Ski lifts have stopped since the end of March 2020 and a whole tourist economy falters.
The government announced Wednesday that these infrastructures "
would not reopen on February 1
" and that the sector - which makes the bulk of its turnover between December and March - was moving towards "a white season".
Despite state aid, for mountain professionals, it is "
a disaster
" because beyond the closed ski lifts, an entire economic fabric is being damaged.
To assess the impact of such a decision, let's take a look at a few figures on what weighs ski resorts economically and in terms of jobs.
10 billion euros
These are the revenues generated each winter at winter sports resorts.
For ski lifts only, the annual turnover from the sale of
ski
passes is around 1.4 billion euros, according to
Domaines skiables de France, a
professional union of ski area operators.
The rest is done in housing (hotels, holiday centers, rentals, etc.) which represents nearly a third of tourist spending;
Restoration ;
shops (shops selling or hiring ski equipment, souvenirs, food, etc.), and other services (ski lessons, etc.).
120,000 jobs
The ski resorts (numbering 250) employ 18,000 employees for the lifts (cable car drivers, ski patrollers, operating agents, etc.).
Among them, 80% are seasonal.
It is appropriate to add ski instructors, employees and seasonal workers who work for mountain hotels and restaurants, traders.
In total, more than 120,000 people, mostly seasonal workers, work in the resort in winter, according to
Domaines skiables de France.
And that's without counting the indirect jobs in the valleys, or even the constructors of ski lifts and ski manufacturers, whose activity also depends on the opening of ski areas.
At least 3 billion euros
This is the loss of revenue already recorded by ski resorts.
With the hasty closure of lifts in mid-March 2020,
Domaines Skiables de France
and
the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Stations
estimated the overall loss for mountains in France between 1.4 and 1.8 billion euros.
With the prolonged closure of the lifts during the Christmas holidays, the mountain suffered a new shortfall of around 1.5 billion euros.
All sectors are affected by this shortfall.
For food stores located in stations alone, they have lost 10 million euros since the end of November, which represents a 16% drop in their turnover, according to the Nielsen cabinet.
Over 30%
This is the share of turnover usually achieved in February in ski resorts.
30 to 35%, according to
Domaines Skiables de France.
The Christmas holidays represent 20 to 25% of the activity of the season.
From December to the end of January, resorts usually generate 40% of the season's turnover.
In summer, they only achieve 2% of their annual turnover.
The fact that the lifts do not reopen at all during the winter holidays therefore announces a considerable shortfall for white tourism, which the panoply of state aid will not be enough to fill.