Swiss Cable Cars - A Good August Isn't A Good Summer

In August, thanks to the good weather, there were more visitors from Switzerland and, thanks to easier travel, more international guests were out and about in the mountains. This led to a slight recovery, but at a low level. The first entries and sales are still around 30 percent in the red compared to the pre-Corona summer 2019.  

Better weather allows easy recovery in summer business  

The summer of 2021 showed its wet and cold side by the end of July, which is why the summer business of the cable car companies had started very difficult. The weather in August was much better and made it possible to somewhat reduce the decline in first-time entries and sales. Nevertheless, these have plummeted by around 30% across Switzerland compared to the pre-Corona year 2019 (see Fig. 1).  

Slight improvements for international guests  

The relaxation of the corona continued in the summer: The mutual recognition of the Covid certificates of Switzerland and the EU facilitates European tourism, and the first tourists from the USA are traveling to Switzerland again because they are no longer accompanied by a travel warning. August, with its pleasant weather, again attracts more Swiss day-trippers and vacationers to the mountains, but there are no Swiss people who, thanks to the travel facilities, booked holidays by the sea. Graubünden and Ticino were fortunately able to increase their guest numbers and sales in August, as their guest structure is more oriented towards Swiss guests than, for example, Central Switzerland or the Bernese Oberland, both of which are more internationally oriented. 

Mountain railways as "Public Service" 

As before, the mountain railways are not profitable in view of the crisis and the mountain railways fulfill the function of the tourist “public service”. Without the operation of the mountain railways, the mountain regions would face a major economic fiasco this year. This systemically important industry therefore needs public support.