Winter is here, the Christmas season is in full swing, and skiers are waiting in the wings. Many hope for fantastic winter weather with snow and sun, but many landscapes are often submerged in drizzle and permanent gray. It's a good thing that there are at least six indoor ski centers in Germany that offer winter pleasures. These are located far away from the Alps.
So, which regions reach their catchment areas? And, moreover, where are there places whose names evoke a little Christmas spirit?
Fewer and fewer young skiers
According to a 2018 study by the German Sport University Cologne, there are nearly 23 million winter sports enthusiasts in Germany, of which about 6.3 million ski, as Spiegel Online reported at the time.
The details are interesting: According to the study, the research group found a "significant drop-out rate" among 14- to 39-year-old winter sports enthusiasts. One reason why many in this age group said goodbye to skiing: the high cost of equipment and tickets. Older people, such as those from the Silver Ager generation, tend to remain more loyal to skiing. This age group often learned to ski in their youth, including through school trips, and thus has an early connection to winter sports. It is also clear that, due to climate change, only a relatively small number of top ski regions in the Alpine regions will be able to distinguish themselves through massive investment. In general, there is probably a clear correlation between the affinity for skiing and the spatial proximity to ski resorts (however, this correlation does not seem to apply to our dear neighbors from the BeNeLux countries with the yellow and red license plates). Well-known skiers tend to come from Bavaria, not from Schleswig-Holstein.
Nevertheless, nationwide in absolute terms, the target group of skiers is large enough to frequent the ski halls.
Catchment areas of the ski halls
A total of six indoor ski centers offer the experience of staying in practice while skiing, regardless of snow and sun. Two halls in Bottrop and Neuss primarily serve the North Rhine region, while two others serve the greater Hamburg area. The hall in Oberhof, Thuringia, is already located in a winter sports area, and Snowtropolis in Senftenberg is "the place to be" for winter sports enthusiasts in southern Brandenburg and Lusatia, as well as in eastern Saxony. However, not this winter, because the hall remains closed for this season due to the sharp rise in energy prices.
Our map (PDF) shows a hypothetical catchment area for each ski hall with distance zones up to 1 hour travel time. Here, a dynamic speed profile was stored, which allows for longer distances. For attractions of supraregional importance, people tend to accept longer travel distances. The number of inhabitants per zone, from which the target group of skiers is recruited, was determined as the base potential. Thus, for the halls in Bottrop and Neuss, more than 10 million inhabitants are reached within 1 hour's travel time in each case, whereby these catchment areas overlap significantly. A cannibalization effect is given here.
Based on Nexiga's extensive market data, socio-demographic market data such as age groups are available for such analyses at various geographical levels - e.g. zip codes, municipalities or residential quarters. These can be intersected with catchment areas to determine market potential.
- Christmas greetings from Nexiga
The map shows selected municipalities that have at least one reference to winter or Christmas in their names. Engelskirchen and Königswinter are located in North Rhine-Westphalia, but most of the communities in the angel or winter category are in southern Germany.
At this point, we at Nexiga wish you a Merry Christmas already today. Enjoy the holidays wherever you are. Maybe you are planning to visit a ski hall or even a winter vacation in the mountains. In any case, we wish you a good time and lots of fun.
But we also like to take a brief look back. Because 2022 was a special year. Not only did Haribo Gold Bears celebrate their 100th anniversary this year, Nexiga also celebrated a milestone birthday of 40 years.