Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Health - Sport - Sport Economics, Sport Management, grade: 66 %, Northumbria University (School of Psychology and Sports Sciences), language: English, abstract: Prior to World War I, skiing had already established itself as a leisure activity and asan integral part of winter sports tourism (www.kokotele.com). In Scandinavia and thecentral European alpine states, skiing evolved as an industry around 1890. The firstexhibition of winter sports equipment was held in Muerzzuschlag in Austria in 1894,two German and 14 Austrian manufacturers put their products on display(www.land.heim.at). Also around this time the first international skiing, crosscountryand ski jumping championships took place. The winter sport industry inparticular the skiing industry obtained a tremendous boost through the first winterOlympics, held in Chamonix in 1924 (www.olympic.org/uk).With growing prosperity of European countries in the late fifties, the skiing industrydeveloped into an important part of the leisure and tourism sector. These days wholeregions are dependent on ski tourism and it provides many jobs for people inmountainous areas (www.skimuseum.net). These days Europeans go for vacationrather than recreation, and skiing is as much a social as a sporting activity (Lennon,1997). The recent emergence of snowboarding has contributed to the ski tourism industry,attracting many youngsters to ski resorts (Marzella, 2001). Snowboarding as a sportwas invented through surfers in the 1960`s who fixed bindings on to modifiedsurfboards. As the yuppie age ended and the Generation Xers began to get intoskateboarding, BMX bikes, bungee jumping, and roller blading., snowboarding tookoff (Reichenfeld& Bruechert, 1995). By the late 1980`s, rapid growth in the sport hadbeen tipped into motion by a number of important catalysts. Effective technicalinnovations and the formation of a world professional tour (backed by enthusiasticmedia) were the main factors in widening the sports commercial market and creatingwhat is now an established and vibrant industry. However, many ski resorts still treatsnowboarding as a secondary market, although it must be added, that by 1996 97% ofall ski resorts welcomed snowboarders (Marzella, 2001). Through the increasedpopularity of snowboarding over the last 10 years, it is inevitable that some resortswould develop a strong attraction for boarders (Lennon, 1997). [...]