The winter season is seeing decent numbers of people ferrying into the mountains, largely thanks to some good weekend weather conditions and better snow compared to last year.
This content was published on February 8, 2024 – 11:49
Keystone-SDA
The number of guests had risen significantly by January, announced the association of Swiss cable car operators on Wednesday.
In the 2023-2024 winter season, the number of first-time admissions to cable cars climbed by a fifth by January compared to the same period in the previous year, the association said. In January alone, it recorded an increase of 14%.
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According to the association, small and medium-sized regions particularly benefited from better snow conditions compared to last year. Above all in the Jura mountains (+79%), in southern canton Ticino (+67%), in Eastern Switzerland (+61%) and in the Alps in canton Vaud (+43%), operators recorded increases.
However, increases of around a quarter were also recorded in the Bernese Alps and in Central Switzerland.
Throughout last year’s very warm winter, skiing at lower altitudes was often difficult or impossible. This put a heavy strain on the cable car business.
That said, the current spell of warm weather and sometimes precarious snow conditions are also causing problems for some destinations. “We are looking forward to a new batch of snow as well as to the winter sports holidays, which have already begun in some cantons,” said Berno Stoffel, the director of the industry association.
Translated from German by DeepL/dos
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