French Ski Resorts Invest €546 Million In 2023.

Total investments for 2023, identified in the annual survey carried out by Montagne Leaders magazine in collaboration with Atout France and Domaines Skiables de France, amounted to €546 million (in 2022 it was €380 million).

Inflation has also taken its toll in the mountains, and investments in 2023 were particularly marked by the share of work on the 3S gondola in Les Deux Alpes, a facility of unusual proportions that will cost almost 100 million this year alone. €, that is, almost 30% of the total amount of investment in new cable cars, which amounts to €333.15 million for 2023. It should be noted that the cable cars contribute to the diversification of mountain stations, as they are increasingly designed and used for non-skiing activities in summer.

Atout France also explains in its analysis the reduction in the total number of new cable cars, highlighting a decrease in new construction in volume and a significant increase in value.

The other notable trend lies in the evolution of the relationship between the various investment items. Budgets for non-ski recreational equipment continue to increase, in contrast to more traditional items such as piste work.

“The year 2023 shows that the sector is investing in an increasingly diversified future,” notes Alexandre Maulin, President of DSF. "After a satisfactory 2022-2023 season, in 2023 the operators introduced innovations and improvements on an unprecedented scale to further develop the range of services offered, with significant turnarounds.

The fear of the Covid phase is far behind us and each ski resort is making efforts to both diversify and consolidate skiing, to the extent typical of them. The segmentation by size of the ski areas also shows that in the smaller areas, investments in diversification are now higher than investments in snowmaking.

The complete survey can be found in issue 300 of Montagne Leaders www.montagneleaders.fr