At the lift ticket offices of the Zwölferkogelbahn in Saalbach-Hinterglemm (Pinzgau) there was already a lot of activity on Saturday morning – the usual 2-G rule was checked digitally. Skiers must show their vaccination or recovery certificate, the ski pass WILL then be activated on presentation of a QR code. According to winter sports enthusiasts, the natural snow of the past few days already provided a suitable surface on the slopes.

Cable car enthusiasts and tourism professionals: “Holiday-hungry ski guests”

There is no lack of pleasure in skiing – despite, or perhaps precisely because of, the pandemic, tourism experts said on the first day of the season. “I rate the situation as very good, as you can see that there are already a lot of guests on the slopes. We were able to sell around 30 percent more season tickets and people want to go skiing ”, says Peter Mitterer, the managing director of Bergbahnen Saalbach-Hinterglemm, with satisfaction.

The Saalbach-Hinterglemm tourist office had around 150,000 booking requests on its booking system in October 2020, in the autumn before the pandemic there were 190,000 inquiries – today there would have been 230,000 booking requests before the lockdown. “The demand was extremely strong this year, the guests have some catching up to do and that encourages us a lot for the coming winter”, says the tourism director from Saalbach-Hinterglemm Wolfgang Breitfuß.

Leogang benefits from the alpine ski network

In Leogang, too, there was a rush in front of the cash registers on Saturday lunchtime. Here you benefit from membership in the large Alpine Ski Card association. “The ski circuit with Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Leogang-Fieberbrunn is already one of the largest associations in Austria, but the Alpin Card association with the Schmitten in Zell am See and the Kitzsteinhorn in Kaprun is particularly popular with the locals as a season ticket” says Kornel Grundner, head of the Leogang mountain railway.

Hoteliers demand planning security – “otherwise guests and staff will migrate abroad”

After a tourism summit on Friday evening with the Salzburg Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP), the industry insists on opening up quickly. “We still have reservations in the system for Christmas and New Year’s Eve – if we don’t give our guests the assurance that we will have open, the guests will emigrate abroad and the same will happen to our employees,” says the Pongau hotelier and vice-president of Austrian Hotel Association Walter Veit. There is finally an upswing in tourism, and descents should only be the trend for skiing.