“Full house and enough snow”: Swiss mountain railways rave about good start to winter

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The start of the winter season was successful: 26 percent plus. That’s how big the increase in the number of guests in Swiss ski areas is compared to the previous year. “We are excited about the successful start of the 2023/24 winter season,” says Berno Stoffel (53), cable car Switzerland director. “The destinations reported occupancy rates, there was ideal weather with sufficient snow, and the mountain railways offered the maximum possible offer,” enthuses the president of the Valais association.

Compared to the five-year average, the increase was 12 percent, the association announced Friday. But it is important to distinguish: last year the start of the season was characterized by warm temperatures without natural snow around Christmas time. In addition, in recent years, there was a problem in the number of guests due to the corona epidemic.

Medium locations are increasing significantly

A year ago, the lack of snow was especially difficult for low-lying ski areas where there was no technical snowmaking. However, higher altitude ski areas or areas with heavy snow may have attracted additional guests last winter season.

This situation was reversed at the start of the current winter. The general snow situation is much better now. The beginning of the season is characterized by good conditions up to medium and low altitudes. Therefore, ski areas in these locations performed relatively better and reported a significant increase in the number of skiers. This is especially true for parts of eastern Switzerland (+86%) and the Vaud Alps (+109%), but also for the Bernese Oberland.

Holidays in many destinations are followed by the fall in January: time for bargain hunters. Blick gives an overview of how much you can save on the hotel and on the ski slopes. (SDA/uro/smt)

Source :Blick