Austria - Lifts Can Run But No Tourists Until Jan 7th

Austria's skilifts are allowed to resume operations for Christmas. However, hotels and restaurants will be closed until January 7th - this decouples tourism and ski lifts.  So there will be no places to stop for refreshments on the mountain for the first two weeks. In addition there are  quarantine requirements for visitors from countries with more than 100 cases per 100,000 such as Germany and Italy.

In order to cushion the financial losses associated with this delayed start to the season, they will receive compensation from the federal government. 

“First and foremost, we are of course happy that we are allowed to unlock at all. The replacement of sales is also a good solution, "emphasizes Andreas Gapp, chairman of the Vorarlberger Seilbahnen group, but adds:" What we see with concern, however, is the decoupling of tourism, gastronomy and cable cars - these are pieces of the puzzle that simply belong together. Gastronomy on the mountain has a completely different function than down in the valley. In the ski areas, emotions take place on the slopes, with momentum in the curve. The catering facilities are primarily used to warm up, rest and recharge your batteries. It is difficult to understand that there is no more appropriate solution for the ski areas and that winter sports enthusiasts will have to forego all refreshments on the mountain by the beginning of January ”.

The fact that tourism and lifts are decoupled from one another also affects the ski areas on another level: Tourism in Vorarlberg is to a large extent dependent on overnight guests - which under normal circumstances is associated with great advantages, such as significantly less traffic . Since the hotel industry is closed until January, this group of guests is now also breaking away completely in the ski areas. “We would have liked a more flexible approach that takes better account of the tourism structure in Vorarlberg and the needs of the locals. In this sense, the following solution would have made sense: Those ski areas that have mainly local guests can start operating and those that are largely dependent on the overnight guest can remain closed, ”says Gapp. Since this is not the case, the ski areas are facing an economic balancing act. "In the beginning, some ski areas will probably not be able to open all of the facilities, as this is simply not possible under the given circumstances from an economic perspective," explains the chairman of the specialist group.

The federal government has stipulated a 50 percent reduction in the number of people permitted per closed cable car cabin. That would not have been necessary in Vorarlberg. “Thanks to the commitment and efforts of Provincial Councilor Gantner, we in Vorarlberg have created the Winter Code, a comprehensive security concept that is unique in Austria. The measures contained therein enable our guests a safe and carefree vacation. In the end, however, we are pleased that we are able to offer our guests something again at all - even if it will be a very special winter ”, Gapp concluded