Winter Olympics: Which Europeans are splurging the most on tickets?

The 2026 Winter Olympics are present less than 100 days away, and the lawsuit has already sold astir 850,000 tickets and is expected to gully up to two million visitors.

Beyond section enthusiasm, with 7 of 10 Italians interested, the Games, taking spot from 6 to 22 February 2026, are proving particularly fashionable among Americans,according to a survey carried retired by Ipsos for VISA.

The 2025 Winter Olympics volition beryllium the archetypal post-pandemic Winter Games. Back successful 2022, less than 100,000 spectators attended the variation hosted successful China.

An investigation of aboriginal summons income shows that US citizens relationship for astir 35% of each spending by overseas buyers.

Germans pb the European flock with conscionable implicit 10%, followed by ample groups of Brits, Swiss and French wintertime sports fans with 5% each, according to the VISA study. Canadians travel successful astatine astir 10%.

When it comes to idiosyncratic spending, however, Australians apical the database with an mean outlay of €2,600 per carholder, up of Canadians (€2,200), Americans (€2,100), and Dutch visitors (€1,300).

Dutch visitors are so expected to travel successful ample numbers, with aerial arrivals to bluish Italy expected to emergence eighteenfold successful February 2026 compared to February 2025.

Canadians volition bring the second-biggest year-on-year maturation (12x), followed by Germans (almost 5x), Americans (more than 4x), Finns (more than 3x), French tourists (2x) and Brits (more than a third).

In general, overseas aerial arrivals are expected to soar by 160% compared to the aforesaid play successful 2025.

Among Italian airports, Milan Linate is acceptable to grip the largest rider flows, with arrivals up by much than 450%, followed by Milan Malpensa (+190%), Verona (+120%), and Bergamo (+80%).

Closer to Cortina, Venice (+75%), and Treviso (+40%) airports volition besides spot steep climbs of 75% and 40% respectively.

Milan and Cortina volition beryllium the main hubs, but competitions volition besides instrumentality spot successful the Valtellina country and Val di Fiemme, portion Verona volition big the closing ceremony.

The country acrophobic volition beryllium truthful immense — 22,000 quadrate kilometres — that the 2026 Winter Olympics volition reportedly beryllium the "most dispersed Games" ever.

In the VISA canvass tally by IPSOS, "90% foresee affirmative determination impact, including lasting improvements to nationalist spaces, transport, infrastructure and tourism — portion 65% presumption Milano Cortina 2026 arsenic a catalyst for tech innovation".

What's Skimo, the caller gruelling wintertime Olympic discipline?

One of the main novelties among the 116 medal events and 16 disciplines featured volition beryllium the Olympic debut of ski mountaineering — besides known arsenic Skimo.

Fast, intense, and highly strategic, the athletics is simply a gruelling operation of uphill climbing, method ascents and downhill skiing, often connected earthy terrain.

Skimo volition diagnostic 3 events astatine Milan-Cortina: mixed relay and men's and women's sprints.

"Italy is 1 of the starring nations successful this sport, with respective planetary wins successful large competitions implicit the past 10 years," the organisers say.

In addition, the "thrilling and high-adrenaline" dual moguls volition beryllium incorporated into freestyle skiing for some men and women.

It consists of 2 athletes competing broadside by broadside connected a bumpy people with 2 jumps, which they usage to execute aerial tricks.

The Games volition spot the highest women's information successful Winter Olympic history: 47% of astir 3,000 athletes.

Russians and Belarusians volition again vie arsenic "individual neutral athletes".

The Winter Olympics volition beryllium followed by the Winter Paralympics, scheduled betwixt 6 and 15 March, which volition beryllium the archetypal specified lawsuit hosted successful aggregate cities since France's 1992 variation successful Tignes-Albertville.