Styrian Ski Areas On Upswing
Styrian ski areas have overcome the Corona trough and are on the upswing: No wonder that the mood at the summit of the Styrian cable car companies on March 7th in the “Aiola im Schloss” in Graz was positive. Around 80 guests came, the prominent keynote speaker was WIFO boss Gabriel Felbermayr, who analyzed the overall economic weather situation.
“The hunger for skiing is back,” said Fabrice Girardoni, specialist group chairman of the Styrian cable car companies, welcoming the guests to the “Liftlerseminar” on March 7, 2024 in the Aiola in St. Veit Castle. The 2023/24 season started “excellently” and the pre-Corona level was reached at the end of January. There was an increase of 3.4 percent compared to the previous year, but February, the mildest on record, became a challenge. “Without snowmaking, we can hardly offer our product – skiing,” emphasized Girardoni. Around 80 representatives from the cable car industry came to the “Liftlerseminar”. Specialist group chairman Fabrice Girardoni welcomed Karl-Heinz Dernoscheg, director of the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, tourism division chairman Johann Spreitzhofer and energy trade chairman Jürgen Roth as guests of honor. Gerhard Fladenhofer, CEO of the snowmaking expert Hydrosnow GmbH, a valuable partner in the cable car industry for 30 years, was the sponsor.
General economic weather situation: an analysis
“The Corona dent has been eradicated,” gas prices are returning to normal, but raw material prices are not falling, said keynote speaker Gabriel Felbermayr, summarizing the overall economic situation. It is not homogeneous: the economy is already picking up strongly in China and the USA and Spain and Italy are also doing very well within the euro area.
The expert puts the reason for the big differences in consumption: although the labor market is surprisingly robust, little is consumed. There is positive news for tourism: “This is a growth industry!” says Felbermayr. The “tourism exports” from Styria are at the forefront internationally. If you look at the development of the last few quarters, the number of overnight stays has increased again: a strong signal for Styrian winter tourism.
Winter tourism: sustainable and value-adding
Austrian winter tourism acts as a value creation engine for the entire country. People spend around 50 million “skier days” on the slopes every year and generate added value of 6.7 billion euros - with tourism accounting for 6.2 percent of GDP. There are 250,000 jobs in the catering, hotel and cable car industries. The cable car companies are climate-friendly: According to a study by the Federal Environment Agency, tourism accounts for a total of 1.55 percent of final energy consumption in Austria (average 2017 - 2019). Only 0.9 percent comes from winter tourism, of which only 0.3 percent comes from lifts and cable cars. 90 percent of the energy used for snowmaking comes from renewable energy sources. 100 percent of the water goes back into the natural cycle.
