Abstract
The purpose of this article is to analyse whether ski resorts in Europe are economically viable. Data originates from the financial statements of the 61 largest ski lift operators in Austria, France, and Italy. Descriptive statistics reveal that these operators are characterized by positive and relatively high returns, and by having little debt in general terms. The results show that the most economically profitable ski operators are also the largest. The elevation of the ski area is not relevant. Ski lift operators in Austria have a higher profitability than those in France and Italy. Overall, larger ski resorts are better prepared for the future investment needed to adapt to the new conditions in the industry, such as climate variability.
Highlights
Winter tourism is an important industry in the European Alps
A previous study that analyses the economic sustainability of Catalan alpine ski resorts [33] shows how the weight of depreciation can in some cases reach percentages of up to 99.16% of the sales figure, personnel expenses up to 67%, and other operating expenses, where energy consumption is included, up to 69.16%
The number of times that the investment or asset is transformed into a sales figure in a year, was very low for all seasons (Table 4). These results were consistent with the findings of another piece of research focused on Catalan alpine ski resorts, observing that asset turnover contributes less than sales margin to economic profitability [33]
Summary
Winter tourism is an important industry in the European Alps. At present, the sector is in a stagnation phase and, in addition, faces great challenges in the future as well. Has 349 skiable areas, which receive 27 million users annually [1] In these countries, the ski tourism industry represents an important economic sector, and contributes to related economic activities such as transportation, hotels and restaurants, retail trade, and the rental and sale of sports equipment, etc. The present work covers an important gap in the literature with regard to the economic and financial status of ski resorts, which derives from the difficulty in obtaining the necessary data to carry out an in-depth analysis To this end, we have analysed the data from the financial statements of the 61 largest lift operators in Austria, France, and Italy in order to explore their economic viability
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