Pleasing growth of 20% in both North America and Asia, overall sales rise by €2.2 million
Axess AG was founded in Salzburg in 1998 and has produced constantly increasing revenues ever since. In February, the company announced that the past business year had generated a new record result of €42.2 million and revealed that growth in the international markets of North America and Asia had risen by 20%. Technological innovations such as the introduction of UHF transponder technology for ski areas and new software modules enabled numerous new projects to be launched worldwide.
The consistent global growth figures recorded by Axess AG are a ringing endorsement of the strategic line it has pursued and show just how successful this recipe has been. The company’s acquisition of a former sales and distribution partner led to the foundation of Axess Americas Inc., which has its Registered Office in Park City as well as maintaining other locations in Los Angeles and Boston. The subsequent recruitment of new staff has produced a very pleasing outcome on the US market, even in the first year of operations. The crucial growth drivers in this case have been further developments of Axess RESORT.SOLUTIONS and a newly devised access system based on UHF technology. Two prominent skiing regions were acquired in the form of Killington and Cypress Mountain. Axess has already equipped a total of 33 resorts in the US and Canada, and a further four in South America (in Chile and Argentina) can also be added to this list.
In China, the takeover of a long-standing partner firm and the establishment of Axess (Beijing) Technology Co., LTD (with offices in Beijing and Shanghai) have allowed the implementation of whole resort solutions in Luneng and Lishan and of the Common Ski-Pass Chongli. The last-named project is particularly important and prestigious given the fact that Chongli will be one of the venues for the 2022 Olympic Games. Japan has also seen the realization of a pioneering ski area on the island of Hokkaido in the shape of the Hoshino Resorts Tomamu, and our subsidiary in Tokyo is already managing 14 resorts.
Axess AG has delivered significant impetuses for growth, employment and success across all five business divisions by continuing with the ongoing development of innovative access systems, ticketing and services. The beacon projects over the past year have been as follows.
SKIING: Killington (US), Cypress Mountain (US), Jennerbahn (DE), Abetone (IT), Tomamu (JP), Cerro Castor (AG), Narvik Fjellet (NO), Amirsoy (UZ)
STADIA: Fortuna Sittard (NL), Pristina (KO)
TOURISM: Ulriksbahnen (NO), Schafbergbahn (AT), Wolfgangseeschiffahrt (AT), Schloss Neuschwanstein (DE)
All of the above are examples of outstanding projects which represent a mere sample of all of the customers the company has been able to attract over the last 20 years – more than 1,500 in number. All these clients have continued to develop alongside Axess AG and are today users of state-of-the-art hardware and software solutions which permit enhanced guest and visitor management. Along the way, Axess AG has transformed itself from a hardware manufacturer into a solution provider which is able to offer the right software and optimization solutions for the job.
Along with paying close attention to its customers and technology, the company’s philosophy still places the main emphasis on human resources and effective staff training. Axess is also becoming an increasingly significant high-tech employer in Salzburg and Tyrol. The hardware and software used in the company’s products are developed at Head Office in Anif, where sales, financing and marketing operations are also based. This approach will continue unchanged over the coming years. All system components, including tickets, are produced at the company’s own manufacturing facility in Innsbruck. A total of 185 employees in our home country are committed to supplying quality that is “made in Austria” to the entire world. Axess employs 280 staff worldwide.
