Where to Ski And Snowboard - Beer price hike for Austria

Beer price hike for Austria

21st September 2010, by Chris Gill

Wie kostat ein bier?

Beers in Austria may not be quite the bargain next season that we’re used to.

Brewers and the Austrian foodstuffs agency have announced prices are set to rise, following increased energy, labour and harvesting costs this year; and as a result of poor summer weather, when crops were hit by devastating thunderstorms and hail showers.

Austrian brewers have warned that price increases of 5% are likely in the first quarter of 2011, which will also affect various food products such as honey, jams and fruit juices – resulting from the harvest declines.

And as one of the biggest beer-drinking nations in Europe, a price hike for the party capital of the Alps is not great news. Beer is a serious business in Austria, and the country’s prominent après-ski scene sees innumerable bottles and litres of the stuff consumed each year.

But fear not … if you’re weighing up the beer drinking odds against other Alpine destinations, Austrian resorts still come out very favorably.

Readers of Where to Ski and Snowboard’s carefully calculated Resort Price Index Survey 2011 will know that Austrian ski resorts are still among the cheaper destinations for saving money on eating and drinking costs overall on a winter holiday, most holding a below-average (100) RPI. Typical beer prices are around 3 euros at present, cheaper than many major French and Swiss resorts.

Sixteen major Austrian resorts feature among our new list of 50 resorts where you can save money, so where’s best?

Well, the cheapest places to head for are Schladming, Bad Kleinkirchheim and Brixental (access to the Kitzbuhel and SkiWelt ski areas) – typical beer prices here are around 2.5 euros. So, even with a price-hike you’ll still be enjoying a relatively good-value drink.

You’ll pay a bit more in the upper-end destinations, such as Ischgl – but even here, the typical small beer price is less than 4 euros. Compare that with prices in Switzerland, where small beers in Zermatt are typically 4.5 euros or more. Based on this year’s figures, all but one of our major Swiss resorts now have prices more than 10% above the RPI average.

Of course, if you’re in Carinthia you could always border-hop for an even cheaper beer in Slovenia…

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Find out more about the Where to Ski and Snowboard Resort Price Survey 2011 in the new edition of the book – out NOW!