Using Google Search data we analysed more than 4,000 ski-related terms to reveal which Australian cities are snow-obsessed and other trends in Australian snowsports search behaviour.
Key takeaways
- The most snow-obsessed cities in Australia are Melbourne, Canberra and Ballarat according to Google search data per capita.
- More than 560,000 snowsports related searches were conducted by Melbourne in a single month
- 59% of search terms are related to snowboarding, compared to only 41% for skiing
- Mount Buller is the most searched ski resort in Australia
The most snow-obsessed Aussie cities according to Google
When analysing the latest search data from Google, Melbourne was crowned the snowsports capital of Australia, ranking number one for both the total searches conducted in a month (563,780), and, searches per capita (11,438).
On a per capita basis, Canberra came in second, followed by Ballarat in third and Sydney in fourth. Ballarat’s positioning was impressive given it had a total of only 9,040 searches conducted which was 97% less than Sydney, which had 333,280 searches.
Other state capitals didn’t fare too well, with Adelaide ranking 7th, Brisbane 10th, Hobart 11th, Darwin 17th and Perth 18th.
When looking at the total searches conducted by each city, we saw the top six positions all filled with state capitals. Melbourne was dominant with 563,780 searches conducted, while Sydney totalled up 333,280, and Brisbane 77,180.
Skiing vs snowboarding : Which is more popular in each city?
The study also looked at the popularity of different snowsports by assessing the percentage of searches related to either skiing or snowboarding. The analysis found that at a national-level, 59% of the search interest was for snowboarding, compared to only 41% for skiing.
At a city level, Melbourne was split similarly to the nation as a whole, with 60% of searches aligning to snowboarders and only 40% skiers. Toowoomba appeared to be a stronghold for skiers, with 58% of search volume relating to that disciple. On the reverse, Newcastle recorded 66% of searches for snowboard terms, leaving only 34% to be relevant to skiing.
Which ski resorts are searched for the most?
The analysis also looked at the national search trends for Australian ski resorts receiving the most combined search interest this season.
Mount Buller, in Victoria came out on top, receiving 388,679 searches within the month of July. This was 99.9% higher than Perisher which came in second place, and 109.9% higher than nearby Falls Creek. The individual search term “Mount Buller” was used 110,000 in the month, more than every Thredbo-related term combined.
The Methodology
Using Google Data (Keyword Planner) we analysed data for the full month of July 2023. A seed set of keywords was used to general a full list of 4,337 keywords covering a broad cross-section of snowsports relevant from ski resorts, brands, athletes and products. This keyword list and associates search volume was then segmented against each of the cities through targeting in the Google platform. The 20 cities’ population was sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, using the estimated resident population for 2022.
For the ski and snowboard comparative statistics, keywords were organised based on volume at a national level, and then refined to only include the top 100 keywords that were ski or snowboard categorisation. For example, all ski resort terms were removed, as these were not specific to either skiing or snowboarding. Launceston and Bendigo were removed from the list due to the sample size of searches being too small when categories into either ski or snowboard.
