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35 years ago, Gùˆnther Walcher created the first registered ski ticket and thereby formed the basis for SKIDATA. Today, the company is a leading global provider of access management solutions, and its clients include operators of ski resorts, parking facilities, fairs, stadia and amusement parks. Alongside the classic access solutions, SKIDATA provides a broad spectrum of management services in these areas.
SKIDATA was founded in 1977: Tickets and the first cash registers were effective in preventing forgery. The introduction of magnetic cards and the option of seamless billing in large ski resorts and networks of ski resorts propelled SKIDATA to the fore in the 1980s. By 1986, SKIDATA’s market share for access management in ski resorts had grown to more than 80 percent. With the developing of small, cost-effective RFID chips, SKIDATA brought to market the first hands-free access system in 1987.
The first ticket and cash systems were developed in the late 1980s for parking management, as well. In 1990, SKIDATA revolutionized the industry with credit card payment options at exit gates. That same year, SKIDATA equipped its first international airport, Munich Airport, with an efficient parking management system. In 1991, SKIDATA had its first successes with trade fairs at Dusseldorf’s convention center.
With the acquisition of SKIDATA AG by the Swiss Kudelski Group in 2001, new markets have opened for SKIDATA. Continual developments such as the Vario.Gate for processing paper and hands-free tickets for different formats ensured that SKIDATA could also gain a foothold in these markets. One example among many is the Globen Arena in Sweden, which was the first to implement the Handshake.Logic software platform for professional arena and stadium management.
In the following years, the company itself, as well as its Freemotion.Gate and Power.Cash products, were recognized with awards. SKIDATA scored at the Football World Cup and European Championship in Germany and South Africa as well as in Austria/Switzerland and Poland/Ukraine.
Today, SKIDATA is bringing to market the first online system and has more than 7,500 solutions for access management in mountain destinations, parking facilities, trade fairs, amusements parks and airports in 55 countries around the world.
