Great Start To The Season For Graubunden Lift Co’s

Thanks to excellent conditions, the mountain railways in Graubünden achieved the second-best result of the last 20 years from the start of the season to December 31, 2024: guest frequency (number of first entries) increased by 8.1 percent compared to the previous year.

Comments:

• The monitor of the industry organization Bergbahnen Graubünden (BBGR) covers 23 mountain railway companies or 90% of Graubünden's transport turnover
• "Those who book early benefit" or something similar is the motto of dynamic pricing, which has become established in many mountain railway companies. This has had an impact on the communication of industry developments. Since winter 2023/24, Bergbahnen Graubünden has only communicated the relative development of guests or first-time entries on a monthly basis in comparison with the previous year and the five- and ten-year average. The development of traffic revenue is only communicated at the end of the season. Due to the time gap between purchase and consumption of the service, the monthly development of traffic revenue no longer provides an adequate picture and makes comparisons difficult.

This positive development is shown by the monitor of the industry organization Bergbahnen Graubünden (BBGR), which includes 23 mountain railway companies with a representative regional distribution and a coverage of 90 percent of transport turnover. Compared to the 5-year average, the number of guests rose by 17.5 percent - compared to the 10-year average, it even rose by 27.3 percent. President Markus Moser: "The number of guests proves that snow sports on the mountain are still firmly anchored in the DNA of the Swiss population." The good start is reassuring, but the accounts will only be settled after the late Easter date, says Markus Moser. Last winter also showed this, with an excellent start and a rather difficult second half of the season.

The basis for the very good start to the season was the artificial snowmaking in the larger and medium-sized ski areas. But the smaller areas were also able to offer an attractive range of slopes thanks to the snowfall before Christmas. The pre-season from November to Christmas was not easy: the season started later, which resulted in fewer operating days overall.

In addition, the weather was often overcast on weekends. Fortunately, this changed over the holidays: the sustained period of good weather up to and including January 1, 2025 and the good conditions on the slopes ensured the phenomenal result. The pleasant temperatures also brought good sales in the catering industry, especially on the terraces. Fresh snow is also forecast for the next few days, which makes President Markus Moser confident about the rest of the season. He also points out that the Graubünden mountain railways invest over 100 million francs annually in the renewal and further development of their services. Not only in railway and slope infrastructure, but also in accommodation and restaurants as well as in technologies for resource optimization. Last year's tourism value creation study by the canton of Graubünden shows an annual value creation of the Graubünden mountain railways of 500 million francs for Graubünden and an additional 210 million for Switzerland. The entrepreneurial activities of the Bündner Bergbahnen generate 3,699 full-time jobs in Graubünden and a further 1,454 full-time jobs in Switzerland.

Development in the regions

Experience has shown that traffic revenue over the holidays amounts to around a quarter of the total traffic revenue of the Graubünden mountain railways, more than 90 percent of which is still generated in winter. Above the 8.1 percent* increase in the number of guests across Graubünden, the Lower Engadine and Surselva regions recorded 13.9 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively. This was followed by the central region (including Arosa Lenzerheide) with 7.8 percent, the Upper Engadine with 7.5 percent and Davos Klosters with 1.3 percent. The difference in Davos Klosters can be explained by the consistently high number of first-time visitors in previous years and fewer operating days in November 2024. Even when compared with the 5-year average, the figures for Surselva (26 percent) and the Lower Engadine (19.7 percent) are above average. This is followed by the Upper Engadine with 17 percent, the Central Region with 16.2 percent and Davos Klosters with 9.9 percent. When comparing with the 10-year average, Surselva (36.9 percent) is ahead of the Central Region (31 percent), the Lower Engadine (22.6 percent) as well as the Upper Engadine (21.7 percent) and Davos Klosters (20.4 percent).