14 January 2003
Four top markets - France, Austria, the United
States and Japan - represent two-thirds of world skier visits, according
to the Skier and Snowboarder International Flux Study as reported
via the National Sporting Goods Association.
Millions of resort visits
For the most recent year available,
France generated 57.6 million skier/snowboarder resort visits; Austria,
56.0 million; United States, 52.2 million; and Japan, 52.0 million.
Total world visits were estimated at 330 million for countries participating in the study.Among the Big Four, France has shown moderate growth. Austria and the U.S. have been flat.
Japan seeing fall in industry
Japan has shown major declines, down more than 40% in the last 10
years. In the four top ski markets, snowboarding attracts the highest
percentage of participants in Japan (32%), followed by the USA (26%),
Austria (19%) and France (11%).
Among all surveyed countries, New Zealand had the highest percentage of snowboarders (35%).Four important Alpine countries did not participate in the survey - Canada, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
[Source: Ski Press Magazine]
Mail
this page to a friend
What do you think? Tell us in the Chat
Room
