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The Ropeway Industry Is on the Rise Toward 2032

By Konstantinos Panagiotou - Doppelmayr México
CEO

STORY INLINE POST

By Konstantinos Panagiotou | CEO - Thu, 03/30/2023 - 14:00

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The ropeway market is booming. Some projections attribute the success of these transportation systems to factors such as the increase in tourism activity on a global scale and an industry that is undoubtedly looking for new ways to reactivate itself and focus its efforts on building and remodeling various attractions, especially after the pandemic. These include advantages for traveling and getting around not only with greater safety, but also comfort, combining tourism and urban mobility.

This is due to the fact that urban ropeways complement traditional means of transportation in large cities, where monocable gondolas (MGD), bicable gondolas (BGD), tricable gondolas (TGD) or aerial tramways (ATW) and funiculars are used. 

Many countries around the globe have opted to develop more ropeways, not only because they are efficient and environmentally friendly transport systems, but also because the investments are significantly lower than those involved, for example, in expanding a metro network. 

In addition, they avoid excessive traffic and reach inaccessible places, in addition to the fact that they are in constant technological evolution. Today alone, each cable car tower and gondola lift offers Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as directional antennas that guide the signal along the route of the gondolas.

A study by Global Industry Analysts, which analyzes 46 industry players, including Doppelmayr, forecasts that the global ropeway market will reach US$9.4 billion in seven years, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% between 2022 and 2030.

Future Market Insights, another analyst firm, believes it could be US$11.5 billion in 2032, while the compound annual growth rate would average 10.6%, based on the market value reaching US$4.2 billion in 2022.

Even though the forecasts of both companies consider a different periodicity, they do have a common denominator: the undisputed growth of this industry, which has multiple advantages, such as moving faster and more sustainably, and with the advantage of enjoying spectacular panoramic views. 

It is no coincidence that the sector is subject to strict safety rules and regulations to be able to operate under normal and critical conditions, in order to avoid mishaps of various kinds, for which it is of vital importance to have the necessary inputs to meet project deliveries in a timely manner.   

In addition, aerial ropeways have the advantage of being independent of road and rail infrastructures, and can be used with a high transit capacity and without waiting times, thanks to their continuous transport characteristics. However, the maximum transit speed of ropeways is about 30kph, which, although slow compared to other modes of transport, remains constant and without interruptions due to traffic or accidents. As a result, it is still a faster alternative than most.

In recent years, there has even been an increased demand for cable cars, driven largely by tourism, especially in recreational parks and ski resorts, so the expansion of the tourism sector will represent a fruitful market opportunity.

Considering that ropeways are becoming the preferred option for travel in tourism and winter regions, we are looking forward to meeting the demand in the coming years.

According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the North American ropeway market could expand considerably between 2022 and 2032, to account for 18.4% of the global market share, due to the use of ropeways and aerial ropeways in urban transportation, as well as their application in multiple mountaineering and hiking areas. The development of tourist destinations is also complementing this growth.

Europe currently holds 25.2% of the world market share and is expected to show favorable growth over the same period. The booming tourism sector and dynamic demographics will drive these figures. 

In other markets, such as in China, forecasts are for the world's second-largest economy to reach a projected market size of US$2.1 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 13.6%, from 2022 to 2030, while in Japan and Canada, each is forecast to rebound by 7.1% and 8%, respectively, over the same period, while the Asia-Pacific market is expected to reach US$1.4 billion by 2030.

Even if Europe dominated the ropeway market in 2019, to account for 51.1% share, followed by North America and the Asia-Pacific region in 2019, according to data from Coherent Market Insights, it will be necessary to observe how the progress and positions are configured in the next decade, where Latin America will surely provide big surprises.

In particular, the ropeway industry will only go from strength to strength in the years to come, especially in urban areas where population growth has reduced the availability of land to build on, so that it will meet the daily transportation needs of thousands of people who require increasingly faster and more efficient means of getting around at affordable costs, for which companies continue to invest significantly in innovation and development to operate effectively.

Photo by:   Konstantinos Panagiotou

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