Demand patterns in mature winter travel markets. The case of the Swiss alpine tourist

Abstratct : This paper contributes to the study of consumer behaviour in alpine tourism in winter. Based on comprehensive and extensive data, a descriptive quantitative overview of a mature market by example of the Swiss market is given and implications for future developments are drawn. The outcomes of the study in combination with former research in this field reveal that the degree of execution of numerous sports activities is decreasing while the variety of all activities is increasing. However, while a winter holiday implies numerous sports activities, thus resulting in a fragmented market, a winter day trip is very much focused on a small number of activities. Other than internationally propo- sed, the notion of skiing demand being allocated internationally can be rejected in this case, mainly due to the proximity of alpine areas to the market observed. Consequently, ski resorts have to option-maximise their infrastructure and services when aiming at the holiday market but focus on winter key activities especially when attracting day trips market. With regard to attracting and retaining customers, cooperation between holiday resorts and daytrip resorts rather than among holiday resorts is recommended

Business · Geography · Tourism · Transport engineering · TRIPS architecture · Conferences and Exhibitions Management · Engineering · Marketing · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Winter Sports Injuries and Performance