in the US. We note that we had not received permission to reproduce the data on $psf sales in these markets and erroneously provided the data without the correct source details. We apologise for this oversight. For reference the original data on these markets can be accessed at: www.andrewernemann.com/market-report.