Lower Austria Ski Areas: Around 380,000 Visitors So Far
In the Lower Austrian ski areas, a winter season with extremely changeable external conditions is coming to an end. “As in the entire Alpine region, natural snow was a long time coming this year, and then the ski areas again had to contend with heavy snowfalls or strong winds. Against this background, it is gratifying that regulated skiing was possible at all. This is thanks to the commitment of the employees and often also to the decision to concentrate on snowmaking on the slopes that are most important for guests. So far this winter season, around 380,000 visits have been recorded in the Lower Austrian ski areas. This roughly corresponds to the last two winters, but is still well below the level before the pandemic,"
The unusually high temperatures meant that typical summer offers such as the motor skills park and the summer toboggan run in St. Corona am Wechsel or the Annaberg zip line were put into operation, especially during the Christmas holidays. “For more than ten years we have been developing our ski areas into mountain adventure centers that are attractive all year round. This makes it possible to react flexibly to extreme weather situations. In St. Corona am Wechsel, ski operations and therefore ski lessons were possible despite double-digit plus degrees, while guests visited the motor skills park right next door. But demand also increases for tobogganing or snow playgrounds when there is little snow in urban areas. The motto of the hosts in the ski areas must therefore continue to be flexible and innovative,”
"The introduction of flexible prices has helped us to increase the revenue per guest entry to the extent of inflation, but we have also been able to offer significantly cheaper tickets time and time again. The online share is around 60%, which is a top value in Austria and internationally. We draw our guests' attention to the often still good conditions in March via e-mail newsletter. The missing operating days at the beginning of the season cannot be made up for in this way, but every visit counts. From today's perspective, we will be able to ski at the Ötscher lifts, the Annaberger lifts and the Erlebnisalm Mönichkirchen until March 19th and on the Hochkar until Easter Monday, April 10th," says Markus Redl, Managing Director of ecoplus Alpin GmbH.
The Wexl Arena in St. Corona am Wechsel plans – like the Skiarena Jauerling – to end the winter season on March 12th, the Semmering-Hirschenkogel mountain railways will remain open until April 2nd.
