“We are seriously dealing with climate change”

Even if a little snowfall is likely over the weekend: That won’t change anything about the lack of snow and the drought. Discount calls are ringing here and there. Some ski areas bend, others do not. Everyone tries to save what can be saved.

Swiss Tourism CEO Martin Nydegger (52) isn’t too worried: “The number of visitors this winter has been good due to good occupancy in the hotels. It’s just the current weather is not pleasant.” He admits that some ski areas are struggling, “an extraordinary winter.”

No lasting damage to the image of the winter sports country Switzerland can be expected, partly because of the brown tracks: “Not all areas are affected equally. The public knows the difference. International guests appreciate our snow reliability, as Swiss ski areas are on average the highest in the Alps.»

Switzerland Tourism develops concepts

Do what you need to do? Not at all! “We take the problem of climate change very seriously,” Nydegger says. Concretely, Swiss Tourism works with the industry to develop concepts to be “prepared for all possibilities”. For example, it is defined which ski areas can be severely affected and who need not worry for the time being.

With those more severely affected, Switzerland Tourism is developing alternative programs to previous snowsport operations. “There’s no standard recipe here,” Nydegger says.

Railroads feel the change

Berno Stoffel, 52, manager of Swiss cable cars, also talks about an “extraordinary winter”. However, the lack of profit has long-term consequences. “The trend towards summer work will continue,” says Stoffel. Mountain railways have twice as much turnover in the summer as they were two years ago.

But currently, mountain railways make up three-quarters of their turnover in winter. And Stoffel also explains it all: “All the higher altitude ski areas are open, only some low-lying ski areas without artificial snow have difficulty. A total of 90 percent of the ski areas are open.”

Source :Blick