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Skiing during the pandemic with masks and tests

How Austrian ski resorts cope with the COVID-19 crisis on Instagram
  • Denise Fecker works as a research assistant at the Tourism Department of the Management Center Innsbruck and is a PhD student at the University of Innsbruck. Her research focuses on winter sports tourism, leadership, organizational commitment and new work.

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    Birgit Bosio is a lecturer at the Management Center Innsbruck (Department for Tourism & Leisure Business). Her fields of research include alpine tourism, sustainability & tourism, social media and service design. She is also responsible for the tourism knowledge platform TTR Tirol Tourism Research (www.ttr.tirol) and is part of the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts.

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    Monica Nadegger is a research assistant & PhD student at the University of Innsbruck (Department for Organization and Learning) and project assistant at the Management Center Innsbruck (Department for Tourism & Leisure Business). Her research focuses on the intersection of communication, organization, and the role of materiality on digital platforms in the context of tourism. Her recent work was published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

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    Stefanie Haselwanter is a research & teaching assistant at the Management Center Innsbruck (Department for Tourism & Leisure Business) as well as a PhD student at the Catholic University of Eichstätt Ingolstadt. Her research interests center around the intersection of Entrepreneurship and Leadership as well as Destination Management and Governance.

Published/Copyright: November 24, 2021

Abstract

Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Austrian ski resorts needed to create an emotional attachment to absent tourists and provide attractive offers for local guests at the same time. This study aims to reveal how they have used Instagram to connect with their heterogeneous audiences. To do so, the authors combined a quantitative hashtag analysis and qualitative content analysis of 16 Instagram accounts. Findings indicate a tendency of the ski resorts to communicate positively connotated winter holiday content and present themselves as attractive skiing areas. Here, the topics of the winter landscape, weather, infrastructure, and holiday activities represent dominant themes whereas COVID-19 was covered rarely. In comparison to the previous winter season, only slight differences were identified. This study provides new findings to the rare amount of research on crisis management in ski resorts and contributes further insights into COVID-19 research in tourism. The implications will help ski resorts to prepare for communication in upcoming seasons and future crisis management.

Zusammenfassung

Aufgrund der COVID-19 Pandemie mussten österreichische Skigebiete gleichzeitig eine emotionale Bindung zu Touristen schaffen und attraktive Angebote für die lokale Bevölkerung bereitstellen. Diese Studie zeigt, wie Bergbahnen Instagram genutzt haben, um sich mit ihrem heterogenen Publikum zu vernetzen. Dazu kombinierten die Autorinnen eine quantitative Hashtag-Analyse und eine qualitative Inhaltsanalyse von 16 Instagram-Accounts. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine Tendenz der Skigebiete, positiv konnotierte Winterurlaubsinhalte zu kommunizieren und sich als attraktive Skigebiete zu präsentieren. Dabei stehen die Themen Winterlandschaft, Wetter, Infrastruktur und Urlaubsaktivitäten im Vordergrund, während selten über COVID-19 berichtet wurde. Im Vergleich zur vorherigen Saison wurden lediglich leichte Unterschiede identifiziert. Die Studie liefert neue Erkenntnisse zu der bisher geringen Forschungsliteratur zum Krisenmanagement in Skigebieten und trägt zur weiteren COVID-19-Forschung im Tourismus bei. Die Implikationen helfen Skigebieten, sich auf die Kommunikation in den kommenden Saisons und zukünftiges Krisenmanagement vorzubereiten.

About the authors

Denise Fecker

Denise Fecker works as a research assistant at the Tourism Department of the Management Center Innsbruck and is a PhD student at the University of Innsbruck. Her research focuses on winter sports tourism, leadership, organizational commitment and new work.

Birgit Bosio

Birgit Bosio is a lecturer at the Management Center Innsbruck (Department for Tourism & Leisure Business). Her fields of research include alpine tourism, sustainability & tourism, social media and service design. She is also responsible for the tourism knowledge platform TTR Tirol Tourism Research (www.ttr.tirol) and is part of the UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts.

Monica Nadegger

Monica Nadegger is a research assistant & PhD student at the University of Innsbruck (Department for Organization and Learning) and project assistant at the Management Center Innsbruck (Department for Tourism & Leisure Business). Her research focuses on the intersection of communication, organization, and the role of materiality on digital platforms in the context of tourism. Her recent work was published in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Stefanie Haselwanter

Stefanie Haselwanter is a research & teaching assistant at the Management Center Innsbruck (Department for Tourism & Leisure Business) as well as a PhD student at the Catholic University of Eichstätt Ingolstadt. Her research interests center around the intersection of Entrepreneurship and Leadership as well as Destination Management and Governance.

We thank our editors and reviewers for their valuable suggestions to develop this paper. We thank Anna Schuster, Magnus Maas, and Demian Küster for assistance in the data analysis. We thank SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser Brixental, Skircirucs Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, Zillertal Arena, and Kitzski for permission to use their photographs.

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Published Online: 2021-11-24
Published in Print: 2021-11-25

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