Traffic jams on ski resort roads, snow weather, avalanche risks or the dangers of off-piste… Every year, as the February holidays approach, winter sports occupy the media space. However, is this an activity accessible to the greatest number of people? Not really, because in reality less than one in ten French people go on a “snow vacation”. This low proportion has not changed much for more than ten years, and corresponds to a specific social profile.
Between 9% and 13% of the population go to the mountains in winter
Going on vacation in winter is a much less widespread social practice than summer vacations. The Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Crédoc) questioned a representative panel of French people in January 2023, as part of a survey on their “living conditions and aspirations”. It turns out that only 9% of those surveyed go on vacation to the mountains in winter.
This publication extends a study carried out in 2010which concluded that 17% of French people surveyed regularly went on vacation in winter (between December and March), including 8% to the mountains, while 65% never went.
This order of magnitude is corroborated by other opinion surveys. According to a survey carried out in 2022 by Ipsosonly a third of those questioned (34%) say they visit the mountains in winter, and only 13% go there every year – more than half have never been there.
6 million alpine skiers in 2020
Not all vacationers who visit the mountains in winter ski. If the world of skiing is culturally anchored in France, a candidate for the 2030 Winter Olympics, the practice of winter sports remains quite limited.
According to the latest barometer carried out by the ministry of youth and sports, 11% of people questioned, aged 15 and over, declared having practiced alpine skiing during the year 2020, or around 6 million people. This figure includes tourists who stay in the mountains, but also local practitioners, whether they live in resorts or in towns close to the slopes: the same study estimates that 0.5% of French people are regular alpine skiers. (at least every week).
Other winter activities are more confidential: sledding (3% of practice in the last twelve months), snowshoeing (2.3%), cross-country skiing (1.7%), snowboarding (1.4%)…
Skiers tend to be educated, urban and wealthy
The Crédoc survey shows that winter sports remain socially marked and mainly concern advantaged groups: 20% of the executives questioned went to the mountains during the winter of 2023, i.e. three times more than people from the middle class lower (7%). High incomes (17%) and higher education graduates (15%) are also over-represented, as are those under 25 and residents of the Paris metropolitan area. These differences remain in the wake of the 2010 study, apart from a slight gap which occurred between men (11%) and women (7%).
Overall, the study authors found little change from the findings of the 2010 survey. “This does not surprise us for the moment, even if it is possible that things will change within two or three years, that these populations will adapt and go skiing less, explains Jörg Müller, researcher at Crédoc. Young people or higher education graduates have, in declarative surveys, a strong environmental sensitivity, and some of their behaviors change on a daily basis, but others not so much: they remain attached to winter sports and go there the most often by car. »
117 euros on average for a day of skiing
One of the obstacles to winter sports holidays remains the high price. Few recent comprehensive studies are available, as noted in the recent report from the Court of Auditors on mountain resorts. He cites in particular a study carried out in 2013 by the Domaines skiables de France and the Caisse des Dépôts en Rhône-Alpes, which estimated the average cost of a day of skiing at 117 euros. If these amounts have necessarily increased since then, in particular due to inflation, the details show that the first expense concerns accommodation (29%), well before the ski lift pass.
A more recent study, carried out by G2A for Savoie and Haute-Savoie in 2023estimated that French visitors spent 97 euros per day per person, on average, excluding transport, compared to 155 euros for foreign tourists.
According to the latest data, covering the year 2022-2023, nearly 30% of winter tourist attendance is provided by foreigners, in particular British and Belgians. Note an increase in non-European customers, which represents almost 4%.