Brand Image Report From Mountain Management Consulting & Lumifai Explores What Travelers Actually Say About Resort Brands Online

How are the top ski resorts faring this winter season? While the well-known AI-based brand image report from Mountain Management Consulting and Lumifai has previously focused primarily on the messages ski destinations themselves send through their channels, it is now turning its attention, for the first time, consistently outward: to what travelers actually say about the brands online. At the heart of this is comprehensive social listening across social media, news portals, and travel platforms. Since the beginning of the year (January 1, 2026), the 66 leading ski destinations have been mentioned online approximately 63,000 times. The sentiment is mixed: only about 43% of these mentions are positive, while the majority remain neutral or critical. At the same time, the analysis clearly shows which destinations are managing to cultivate a strong, positive online image despite this environment.

Top of the online mood

Zillertal Arena achieved the highest online sentiment score (NPS) with +47.0 – a top ranking that reflects the outstandingly positive online response. Silvretta Montafon (41.1) and Kleinwalsertal (40.0) follow closely behind. These destinations are thus among the season’s top performers in terms of sentiment. Their brand image benefits from an overwhelmingly positive online perception – a competitive advantage that can translate into bookings and customer loyalty. Marketing teams in other regions can learn from this: What content generates this positive sentiment? The report provides answers and enables the identification of the success factors of the best-performing destinations.

Community power on social media

The analysis also reveals which resorts generate the greatest online fan engagement. Laax leads the pack with an average of around 8,900 interactions per day on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms – an absolute top value! Ischgl follows with approximately 8,000 daily interactions, also an indicator of a highly active community. This enormous social media response underscores that an engaged online community directly contributes to brand image. Destinations that engage their fans with inspiring content and prompt responses gain visibility and loyalty. Laax and Ischgl serve as prime examples of how to successfully reach a young, trend-conscious target group.

The analysis also reveals where brand images are created. For the first time, it clearly quantifies which online channel each destination has a particularly strong presence in. Some resorts dominate social media – for example, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis achieves a social media share of +23.6% above average (compared to review portals and news), followed by Saas-Fee and Zillertal Arena. Others score particularly well in the press: Val d’Isère, for instance, achieves a channel dominance of +47.7% in news portals. Still others (e.g., Schladming) have a disproportionately high presence on review platforms.

Making the effects of crises measurable

The online opinion index – essentially the “stock price” of brand perception – is highly sensitive to negative events. A recent example is Crans-Montana: The tragic New Year’s Eve accident at the end of last year caused the destination’s Web Opinion Index to plummet. This dent in perception continues to have repercussions today. While such incidents will hopefully remain isolated, long-term analysis underscores the crucial importance of sustainable reputation management. Destination brands should actively engage in communication during crises to quickly mitigate losses of trust – because the data shows that otherwise, damage to their image can have long-lasting consequences.

Reports at a glance

From mid-April, these social listening analyses will be available for the first time in a dedicated, cross-season report: the Online Feedback Report. It specifically complements the Brand Image Tracking Report by exclusively depicting how ski destinations are perceived online – based on posts, comments, reviews, and reports in social media, news portals, and travel platforms.

Together, the two reports provide a holistic picture of the brand: While the brand image tracking report analyzes what a destination communicates, the online perception report shows how this content and these experiences are actually received and discussed in the digital space. In addition to quantitative metrics, the new report also includes qualitative analyses of topics and content, such as service, value for money, infrastructure, sustainability, and crisis events – thus making the drivers of positive and negative perceptions transparent.

Marketing and communications managers thus gain a data-driven management tool that covers everything from content optimization and reputation management to the strategic development of the brand. Further information can be found at www.mountain-m.com (Products → Brand Image Tracking).