Schilthornbahn: Another Record Year, Despite Major Construction Works
Schilthornbahn AG's 2023 financial year was heavily influenced by the major SCHILTHORNBAHN 20XX project. Nevertheless, record sales were once again recorded, mainly by the railway and catering businesses.
On March 6, 2023, the final ride of the "Käthi" transport cable car marked the definitive start of the SCHILTHORNBAHN 20XX generation project. The rest of the financial year was dominated by construction activities: In addition to the realization of the second stage of the Birg-Schilthorn water supply in summer 2023, the construction of the support foundations and the assembly of the three steel supports were completed by Christmas. At the same time, intensive construction work began at all stations. A major challenge in this project is the material logistics as well as the extreme weather and terrain conditions on the high-alpine construction sites. This makes the fact that all construction work was carried out in parallel with ongoing guest operations and that record sales were once again achieved is all the more remarkable: visitor numbers are 19.2 percent higher than the previous year and 13.7 percent above the five-year average. Despite the number of guests remaining lower than in 2019 (minus 13 percent), traffic revenue exceeded the pre-pandemic level by 9 percent, which suggests significantly higher per capita revenue. Total revenue in 2023 is CHF 32,813,873, up 10 percent from the previous year. Demand remained high in all important target markets.
Restaurants also shine with top scores
The high frequency of visits once again had a positive effect on the restaurants. Sales in both the 360° Piz Gloria restaurant and the Birg bistro increased by 15 percent each. This means that the summit restaurant exceeded the sales threshold of 4 million francs for the first time. The development in the Allmendhubel Panorama Restaurant is also remarkable, where the highest sales since records began were achieved in 2023, with an increase of 20 percent over the previous year.
Hotels and shops: Challenges despite high spirits
Despite numerous success stories, the company also faced some challenges. The construction project had an impact on the Hotel Alpenruh in Mürren, among others. Here, a decline in accommodation was recorded, which can be attributed to the use of the hotel as construction workers' accommodation. The shops on the Schilthorn and in Mürren also suffered from the construction work: Both the new, less frequented location in the Hotel Blumental in Mürren and the shop area on the Schilthorn, which was reduced by 35 percent due to construction, triggered a total decline in sales of 14 percent. The shortage of skilled workers is proving to be a further challenge. Like the entire Swiss economy, the Schilthornbahn is exposed to a shortage of skilled workers and has had to endure significantly higher staff turnover than it was used to in the past. Fortunately, the situation has stabilized again since autumn 2023. At the same time, the lack of suitable housing is making it difficult to recruit employees.
Financial year 2024 – opening of sections 1 and 2 as an overarching goal
The SCHILTHORNBAHN 20XX generation project will continue to have a major impact on day-to-day operations until mid-2026. Nevertheless, the first construction phase will soon be completed: on December 13, 2024, the first two sections, the direct connection between Stechelberg and Mürren and one track of the new Funifor cable car between Mürren and Birg, will be opened. This will enable the transport capacity of the feeder cable cars to be more than doubled by the start of the winter season. The implementation of the real estate concept developed in 2023 is also of great importance. The Mürren staff house project is a high priority. Although the company itself owns and rents out 43 residential units, it wants to expand the range of staff apartments by 13 units by building an additional building and thus counteract the aforementioned shortage of living space for employees. In addition, in summer 2024, the capacity of the Winteregg chairlift will be increased from 1,200 to 1,600 winter sports enthusiasts per hour in order to meet the increasing demand from the snow parks and training slopes as well as the renovation of the Lauterbrunnen-Mürren cable car.
Motions to the General Assembly on Friday, 21 June 2024
The next general meeting of Schilthornbahn AG will take place on Friday, June 21, 2024 at the Alpine Sports Center Mürren. This year, among other things, a partial revision of the statutes will be submitted for approval.
COMPANY INFORMATION
The Schilthornbahn AG cable car, with its headquarters in Stechelberg, connects the Lauterbrunnen Valley from Stechelberg with the car-free mountain villages of Gimmelwald and Mürren and leads via the Birg station to the Schilthorn summit at 2,970 m above sea level. The Schilthorn area offers numerous activities for guests from all over the world in front of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. The Schilthorn gained international fame with the filming of the James Bond film “On Her Majesty's Secret Service” in 1968.
