Mountain railroads have a slow start to the summer due to bad weather
Published: Thursday, Jul 4th 2024, 08:40
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Swiss mountain railroads transported significantly fewer guests at the start of the summer season. The reason for this was the bad weather in June with heavy rainfall and storms in some places, the Swiss Cableways Association announced on Thursday.
After two months of the summer season, which lasts from May to October, there was a 9% drop compared to the previous year. According to the press release, the start of the season was still "pleasing". In particular, the extended weekends over Ascension Day and Whitsun brought the mountain railroads more guests in May than in previous years.
However, June was then characterized by cool temperatures as well as heavy rainfall and storms in the southern mountain regions. According to the industry association, the generally poor weather in June put many guests from Switzerland and neighboring countries off day trips. And tourists from distant markets had to start their already booked excursions in gloomy conditions.
Peak phase comes first
However, there were major regional differences. The mountain railroads in Graubünden and Eastern Switzerland were hit particularly hard in May and June, with guest numbers falling by more than a quarter compared to the previous year. Valais also recorded a drop of 10 percent.
The declines were comparatively moderate in Ticino (-1%), the Bernese Oberland (-5%) and Central Switzerland (-7%). In May and June, only the mountain railroads in the Vaud Alps recorded an increase of 5%.
However, the peak summer season is still ahead of the industry with the vacation months of July and August. "We are convinced that day trips in the Swiss mountains will increase again during the vacation season when conditions are good," Berno Stoffel, Director of Cableways Switzerland, is quoted as saying in the press release. At the same time, however, the bar is "very high" with the strong early summer.
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