Austria Ski Gear & Equipment Market Research Report, 2028

Skiing history begins with a well-known name: Mathias Zdarsky. This Austrian pioneer was the first to sail down steep mountain slopes on wooden boards in the early twentieth century. To shift directions, he utilized a long pole. It wasn't long before the first ski races - downhill, uphill, and across flat terrain - were conducted. Hannes Schneider and Toni Seelos invented the stem turn and parallel turn several years later, ushering in another revolutionary age. This is when Alpine skiing took off, with the establishment of innumerable ski schools, including the very first Skiing Academy (established by Hannes Schneider himself) in St. Anton am Arlberg. Austria swiftly established itself as the new Alpine Ski Circuit. The "Austrian Way of Skiing" extended as far as Japan and the United States before being revolutionized again in the 1950s by a sports teacher named Stephan Kruckenhauser, who devised the "wedel" technique. This helps skiers to glide down the slopes with quick, delicate spins that keep their feet close together. But that's all history: today's most popular skiing technique is carving, which includes making broad spins on the edges of your skis. Or, at the very least, the electronic passes that many now carry. SKIDATA, based in Salzburg, was the first to provide skiers with slope access via an electronic system. This technique paved the way for computerized ticketing, which is now standard in every major ski resort. SKIDATA also introduced the first hands-free ski ticket, which made life easier for winter sports enthusiasts around the world. Austrian company Axess, a fierce competitor, installed electronic ticketing at major US resorts like Alta and Mammoth Mountain. Along with downhill skiing, other winter activities are popular in the Alps, including Nordic or cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and tobogganing. Skiing is an important part of Austrian culture as well as worldwide tourism. The majority of Austrians began skiing at the age of four. As a result, even very young children can ski in Austria. Another trend is the increased popularity of touring skis. Within the last two years, sales of touring ski boots have more than doubled.

According to the research report “Austria Ski Gear & Equipment Market Research Report, 2028” published by Actual Market Research, the market is anticipated to witness a value addition of USD 18.57 Million market size by 2028. Increased government initiatives to encourage participation in outdoor activities such as skiing and other snow sports, as well as an increase in the number of ski resorts, are some of the primary factors driving increased sales of ski gear and equipment throughout the region. Globally, the number of women participating in various activities, notably winter sports such as skiing, has increased in recent years. Vendors are introducing women's ski gear and equipment. Though women ski at a lower rate than men, manufacturers are playing a significant part in encouraging women by supplying specialized equipment designed specifically for them, such as slender ankles and size differences. Furthermore, major providers separate their products by categorizing them into tiers such as intermediate, advanced, and professional. Coalition Snow, for example, is a significant vendor that manufactures women's outdoor recreational equipment such as skis and snowboards. As a result, the increasing adoption of ski gear and equipment by women signals a rise in market growth.

According to the World Bank, the population of Austria was 9 Million in 2021, of which 4.4 Million are male and 4.6 Million are female. As per World Bank, The GDP of Germany was USD 480.37 Billion in 2021, the inflation rate was 2.8%, and the per capita income is $53,637.7 (2021). As per some stat, around 2.9 million people are skiers meaning they do skiing. Austria comes in the top 10 countries across the globe in terms of countries with the most skiers. Another factor for the growth of the Skiing market is increasing per capita income so that people can afford skiing as skiing is a very expensive sport in Austria.

Skiing and its related businesses account for an outstanding 4.5 percent of Austria's Gross National Product (GNP). Agriculture, by comparison, accounts for about 3% of GDP. This should give you a notion of how significant skiing is to the country: Skiing facilities and a well-developed winter tourism infrastructure can be found throughout Vorarlberg, Tyrol, southern Salzburg, Carinthia, southern Upper Austria, southern Lower Austria, and northern Styria. The Austrian Ski School Association (SSV) is the umbrella organization of Austrian ski instructors' associations, representing the interests of Austrian ski/snow sports instructors and Austrian ski schools in all fundamental matters of ski instruction in Austria at the federal level and abroad, particularly in the EU. As a partner of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, the Austrian Ski School Association is responsible for the organization, planning, and implementation of graduate ski teacher training.

