Conos: Impressions Of A Fact-finding Mission By 34 Austrian Top Winter Tourism Professionals In French Alps

Impressions of a fact-finding mission by 34 Austrian top winter tourism professionals in the French Alps

France is one of the most important winter sports destinations in the world. One of the largest ski resort clusters in the world is to be found in the French Savoie Alps.

The four-day conos winter trend expedition (January 17-20, 2023) led to three of these top areas:

• "3 Vallées" which, with 600 kilometers of pistes and 158 lifts, is the largest ski area in the world and is home to the Alpine Ski World Cup 2023 in the premium resorts of Courchevel and Méribel in February.
• "Paradisski" with the well-known resorts of La Plagne and Les Arcs also offers over 425 kilometers of pistes and a ski area that tends to be more family-oriented. A highlight is the double-deck connecting cable car "Vanoise Express" between the two sides of the valley.
• "Espace Killy" is the ski area named after the Olympic legend Jean Claude Killy, with the two traditional alpine towns of Val d'Isère and Tignes and the "Grande Motte" as the highest ski area point in the region at 3,450m.

In addition to numerous impressions and inspirations, some key findings from the perspective of the Austrian winter sports market could also be taken away from the visits, expert talks and internal specialist discussions. Five of them are briefly summarized below:

1. Efficiency before comfort: While France is also catching up in terms of rail and snow-making infrastructure, (economic) efficiency often still comes before customer comfort and needs there. The rides are technically in top condition, but weather protection hoods, seat heating and the like are only rarely found, even on new rides. However, the stronger customer focus in Austria has obviously paid off in the long term compared to efficiency thinking: Austria has meanwhile (season 2018/19) grown in popularity to 54.5 million skiers (so-called "skier days") during France fell from almost 60 million ski guests (2012/13) to 53.8 million ski guests (2018/19) and was thus replaced by Austria as the top European ski nation.

2. Sport before fun: The main focus in France is still primarily on a professional range of railways and slopes while attractions and highlights around topics such as family (children's areas, themed slopes, etc.), fun (fun parks and slopes) and pleasure (panorama places, sun & pleasure terraces, etc.) are only sparsely to be found.

3. Overnight stays instead of vacations: Even if the destinations often have impressive guest bed capacities, usually only a modest fraction (of 10 – 15%) is available in qualitative, value-adding and contemporary hotel categories. The main part of the overnight accommodation is offered in huge self-catering apartments, so-called "Residence de Tourisme" (sometimes resembling cruise ships stranded in the mountains).

4. Function before flair: Not only the accommodation establishments, but also the places and their businesses (gastronomy, shopping, etc.) seem planned from the "drawing board" and can only rarely convey an authentic atmosphere, flair and alpine culture. However, for future generations with a sensitivity to sustainability, these aspects will probably gain in importance when making booking decisions and could be a competitive advantage for many Austrian locations.

5. Summer as a must instead of out of conviction: For decades, the development focus of the French was on winter. Hardly anyone trusted in the potential of the alpine summer and therefore not invested. But now - when the scarcity of employees and their expectation of year-round instead of seasonal jobs - is becoming a competitive factor for tourism destinations, people are also increasingly dedicating themselves to this season!

The French colleagues are often active in other core markets (F, GB, etc.) than Austria and are therefore often not direct competitors. They are definitely not only among the most impressive mountain landscapes, but also among the most professional and efficient ski area developers and operators worldwide with high technical, infrastructural, but also communicative innovation dynamics. In the consistent focus on the customer and his needs, but also in the experiences around the ski slopes or the ski day, there are strengths and potential of the domestic, Austrian winter sports offer, which it is important to proudly and self-confidently strengthen and expand as differentiating features .