Austria's Cable Cars - Optimistic Start To The New Winter Season!
As part of the nationwide cable car conference in Zell am See, the Austrian Cable Car Association of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) and Österreich Werbung (ÖW) present their perspectives for the coming winter. For cable car chairman Franz Hörl, optimism comes first: “The demand makes us positive, the industry has already shown in the past seasons that it is well prepared and can organize safe skiing fun.” The ÖW supports the winter with a marketing budget of 10 million euros and their largest campaign to date. "We see good demand on our 13 campaign markets and are confident that we can take the momentum from the summer with us," says ÖW managing director Lisa Weddig. u The positive balance of the past summer season also contributes to this confidence. "In some cases, companies even reached pre-crisis levels again in the summer and were able to increase their first entrants by 10.5 percent compared to 2020," reports Hörl. The success story of the summer cable cars continues - the economic engine in the alpine regions is running at full speed again in the warm season, ”says Hörl.
ÖW managing director Lisa Weddig underlines the positive summer result. “In August we were even above the record summer of 2019. Autumn is also looking good,” says Weddig. A representative study by Österreich Werbung analyzed winter vacation plans in the markets of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Poland. From these seven markets alone, the study sees a potential of 17 million guests for winter holidays in Austria. “People want to catch up on the winter vacation that was canceled last season, and Austria offers the best conditions for this. The fact that Austria presented its winter rules very early on has had a positive effect on the booking situation. It is possible to take a safe vacation during the pandemic, as Austria has repeatedly proven, ”says the ÖW managing director. Hörl also emphasizes that the cable cars are well equipped. "If an implementable, moderate and effective ordinance from the health minister is on the table, nothing stands in the way of a comeback of winter tourism in Austria," said Hörl.
Österreich Werbung supports the winter season with the “Winterliebe” campaign, which is played out on the markets of Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Russia, Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden. A broad marketing mix is used, from online to social media to TV advertising, the hashtag #winterliebe is used for maximum visibility. With a market share of over 50 percent in winter (sport) travel abroad, Austria is the undisputed market leader in Europe. "We in Austria live and love winter and this attitude towards life, we want to spark this enthusiasm for winter with our guests with the campaign," says Weddig.
Numbers of the previous season: strong downturns, stable high customer satisfaction
A look back at the past season shows the drama of the pandemic-related restrictions. Cash register sales were down by almost 90 percent (146 million euros), the number of first-time entries was down by 80 percent (9.3 million) and the number of operating days was down by 20 percent (17,600). The surveys among customers nevertheless show high levels of satisfaction. The school grades for the available space on the slopes (1.5), arrival and departure (1.5), parking facilities (1.5) and safety on the ski slopes (1.5) are particularly positive. On the other hand, the guests lacked the availability of resting and resting places as well as a satisfactory range of food and drink in the form of take away.
Industry is actively facing global challenges
The industry has used the difficult phase to continue on the course of sustainability, energy efficiency and innovation. The members of the professional association dealt with these future topics in various working groups. “The companies are not waiting for developments, but are facing up to global challenges - be it energy efficiency, sustainable mobility or digital innovation,” says Erik Wolf, Managing Director of the Cable Car Association. Wolf cites the continuous expansion of climate-friendly mobility models as an example. "These include the successful ÖBB cooperation 'In the Nightjet to the Snow', local e-mobility concepts, employee shuttle offers and the optimization of ski bus traffic, including close cooperation with local public transport companies," said Wolf.
The professional association also deals intensively with data and knowledge in digital form. With MANOVA, the trade association has developed a comprehensive smartboard that brings together data from a wide variety of sources and thus provides the entire industry with valuable support.