Austria has approximately 475 ski resorts; it ranks third in terms of the number of ski resorts in a country, just behind the United States and Japan. Some of Austria's top ski resorts include St. Anton am Arlberg, Kitzbühel, Lech-Zürs am Arlberg, Mayrhofen, Sölden, Ischgl, and the Silvretta Arena, Söll and the SkiWelt, Zell am See, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Alpbach, Innsbruck, and Bad Gastein. Austria earned seven gold, seven silver, and four bronze medals at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, which was held in January 2022. Some of the medal winners in the Skiing event were Matthias Mayer, Benjamin Karl, Johannes Strolz, Stefan Kraft, Daniel Huber, Jan Hörl, Manuel Fettner, Katharina Huber, Katharina Liensberger, Katharina Truppe, Stefan Brennsteiner, Michael Matt, and Johannes Strolz.

Early December through late March is the ski season. A few ski resorts maintain their lifts operational all year on glaciers, mostly near the Italian border. The finest skiing conditions are in mid-January when it is the coldest of the year. Late February is ideal for sunbathers. The period from December 25th to January 2nd is the most congested. Advanced skiers should avoid this time of year since the slopes can get too crowded to be enjoyable. Because of school and university breaks, February is also quite congested. Early December, mid-January, and late March are the least crowded months.

The dependability of snow cover on several ski slopes will be compromised. At the moment, reliable snow may be found above 1,200 meters. By 2030, this crucial threshold could be increased to 1,500 m. Climate change has winners and losers in Austria, with the winners being the ski slopes with reliable snow, such as Obertauern and Ischgl, as well as the total and Stubaital with their glaciers. Low-lying sites (for example, the "Salzburger Sportwelt" or the "Tiroler Zugspitzarena") may become less appealing when winter sports conditions deteriorate. As a result, a shift in visitor flows inside Austria is likely. Climate change is already having an impact on the strategy and plans of winter sports destinations. Climate change and global warming, together with international competition, have been used as the key arguments for constructing artificial snow-making facilities, as well as for extending existing ski runs and opening new ones in high alpine regions (at above 3000 a.s.l.). The winter tourism industry has responded to the consequences of observed changes by implementing a variety of technological and behavioral adaptation methods. The most common adaption option is artificial snowmaking. Other measures include grooming ski slopes, transferring ski areas to higher altitudes and glaciers, using white plastic sheets to protect against glacier melt, diversifying tourism income, and using insurance and weather derivatives. It may also be essential to discontinue ski tourism at lower elevations. Swiss banks, for example, currently only make very limited loans to ski regions at elevations below 1500 meters.

Supermarkets and hypermarkets dominated the industry in terms of distribution channels due to discounted products and options available. Some of the specialty retailers for ski clothing and equipment include ORIGINAL+ SKI, Mountain Warehouse, Sport Schober GmbH, Sport Adler, INTERSPORT Arlberg, and Gerber Sports. Furthermore, due to increased internet penetration, convenience, and so on, the online segment is predicted to grow at a rapid pace. Online vendors include Austrian Ski Shop and Skicentral.com.

Considered in this report
• Geography: Austria
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

Aspects covered in this report
• Austria ski gear & equipment market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Product:
• Skies/Ski Snowboards
• Ski Footwear/Ski Boots and Bindings
• Ski Poles/Ski Sticks
• Ski Helmets
• Ski Goggles
• Ski Gloves/Ski Mittens
• Ski Clothing/Apparel
• Others

By Distribution Channel:
• Hypermarkets/Supermarkets
• Specialty Stores
• Online Stores
• Other Distribution Channels

By End-User:
• Men
• Women
• Kids

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual reports of companies, and analyzing government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers into regional aspects, tier aspects, age groups, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience:
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to the ski-gear equipment industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.