A Phocuswright Special Project

Shifting Slopes: Navigating the Future of Mountain Travel

Lead the way in understanding the latest trends, behaviors, and preferences of snow activity and mountain travelers

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In partnership with:

By Phocuswright Research and Inntopia by Outside

Sponsor pivotal research to elevate your industry standing

Mountain travel is evolving rapidly

Phocuswright and Inntopia are once again partnering on a groundbreaking project aimed at uncovering the latest trends, behaviors, and preferences of snow activity (skiing, snowboarding, tubing, etc.) and mountain travelers.

The 2026 study will build off of insights from 2025 to enrich understanding of traveler attitudes and behaviors in a world of continuing changes to economic and political environments, including effects on travel expenses and international travel. It will provide invaluable insights for businesses looking to cater to their core audiences and to attract new, consistent and enthusiastic mountain travelers.

⬇️ Scroll to see Research Objectives, Key Questions to be Addressed and the benefits of sponsoring like getting the data.

Expected highlights for the mountain travel market

Anticipated findings that will be crucial for stakeholders include: 

The role of weather in trip satisfaction

How trip costs in mountain travel affect travel decision making

Deep dives into destination decisions and trip planning, and consideration of competitive destination settings (e.g., beaches, theme parks) in planning

Detailed skier and mountain traveler profiles, offering insights into targeting and marketing strategies

Expansion opportunities to new generations or demographics of mountain travelers

Comparison of trip spend and booking patterns from the 2025 benchmark

Research Objectives

On the B2C side

This research will profile winter sports travelers and travelers to mountain destinations. It will illuminate their trip planning and booking behaviors, preferences and attitudes, and in-destination behaviors to help businesses and destinations understand and better serve these traveler’s needs.

The research will be analyzed by:

Traveler segments
NSAA Region
Summer & shoulder season vs. winter sports travelers

On the B2B side

Uncover trends in the industry from interviews with suppliers and lodging metrics, commerce and marketing cloud data from Inntopia.

Occupancy rates
ADR & Revenue
Booking characteristics

Key Questions to be Addressed

For B2C side the study will specifically answer:

Who are the winter sports and mountain travelers and what are their attitudes towards their trips?
What are the planning and booking behaviors of winter sports and mountain travelers?
How do skill levels in winter sports affect trip planning and decision making?
How do travelers choose where to visit?
How have shifts in trip costs affected travel decisions?
In what ways does destination weather impact mountain trip perceptions?
What resources are travelers using in the shopping and booking process?
What are the emerging trends in winter sport destination preferences?
What is the role of social media and mobile technology in ski and mountain travel?

For the B2B side, the study will specifically answer:

What are the lodging booking patterns: booking volume, lead time, length of stay, ADR/price points
What are the retail spendings patterns: shifts / trends by category?
What is the status of traditional lodging inventory: volume/inventory, inventory type, use patterns, pipeline assessment?
What are general trends in the short-term rental market: inventory, rates, town revenue, regulation?

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