Quality of Ski Resorts and Competition Between the Emilian Apennines and Altipiani Trentini. An Estimate of the Hedonic Price

We use the hedonic framework to estimate and simulate the hedonic ticket prices of 19 ski resorts in the Emilian Apennines and Altipiani Trentini. To do so, we combine data on lift facilities and slopes from several sources as well as climatic data and characteristics of the ski resorts over the 2008-2012 winter seasons. Hedonic logarithmic regression models are estimated for weekdays and weekends lift-ticket prices. The characteristics or attributes include any facility or service available to skiers which implicitly represents the value of their skiing experience. Our robust regressions yield precise and consistent estimates of positive effects on ticket prices. We find that the willingness to pay for the quality and diversification of slopes and the length of ski runs tend to be higher than the transport capacity, the altitude of the slopes or the other characteristics of the chairlifts. Then, we use our estimates to predict the lift-ticket prices of the sample resorts as a measure of their quality and attractiveness. We found that the perception of skiers is very selective and their choices are based on the values of the characteristics of the ski resort.