Instead of closing the entire resort, the authorities decided to greatly reduce the ski area and keep it open. “It sounds like an economic absurdity, but from a financial point of view it makes sense,” Mayor Pierre-Yves Bonnivard told the EuroNews server, according to which the operation of the ticket offices or the system for selling ski passes would cost 36,000 to 41,000 euros (roughly 870,000 to 991,000 crowns) during the season.
“The deficit that the municipality has been struggling with for the past 20 years will not disappear, but it will be considerably smaller. The center now estimates the operating costs at 150,000 to 200,000 euros (about 3.6 million to 4.8 million crowns), which will be five times less than last winter,” specifies EuroNews.
According to the mayor, closing the center completely would be unthinkable. “Going from a connected ski area to zero would be brutal,” Bonnivard said, noting that local businesses would be particularly affected.
They will evaluate the results after the season
Currently, the center operates only two poms and a conveyor belt, so it primarily targets families with children and beginners. However, it is uncertain whether the offer of free skiing will attract more guests, as good snow conditions cannot be guaranteed. “At an altitude of 1,100 meters, skiing is destined to disappear,” says the mayor, adding that climate change is happening faster than expected in the Alps.
“The challenge for the future is to transform mid-altitude mountain communities by diversifying tourism, a painful but necessary step for all communities that have a long-term dependence on skiing,” said Bonnivard.
He also explained that the center has been operating at a deficit for almost 25 years. Last year, the operating deficit reached a million euros (over 24 million crowns). “Almost 40 percent of the budget went to cover loss-making activities,” the mayor mentioned, adding that skiing has become a very uncertain business in recent years due to insufficient snowfall.
The authorities plan to evaluate the experiment after the end of the season in April. After that, according to the mayor, it will be decided whether the same model will be used during the next winter.
