Challenging Financial Year For Titlis Bergbahnen
As in the previous year, the 2020/2021 financial year of Bergbahnen Engelberg-Trübsee-Titlis AG (BET) was also dominated by the corona pandemic and its consequences for tourism - the absence of international guests, officially ordered closings, massive restrictions on catering offers and extensive investments in protective measures made the operation of the systems on the Titlis a challenge throughout the year. For the second time in a row, BET had to record a decline in visitors and posted a loss of CHF 5.0 million.
The planning and implementation of the 2020/21 winter season was extremely demanding, the opening of the ski areas led to heated discussions in politics and the public and numerous uncertainties among the operators and guests. In retrospect, it can be said that the Swiss solution with strict protection concepts was the right one - the visitors appreciated the time out in the mostly open snow sports destinations and their behavior did not contribute to the spread of the virus at any time. Despite excellent snow conditions and a perfectly functioning protection concept, the unsafe situation at Bergbahnen Engelberg-Trübsee-Titlis AG (BET) led to a 15% drop in visitors compared to the previous year. A total of 505,050 guests were distributed among 341,515 visitors in the winter and 163,535 in the summer half-year.
Excellent offers attract Swiss people
The international travel market, which collapsed completely with the outbreak of the corona crisis, remained virtually non-existent throughout the reporting year - visitors from Switzerland dominated the Titlis. In this segment, the Trübsee area developed very positively in the summer. Schmuggli's adventure world has been expanded and is a real highlight for the youngest visitors. In the international "Best Summer Resort" area rating, the Titlis are among the top 10, and in the area of "Children's / family activities on the mountain" they are even among the top 3!
Loss cushioned thanks to hardship compensation
Traffic revenue fell by 26.4% to CHF 17.3 million compared to the previous year due to the officially ordered closure of the facilities over the Christmas period and the pandemic-related lack of international guests Operating expenses (goods, personnel, operations, depreciation and finance) amounted to CHF 29.6 million and are thus 10.3% lower than the previous year. Consolidated operating income rose by 0.7% to CHF 38.5 million. The fact that the long-established Engelberg company was nevertheless able to significantly reduce its loss by CHF 14.6 million to CHF 5.0 million, along with cost-cutting measures, strict cost management and compensation for short-time working, is largely due to the state à-fonds- perdu Corona hardship compensation of CHF 10 million.
Promising start to the new financial year
In the longer term, however, the BET are optimistic about developments in international tourism. The need to visit and discover other countries and cultures has not diminished as a result of the corona pandemic. On the contrary - those responsible at BET assume that during this time there has been a lot of catching up to do.
