Financially affected following two years of pandemic, two thirds of ski lift companies must review their short and medium term investment plan. While more than half of the park is over twenty years old, it will be necessary to postpone the renewal of certain installations.
This observation was made by Didier Défago, president of the Valais mechanical lifts (RMV), during the general meeting held in Morgins.
The 448 installations operated by 42 companies have an average age of 25 years. A total of 146 are to be replaced, according to the 21/22 management report published on Friday.
The return of international customers to the slopes
Companies are currently experiencing the real economic impact of the two-year pandemic with negative consequences on their finances. “Revenues have decreased as well as cash flow,” said Pierre Mathey, director of RMV. “Debt interest payments, which had been suspended during the pandemic, have also resumed,” he added.
Despite everything, the 21-22 winter season was positive with in particular 9.5 million ski days recorded (compared to 7.2 million in 20-21), which represents 38% of skier days in Switzerland.
This increase in attendance is explained by the return of international customers and by very favorable weather. “The lack of snow cover did not adversely affect skiability, in particular thanks to well-anticipated technical snow cover”, noted Pierre Mathey.
Looking ahead to next season, lift companies will be “massively impacted” by energy-related price increases. But there is no question of renouncing to exploit, according to the director RMV.
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The economic and social consequences would not be acceptable. The RMV recall that one franc of turnover for the lifts corresponds to 6 francs of turnover for the destination.
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