Good winter sports season for Swiss mountain railroads and hoteliers

Graubünden's mountain railway operators and hoteliers are delighted: the winter season so far has been "above average", Martin Hug, President of the Graubünden Mountain Railway Association, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. In addition to the high number of hours of sunshine and the good snow conditions, the "renewed enjoyment of winter sports is clearly noticeable", said Hug.

By the end of February, Graubünden's mountain railroads had recorded 6.6 percent more guests than in the previous year. The late end of the season at Easter poses a challenge. Nevertheless, the mood among hoteliers is high. The latest overnight stay figures from January confirm the six percent increase in December, said Ernst Wyrsch, President of Hotelleriesuisse Graubünden.

The Bernese Oberland is also satisfied with the end of the ski season: In the Jungfrau region, the number of skier arrivals increased by 5.4 percent year-on-year to 987,000 "skier visits". With the new major V-Cableway project, the Jungfrau winter sports destination aims to return to the "Champions League" by 2020 at the latest, as explained by Urs Kessler, CEO of the Jungfrau Railways.

Adelboden-Lenk even recorded record figures. Up to March 25, there were around 1.1 million skier days in this ski resort - around seven percent more than in the previous winter season. The month of February will go down in history as "the best February ever" with its weather high.

In Central Switzerland, the brilliant weather in February virtually saved the season. The start to the winter was difficult, said Peter Reinle, Head of Marketing at Titlis Bergbahnen, when asked.

Without artificial snowmaking, snow sports would not have been possible from November to mid-December. By the end of the season, the Titlis region had attracted 497,500 guests to the mountain. That was 2.6 percent more than the previous year, said Reinle.

Although the start of the season was also delayed in Sörenberg LU, mountain railroad director René Koller speaks of a "very good winter". In February, his ski resort even achieved the highest turnover and the most first-time admissions since 1998. In total, the mountain railroads recorded around 300,000 first-time admissions on 102 days of skiing. This corresponds to an increase of around eight percent compared to the previous year.

And the Flumserberg SG ski resort was also able to make up for the loss of around 1.2 million francs up to Christmas thanks to excellent conditions in February, as mountain railroad CEO Heinrich Michel said. He expects around 3 percent more guests by the end of the season than in the previous year.

People in Valais are very satisfied with the season. Verbier has so far recorded a seven percent increase in skier days compared to the previous year, as Téléverbier Director Laurent Vaucher said on request. It has been a very good season with excellent snow conditions.

Thanks to the good weather, the Zermatt ski resort was also able to increase the number of admissions compared to the previous year, even though no definitive figures are yet available. Those responsible are pleased with the occupancy rate of the hotel rooms: this was over 90 percent over Christmas/New Year and from mid-February to mid-March. Over the entire season, Zermatt Tourism spokeswoman Simona Altwegg expects an increase of around 5 percent compared to the previous year.

In Nendaz-Veysonnaz, an increase in skier days of 2.5 to 3 percent is expected, while Crans-Montana is already at the same level as last year three weeks before the end of the season. And the prospects for Easter are promising, even if the vacations are very late this year, said mountain railroad director François Fournier. The winter sports resorts will draw a definitive balance at the end of the season. (SDA)

Photo: David Birri; Jungfrau Railways 2019