Sports Eventsrental in the mountains
Marco Parisi Fotografo
Over 80% of operators defined the vintage as average or above expectations: the data collected by ProwinterLab.
Friday 15 April 2022 6 minutes reading time
Prowinter Season Finale also hosted the fifth edition of “Ski Rental Summit”, an end-of-season event dedicated to hirers in the snow world.
Starting from the data collected by ProwinterLab, the observatory on the rental sector of sports articles in the mountains, the meeting highlighted some key elements to understand the dynamics that have redesigned the ski rental market this season. The survey collected the opinions of Italian renters through a questionnaire of 21 questions with the aim of investigating, as accurately as possible, the trend of the 2021/22 season. Operators from all over the Alps and some representatives of the Apennines were involved, highlighting a generally positive sentiment, confirmed by over 80% of the charterers who declared a season on average or above expectations.
The first significant data concerns the reopening: all the renters interviewed declared that they were able to reopen the business for the current season, and for 90% of them the opening was regular and continuous. Their estimate on the variation in turnover 21/22 compared to that of the 19/20 season (therefore in the pre-Covid era) is a more heterogeneous figure and only 25% of the interviewees declare that they have not changed. These numbers are particularly encouraging when evaluated together with 21% of the interviewees who report that they have registered a growth in turnover varying between 10 and 30%. "Those who declared a drop in turnover also identified a possible cause in the shortage of foreign public, notoriously a clientele accustomed to renting equipment - comments Alfredo Tradati, director of ProwinterLab - and the absence of foreign skiers is attributable, as we know, to health uncertainties and restrictions regarding travel and visits to facilities and shelters ".
A decisive theme for the analysis of the season certainly concerns the planning of the renewal of the product park, which is affected by the profound changes in the supply chain. In this regard, 26% of respondents said they had planned a "normal" renewal of their rental equipment for the end of the season, in line with what they expected in 2019/20, while 54% will purchase a minimum but significant share for renew the offer. "These are important percentages of a sector that shows the will to continue investing in the renewal of its offer to the public - comments Geraldine Coccagna, Prowinter Brand Manager - and which demonstrates the vitality of ski rental, despite two fluctuating seasons".
In terms of business diversification and in relation to opening up to new possibilities, there is the possibility of converting mountain rentals dedicated to the snow sector to bicycle rental during the summer season. "This extension, which would break down the seasonality of the sector, collides on the one hand with the amount of economic investment of electric bikes, more substantial than that of skis and boots - adds Geraldine Coccagna - but above all it has to deal with the current reality of the cycling sector that pays for the supply difficulties in the value chain ". And precisely on the basis of these considerations, more than half of the renters do not consider expanding their service to bike rental, aware of the difficulties related to finding e-bikes.
Finally, during the Ski Rental Summit 2022, the theme of ski mountaineering was also touched upon, which, like the rental of snowshoes, had to face the lack of snow in the highlight of the season.
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