February 6, 2018 – Seasonal variations in international visits provide insights into the potential for attracting foreign tourists to ski destinations. Analyzing 11 of the leading countries that are home to some of the world’s most famous ski slopes underscores that in most cases destinations near ski facilities tend to account for a greater share of tourists to the country as a whole during the first quarter of the year, relative to other seasons, according to Visa Business and Economic Insights analysis of the Visa VISIT Cities platform.*
Ski destinations have room for further market development
Tourists visiting ski destinations as percent of overall tourists to country (by quarter, 2015-2017*)
Austria |
54% |
26% |
31% |
30% |
Switzerland |
34% |
30% |
34% |
29% |
Italy |
24% |
11% |
14% |
12% |
France |
16% |
6% |
6% |
5% |
Canada |
15% |
9% |
11% |
9% |
Japan |
15% |
6% |
9% |
9% |
Finland |
8% |
2% |
1% |
6% |
Sweden |
7% |
2% |
1% |
3% |
Norway |
5% |
1% |
1% |
2% |
Russia |
4% |
2% |
3% |
2% |
United States |
1% |
1% |
2% |
1% |
While not all countries are likely to attain the same degree of concentration of travel to ski destinations as Austria has, there is almost certainly room for growth in many other countries, especially those outside of Europe.
The data suggests that Japan has already begun to capitalize on this. In 2015, only 14 percent of foreign visitors to Japan visited areas near its ski slopes, but by 2017 the share had risen to 17 percent. In other words, one out of five net new visitors to Japan over the last three winters were coming for the ski slopes. The arrival of these foreign visitors has helped to partially offset the decline in domestic visitors linked to a rapidly aging population.
Download complete analysis in PDF
Additional highlights of this report: