Every winter season, something changes in the way Dutch and Belgian guests plan, book and experience their holiday. Sometimes it’s the big shocks — a pandemic, a low-snow year, a price explosion. More often it’s gradual shifts that only become clear when you look back a year later and think: this was different from last season.
Based on what we’ve seen over the past year on our own platforms (Snowplaza, Skiinformatie, Wintersportlive, Indebergen), five trends stand out that will define the 2026/27 season. For tourism boards, hotels and operators active in the Dutch and Belgian market, these trends aren’t “nice to know” — they’re directly relevant to how you shape your marketing and offering.
1. The second ski holiday is becoming the norm
Where families with children used to take one ski holiday per winter (almost always during the Christmas or spring break), we now see strong growth in the “second ski holiday” among couples without children at home and groups of friends. Often in the quieter weeks of January or late March, in smaller accommodations, shorter stays (4 days instead of a week), and with higher spending willingness.
For destinations this means: there’s a growing audience outside the traditional peak weeks that deserves attention and dedicated offers. For hotels it means: packages for 4-night stays and Sunday-to-Thursday arrangements suddenly outperform standard weekly rates.
2. Expected snow and weather conditions are becoming a purchase criterion
Dutch and Belgian bookers have become noticeably more cautious about booking early without a snow guarantee. The number of questions about snow reliability, altitude and historical snow records on our platforms has risen by around 35 percent in the past year. For higher-altitude areas, this is good news — if you communicate it. For lower-altitude areas, this calls for a different angle: transparency about snow-reliability policies, prominent mention of snowmaking, and guarantees in case of insufficient snow demonstrably do more for conversion than beautiful brochure photos.
3. Direct hotel booking is winning back ground from OTAs
Booking.com, Expedia and other OTAs remain large, but we see a clear counter-movement: visitors actively searching for direct contact forms on hotel and pension websites instead of booking through an intermediary. Reasons: better price, more personal contact, more flexibility on questions, and increasingly a conscious preference for “direct from the source”.
For hotels this means: a strong presence on relevant content platforms (with integrated enquiry forms) delivers an ever-higher share of direct bookings. For tourism boards it means: facilitating direct leads towards local accommodations becomes one of the most valued services you provide.
4. Sustainability is no longer a niche argument
Five years ago, “sustainable ski holidays” was a niche topic for a limited audience. That’s over. In our data we see that almost 40 percent of Dutch and Belgian bookers actively look for information about how sustainable a ski area operates — from lift energy consumption to local food sourcing in mountain restaurants. Important: this doesn’t mean people are skiing less. It means they want to do it at destinations that are visibly working on sustainability. Ski areas that communicate concrete numbers and initiatives (instead of vague “green” claims) are actively being selected on this basis.
5. Mobile-first is finally no longer a buzzword
More than 70 percent of all traffic on our winter sports platforms now comes from mobile devices. For the actual booking step, that percentage is slightly lower, but the trend is crystal clear: the vast majority of the inspiration and orientation phase happens on the phone. For destinations and hotels this means mobile-first is no longer a technical luxury but the baseline. Websites that look beautiful on desktop but load slowly or are hard to navigate on mobile simply lose customers. Videos that only work in landscape get skipped. Enquiry forms with more than seven fields on mobile see a 60 percent abandonment rate.
What does this mean for your marketing in 2026/27?
These five trends together point to one conclusion: the winter sports audience has become more conscious, faster and more demanding. What was good enough five years ago is no longer good enough today. The destinations and hotels that will succeed most this season are the ones that:
- Have offers for both the classic family week and the second ski holiday
- Are transparent about snow reliability and weather guarantees
- Facilitate direct booking routes properly
- Have concrete sustainability communication
- Are digitally set up mobile-first
None of these points require a revolution. They require attention, and a marketing partner who truly knows the Dutch and Belgian winter audience.
In closing
At Spalder Media Group, we work every day on the bridge between Alpine destinations and the NL/BE audience. From editorial content and targeted campaigns to smart technology solutions such as chatbots and booking integrations. If your destination or hotel wants to be ready for these five trends: we’ll gladly think along.
Winter 2026/27 won’t be a copy of last year. And that’s exactly the opportunity for everyone who adjusts in time.