Nowhere is this new investment more evident than in the Alps, where more than 100 new ski lifts opened last season and close to this number are set to open again for the 2019/20 season.

Although much of this rise in global skier numbers is driven by growth from China, the benefits are not limited to the Asia-Pacific region – and the number of skier visits to the Alps (by far the largest inbound ski market globally) also experienced a rise in 2017/18 compared with the previous year.

By country, the US is the largest market for number of skier visits, with more than 54 million annually. However, by ski area, the Alps (encompassing eight Alpine countries of France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia) is the largest, with France and Austria having the second and third most skier visits respectively.

Austria attracts the largest number of foreign skiers, in both absolute terms and as a share of total visits, with 66% of skier visits coming from overseas. Austrian lift operators have spent more than €7 billion on new lifts and lift renewals since 2000, according to Laurent Vanat. Other markets in the Alps also attract a comparatively high share of foreign skiers, with non-domestic ski visits comprising 46% of the total in Switzerland, 35% in Italy and 27% in France. By comparison, the Czech Republic’s annual skier visits are 5.8 million with around a third of those coming from abroad.

Globally, the skiing industry is facing several challenges, namely global warming and lower skiing participation among younger generations as much of the developed world’s population ages. “The industry continues to adapt, and further investment will be necessary to ensure that resorts remain resilient against these changes,” says Sophie Chick, head of Savills World Research.

Given the resilience of a resort is key to its success, Savills has developed the Ski Resilience Index, now in its third year, which ranks 56 global ski resorts according to five key metrics; snowfall, reliability, season length, altitude and temperature. Over the past three years the same six resorts have vied for top spot on the Ski Resilience Index – Zermatt (Switzerland), Saas-Fee (Switzerland), Breuil-Cervinia (Italy), Vail (USA), Aspen (USA) and Obertauern (Austria). The two biggest risers in the index were Andermatt in Switzerland, moving to seventh place from 45th in 2017, and Obergurgl in Austria, which has risen 21 places since 2017 to 11th place. The ski industry in Austria now also covers more than 60% of its slopes with snow-making machinery, having invested, on average, €130 million annually in this technology since 2008.

Prime alpine property prices

Courchevel 1850 has taken the top spot for prime property prices at €23,030 per square metre, up from third place last year, with Aspen (€20,509) and Val d’Isere (€20,260) dropping from first place last year) taking second and third place respectively. Verbier (€20,083), in fourth place, is the highest value Swiss resort, just ahead of Andermatt (€17,285).

“Many French resorts have seen extraordinary price growth in the last five years, boosted by two strong ski seasons and continued investment in infrastructure. Val d’Isere has virtually doubled in the prime market during this period,” says Jeremy Rollason, head of Savills Ski.

At the other end of the price league, Bad Gastein (€3,178 per sq m) and La Plagne (€4,750) rank as the two lowest value resorts in the price league. Interestingly, Breuil-Cervinia (€6,173) and Saas-Fee (€8,402), which ranked so highly in the Resilience Index, are further down the value scale.

Read full report - The Ski Report - Winter 2019/2020