Every year, we ask thousands of winter sports travellers what they want, how they book and where they’re heading. This year we did it in two big surveys at once: one on our Dutch and Belgian ski portals, one on our German-language platforms across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. More than 1,000 participants took part in each. The results give tourism boards, destinations and brands a clear look at what’s really moving in the market for the 2026/27 season.
Some findings confirm what many in the industry already suspected. Others are genuinely new — especially the answers on destination loyalty, on what people are willing to pay extra for, and on how AI is beginning to shape holiday planning.
Booking behaviour: Dutch and Belgian travellers are ahead of the curve
The single biggest difference between the two markets is the booking speed. At the time of the survey, 71% of Dutch and Belgian winter sports enthusiasts had already booked their 2026/27 ski trip. In the German-speaking market, that figure was 54%. That’s a striking gap of nearly twenty percentage points, and it matters for anyone planning a marketing calendar. For campaigns targeting the NL/BE audience, the effective booking window is largely closed by early autumn. For the DACH market, almost half of the audience is still open — which means late-summer and early-autumn campaigns targeting Germany, Austria and Switzerland still have a real conversion window.
For destinations that operate across both markets, this means two very different media strategies: an inspiration-first approach for the NL/BE audience earlier in the year, and a conversion-focused push for the DACH market well into September and October.
Snow reliability is the deciding factor everywhere
If there’s one message from both surveys, it’s this: snow reliability is the number one criterion when choosing a winter sports destination, in both the NL/BE and DACH markets. In the DACH survey, 77% of participants named reliable snow as their most important factor when choosing a destination — far ahead of size of the ski area (62%), variety (58%) and altitude (49%). And when asked what they would actively pay more for, 52% of DACH travellers said highly reliable snow — the top answer by some margin. For destinations at higher altitudes with strong snow-security stories, this is straight-up good news. For lower-altitude regions, this puts the pressure on: transparency about snowmaking coverage, altitude ranges, and guaranteed opening dates is no longer a “nice to have” in the marketing message. It’s the marketing message.
The premium is real — but you have to earn it
One of this year’s new questions asked participants what they would pay more for. The answers should make every destination think. At the top of the list, DACH travellers said they would pay a premium for reliable snow (52%) and accommodation directly on the piste or at the lift (51%). A single, large linked ski area came in third at 45%, followed by shorter queues and quieter pistes (30%). Meanwhile, “the lowest price is all that counts” was named by just 5%. In other words: this audience is willing to spend more — but only if you deliver on the things they actually care about. Better restaurants (5%), spa facilities (10%) and higher-quality accommodation (11%) barely register as premium-worthy on their own.
The lesson: a destination or hotel that can credibly promise snow, location and ski area quality has real pricing power. One that pushes upmarket with amenities that don’t touch the actual ski experience will find it harder to justify a higher rate.
AI is quietly entering the planning journey
Around a quarter of winter sports travellers now use AI when planning their trip. In the DACH survey, 26% of participants said they use AI — 9% for everything, 8% for on-the-ground tips, and 5% each for finding accommodation or a destination.
That’s still a minority, but the trajectory is clear. A year ago this number was materially lower. Two years ago it was close to zero. For tourism boards and destinations, this raises a practical question: are your content, pricing and availability data structured in a way that AI tools can actually find, quote and recommend them? Because the moment ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity gives a personalised destination recommendation to a traveller, the destinations that show up in that answer will win — and the ones that don’t will disappear from the shortlist before the human even gets involved.
Destination loyalty is stronger than most people assume
Another new question this year was about how travellers actually choose their destination — do they hop around, or return to familiar places?The answer was clear: 35% of DACH travellers switch between two or three regular destinations, and 29% almost always return to the same place. That’s nearly two-thirds locked into fixed choices. Only 13% regularly try somewhere new, and 7% almost always go somewhere different.
That’s a challenging finding for destinations trying to win new market share. It also explains why so much marketing money in the sector delivers weaker-than-expected returns: a lot of it lands on people who were never going to switch anyway. But there’s a route in. When we asked what would persuade someone to try a different destination, the answers were remarkably concrete: more reliable snow (42%), a lower total price (39%), a bigger or more varied ski area (29%), and an attractive package deal (26%). Recommendations from friends came far behind at just 9%.
In practice: winning a loyal skier away from their usual destination is possible, but only with a very specific value proposition. Vague brand advertising won’t do it. A concrete offer that outperforms on snow, price or ski area size will.
Frequency: this is a market of multi-trip travellers
45% of DACH participants go winter sports more than twice a season. Roughly a quarter go once (26%) or twice (25%) a year, and just 4% skip a season entirely. That has real implications for how destinations think about lifetime value. A visitor is not just one week of ski pass revenue — for nearly half of this audience, a single winter contains several destination decisions. If your marketing succeeds in landing one visit, the odds of them returning within the same season, or the next, are meaningfully higher than in most other holiday categories.
Car dominates, plane doesn’t exist
95% of DACH winter sports travellers reach their destination by car. Coach (9%), train (6%), campervan (3%) and plane (2%) are marginal. And 20% of those drivers are now doing at least part of the journey on hybrid or fully electric power — a share that will only grow. The implication for destinations is practical: charging infrastructure at the accommodation and along the driving route is becoming a genuine choice factor. It’s not yet at the level of snow reliability or price, but the trajectory is clear.
What this means for the 2026/27 season
Taken together, the surveys draw a coherent picture of where the winter sports market is heading. The audience is booking earlier (especially in NL/BE), demanding snow reliability above almost anything else, willing to pay more when the fundamentals are right, and beginning to use AI as part of their planning routine. They’re also more loyal than most destinations assume — which is both a defensive advantage for those who already have their share, and a challenge for anyone trying to grow.
For the 2026/27 season, the destinations and hotels that will do best are the ones that:
- Understand the sharp booking-window difference between NL/BE (early) and DACH (later)
- Lead with credible snow-security messaging, at altitude and with data
- Frame their proposition around the specific things people pay more for
- Structure their content to be visible in AI-driven planning
- Speak directly to the loyal, multi-trip core of the audience
The full survey
The two surveys together contain far more than fits in one weblog. Full breakdowns on family behaviour, destination choice per country, accommodation preferences, budget shifts and much more are available as a report to destinations, tourism organisations and brands who want to understand what’s really moving in their market.
Interested in the full findings for either market? Download the full survey here!