Survey - Highest Guest Satisfaction In Austrian Mountain Destinations

According to a guest survey, Austrian mountain destinations are ahead of other alpine holiday regions when it comes to customer satisfaction with summer offers. This is shown by the summer study in which the market research company "Mountain Management Consulting" in cooperation with the University of Innsbruck periodically collects guest satisfaction values ​​in the top destinations in the Alps. In the summer of 2021, almost 40,000 guests in the leading mountain destinations in the Alps were surveyed. Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis, Mayrhofen and Schladming are among the best in the Alps with their summer offers. "Best Summer Resort of the Alps" is one of the most meaningful studies in the Alps.

Since 2012, the market research and consulting company "Mountain Management" has been surveying guest satisfaction in the most popular winter sports destinations in the Alps every two years. Since 2019, the study has also been conducted in the summer. The results of the last survey in 2021, which was carried out using questionnaires directly on site in 51 selected destinations in the Alpine region, paint a clear picture of the most important criteria when choosing a destination from the guests’ point of view as well as customer satisfaction in 22 categories. Between June and October 2021, a total of 39,819 guests in 51 destinations were surveyed, 12,628 of them in Austria.

The results underline the trend towards year-round destinations

"It is striking that in contrast to the surveys in winter, where Swiss or Italian ski areas tend to be at the top, in the last summer study 2021 Austrian areas were ahead in terms of guest satisfaction. We see this as confirmation that the continuous expansion of the summer offer and investments in the quality of offers and services in Austrian mountain destinations are bearing fruit. This also underscores the current trend in the direction of development towards year-round destinations,” says study author Mike Partel.

In general, guest satisfaction with summer offers across all Alpine regions is 5.7% higher than in winter in a direct comparison. Compared to Swiss, German, Italian and French areas, Austrian mountain destinations achieved the best value of 8.52 (scale 1-10) in summer 2021.

With a rating of over 8.60 (scale 1-10), Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis, Mayrhofen and Schladming are three destinations with their summer offers in the top alpine field. Bad Kleinkirchheim, Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Leogang-Fieberbrunn, Snow Space Salzburg and the Stubaital as well as Alta Badia (IT), Les Arcs (FR), Arosa-Lenzerheide and Engelberg achieved further top rankings – i.e. satisfaction values ​​of over 8.50 -Titlis and St Moritz (CH).

The Austrian mountain destinations score particularly well in the areas of friendliness, bike offers, offers for children and families, accommodation, hiking trails, wellness offers and gastronomy.

"The most important decision-making criteria for summer guests in the mountains are 'nature experience', followed by 'friendliness/cordiality' and 'authenticity/genuineness'," explains Mike Partel. It is striking that the need for activity and exercise on summer vacation has increased significantly compared to the 2019 survey. Hiking, rest and relaxation as well as biking are the three most important motives and most frequently practiced activities in the mountains.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for guests

“87% of the guests state that they prefer regions that act sustainably when choosing a holiday. And a full 92% of those surveyed say that protecting nature is becoming more and more important to them,” explains Partel. Incidentally, families with children make up the largest proportion of summer guests at over 40%.

Summer season 2022 with prospect of good results

From the point of view of study author Mike Partel, the summer season that has already started in the mountain destinations is under a good star and will achieve good results. After a two-year pandemic phase, the need to relax and exercise in nature is very great among the guests. According to Partel, the investments made in recent years in the increased expansion of an attractive range of products are also having an effect in the summer.

The next cross-alpine survey "Best Summer Resort of the Alps" will take place in 2023.