Swiss Lift Co's Satisfied With Season

Fresh snow at the beginning of the month and sunny Easter also attracted many people to the mountains in April. April started and ended like the whole winter season 2021/22, with lots of snow at the beginning of the season and lots of sunshine at the end. The cable car industry in Switzerland can look back with satisfaction on a very good winter season. Compared to the previous year, 30% more first entries and 38% more sales were achieved. Even in a 5-year comparison, however, all company sizes performed above average.

The 2021/22 winter season will go down in the annals as a very good season for many cable car companies. Since the start of the season, companies have been able to create ideal conditions for attractive snow sports experiences, also thanks to the mostly favorable weather conditions during the main season and beautiful weekends. Both the Christmas holidays and the late Easter date had a positive effect on frequencies.

From the beginning of the season to the end of the season, there was a 30% increase in first admissions and a 38% increase in turnover

General increase in turnover, except in Ticino and in the Arc jurassien

The last few months have already shown that the winter season was much more positive than last year. At the end of the season, the regions recorded between +23% (Vaud and Friborg Alps) and 44% more first entries. Comparable increases can also be seen in sales. These changes can largely be explained by the special situation in the comparison year 2020/21: Due to regionally different corona measures in winter 2020/21, some ski areas remained closed for a short time. This affected central and eastern Switzerland, some of which only started up again at the turn of the year. The winter sports experience this winter was also more enjoyable overall because at the beginning of the season, thanks to the 2G regulation, mountain restaurants were allowed to serve guests again.

The exceptions to the regions are Ticino, which has seen a fall of more than three quarters in first entries due to the lack of snow, and the Arc jurassien with a fall of more than a quarter in first entries.

Regional comparison with the 5-year average

The change compared to the nationwide five-year average is 16% for first-time entrants and 21% for turnover. This means that the course of the season is above average in many regions, even compared to the reference period. In a five-year comparison, the Vaud and Friborg Alps stand out with the greatest progress. Unfortunately, the situation in Ticino is also very bad in a five-year comparison

Comparisons by company size

If one looks at the change in first-time arrivals and turnover by company turnover category (taking passenger transport revenue into account), then the large and very large companies (10 to 20 and over 20 million CHF turnover) sold around 40% more than in the previous year. Companies with a turnover of CHF 5 to 10 million were also able to sell 35% more than in the previous year. On average, small companies (1 to 5 million CHF) sold around a quarter more than in the previous year. Cableway companies with a turnover of less than CHF 1 million, on the other hand, show a 20% drop in turnover.

As a reminder: In the previous year, the smaller ski areas in the vicinity of the metropolitan areas had benefited above average from the demand from winter sports enthusiasts. This exceptional situation is therefore reflected negatively in the current season in the smallest farms

If you take the five-year average as a comparison period, it shows that all company sizes have benefited from a very good winter