As the Austrian Tirol gears up for the 2013-14 ski season, it has been reflecting on the success of last year’s ski season.

St Anton was once again the most popular ski resort in the Austrian Tirol for UK visitors, followed by Obergürgl, Sölden, Mayrhofen, Söll and Kitzbühel.

British ski holidays to the region have increased – up 5% compared with the previous season.

The new ‘Ski Jewel’ area noted the greatest increase in visitor numbers overall.

FamilySkiNews.com first reported about the new Ski Jewel area when it opened last season – It includes the resorts of Seefeld, Alpbach and Wildschönau, and you can read more about it here.

The 2013/14 season looks promising for the Tirol too, with a number of UK tour operators introducing new resorts.

Tailor-made ski specialist, Ski Safari (01273 224060, www.skisafari.com), has added Austria to its programme for the first time, including Innsbruck, Sölden, Obergürgl/Hochgürgl, Kitzbühel, St Anton and Galtür in the Tirol.

Zenith Holidays (020 3137 7678, www.zenithholidays.co.uk) introduced the resorts of Ischgl and Galtür at the end of last season and for 2013-14 will become the only UK operator to feature the family-friendly resort of Kappl, in the Paznaun Valley

Inghams (01483 371100, www.inghams.co.uk) has introduced the resorts of Axams and Götzens (near Innsbruck); the resort of Kirchberg (in the heart of the Kitzbühler Alps) and the little-known resort of Going (part of Austria’s largest ski area – the SkiWelt). What’s more, Inghams is offering a new regional flight route from Southampton to Innsbruck for the winter 2013-14 season.

Cosmos (0871 902 5838, www.cosmos.co.uk) is entering the ski market for the first time, as we reported in a previous story here.  Its new ski and snowboard brochure includes 10 Tirolean resorts, serviced by sister company Monarch airlines, with regional flights (and short transfers) to Innsbruck, Munich and Friedrichshafen.

VIP SKI (0844 557 3119; www.vip-chalets.com) and Supertravel Ski (020 7962 9933) are both increasing their accommodation in St Anton.

Crystal Ski (0871 231 2256; www.crystalski.co.uk) is introducing a limited number of FREE first-time ski or board packages, to Seefeld and St Johann, during selected weeks in January and March. The package includes tuition, equipment hire, lift pass for the week (book by 15 November).
For further information on the Tirol region, check out www.visittirol.co.uk or keep updated on Facebook at www.facebook.com/visittirol