35 Years SKIDATA – Competency in Access and Ticketing

Salzburg - SKIDATA AG is celebrating its 35th company anniversary these days. The Salzburg based company made history in the areas of access for people and vehicles, and is responsible for the steady development of the industry with its innovative thinking. The success story started with a ski ticket in 1977, today SKIDATA is represented in 64 countries.

SKIDATA 35 years ago. The success story began with the development of the first printed ski ticket as well as a cash register.

SKIDATA AG chinks glasses to 35 successful years at its headquarter in Grödig. The foundation stone for the role as the globally leading provider for access management systems was laid in 1977: Günther Walcher developed printed ski tickets and the first electronic cash register – a milestone in the history of mountain destinations. Bit by bit, handwritten ski passes and manual hole punching machines, which were common back then, were replaced. This facilitated the merging of individual ski lifts to entire ski areas and of ski areas to ski federations. In 1987, end costumer benefits were the center of attention. SKIDATA developed tickets with RFID chips, and with this, enabled hands-free access. Hence, ski resort visitors of today can enjoy the comfort of passing through turnstiles quick and conveniently without having to manually scan the ski ticket.

Milestone by the Access Pioneer

From 1985 to 1988, SKIDATA extended its portfolio to parking space management. In 1990, SKIDATA provided an innovation boost for the industry by introducing credit card payments at exit barriers. In the same year, SKIDATA equipped its first international airport, Munich Airport, with an efficient parking space administration system. Since 2010, even one of the biggest airports in the world, Dallas Fort/Worth, has been relying on SKIDATA.

Since 1991, the Salzburg based company has been offering access systems and solutions for stadiums, amusement parks and fairs. In doing so, SIKDATA scored at the World Football Championships in Germany and South Africa, as well as the European Football Championships in Austria/Switzerland and Poland/Ukraine. Today, the access pioneer also has a cloud solution called SKIDATA Online on the market and thus, connects the established access management with web-based solutions for management, sales and the operative business.

Hugo Rohner, CEO of SKIDATA AG

Know-How Internationally in Demand

 In 2001, after being acquired by the Swiss Kudelski Group, SKIDATA was successful at going international. Today, the company provides global secure and convenient access to ski resorts, shopping centers, airports, sports stadiums, fairs and amusement parks with 7500 access systems and installations. SKIDATA is represented in 64 countries with 17 subsidiaries and numerous partners. This international orientation provided solid results and gratifying successes even in the years of the global crisis. In 2011, SKIDATA and its 600 employees generated revenues of 171,4 Billion Euros in the Public Access sector.

About SKIDATA

SKIDATA Group is an international leader in the field of access solutions and their management. More than 7,000 SKIDATA installations worldwide in ski resorts, shopping centers, major airports, municipalities, sports stadiums, trade shows, and amusement parks provide secure and reliable access and entry control for people and vehicles. SKIDATA places great value in providing solutions that are intuitive, easy to use, and secure. The integrated concepts of SKIDATA solutions help clients optimize performance and maximize profits. SKIDATA Group (www.skidata.com) belongs to the publicly traded Swiss Kudelski Group (www.nagra.com), a leading provider of digital security solutions.