Crans Montana attracts investors after takeover by Vail Resort
Published: Wednesday, Nov 20th 2024, 17:40
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Crans Montana has become the focus of investors following its takeover by the American ski resort operator Vail Resort. "We have eight to ten hotel development projects in the pipeline," said Bruno Huggler, Director of the Tourism Office, at a media conference in Zurich on Wednesday.
The Valais ski resort has also made significant investments in its infrastructure. The takeover of Vail Resort has fundamentally changed the situation, said Huggler. After several years of hotel closures, the trend has reversed. New hotels are now being built again or existing ones renovated, such as the Six Senses Resort, the Faern Valaisia or the Alaïa Lodge.
The moratorium on the conversion of hotels into apartments has halted the decline in hotel beds. "We need the hotel industry for our events and it is developing well," praised Huggler.
Because events are very important for the attractiveness of the destination, the municipality and the tourism board spend CHF 2 million a year on them. "Our intention is to offer leisure activities all year round," said the tourism director of Crans Montana.
Boost from World Ski Championships
The municipality is hoping for a boost from the World Ski Championships, which will be held from February 1 to 14, 2027. The competitions will benefit from their own funding.
"A distinction must be made between the infrastructure budget of 30 million francs and the specific budget for events," explained Didier Défago, General Director of the FIS World Ski Championships. The infrastructure for the two-week competitions is designed for the long-term development of Crans Montana.
In addition to improvements to the safety of the slopes and artificial snowmaking, space will be created for 6,800 spectators, it was reported. The organizers are expecting around 160,000 spectators for the World Ski Championships.
More Americans expected
The entry of Vail Resorts could also change the guest structure. Currently, 70 percent of guests are Swiss. The 30 percent of foreigners mainly come from France, Italy, the Benelux countries and Great Britain, said Huggler. Americans currently only account for 3 percent of overnight stays.
If the Epic Pass from Vail is also valid in Crans Montana, the number of American tourists is likely to increase. Next year, they should account for 6 percent of overnight stays, said mountain railroads boss Pete Petrovski. In the year of the 2027 World Ski Championships, the aim is for Americans to account for 12 percent of overnight stays.
Guests from central Switzerland could also come in greater numbers, especially as Vail Resort is examining a local form of the Epic Pass for its Andermatt and Crans Montana ski resorts, for example. The wishes of customers will be analyzed in order to launch new offers on the market next spring, said Petrovski.
Vail plans to invest a total of 30 million francs in the area over the next five years. Around 4 million has already been invested in restaurants and artificial snowmaking. In addition, more advertising is to be done abroad in order to become better known internationally.
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