International price differences in ski lift tickets

Abstract

Summary This paper provides empirical evidence on international price differences in ski lift tickets based on 214 ski areas in Austria, France, and Switzerland for the winter season 2010/2011. We find that French and Austrian one-day lift tickets (net of VAT) are an average of 17 and 7 per cent lower, respectively, than Swiss ticket prices after controlling for ski areas’ characteristics. The results of quantile regressions show that the magnitude of the international price differences is quite similar for low- and high-priced ski areas. Furthermore, price differences across countries do not increase with distance to the nearest border ski area.

Lift ticket prices and quality in French ski resorts: Insights from a non-parametric analysis

“…A similar conclusion has been emphasized by Falk (2008Falk ( , 2011 and Pawlowski (2011) using different data sets from several countries. In France, simple calculations show that the coefficient of correlation is equal to 0.733 between price and length of slopes, 0.752 between price and number of ski runs, 0.771 between price and resort's vertical drop, and 0.721 between price and number of chair lifts (all these correlations being significant at the 1 percent level).…”

“…In Italy, Alessandrini (2013) finds that willingness to pay is higher for the length of winter season than for transport or numbers of chairlifts and ski runs. Falk (2011) andPawlowski (2011) propose comparative analyses using data from various European countries. Ski lift tickets tend to be significantly lower in France and Italy than in the other European countries net of the resorts' characteristics.…”

The Demand for Winter Sports: Empirical Evidence for the Largest French Ski-Lift Operator

“…Therefore, lowering tourism prices is not an effective tourism policy. Note that French ski resorts are already more price competitive than Swiss ski resorts when quality differences are accounted for (Falk, 2011). Second, low growth of GDP in origin countries combined with a low real-income elasticity are the reasons for the stagnant skier demand witnessed at CDA ski resorts in the last 20 years.…”

“…Weather station Col de Porte close to Grenoble which lead to an increase in output (Falk, 2011). Therefore, we use aggregate prices to construct the relative price variable.…”

A Hedonic Pricing Model of Lift Tickets for US Alpine Ski Areas: Examining the Influence of Crowding

“…The results from their double-log model also reveal significant price premiums for lift capacity, vertical drop and share of high speed lifts. Falk (2011) develops a hedonic pricing model to compare international differences among lift ticket prices in Austria, Switzerland and France. The explanatory variables in his 2011 model are similar to those used in his 2008 study, and data are collected for 214 resorts across the three countries.…”