Help us out or it’s all downhill from here, say French ski resorts
‘We thought it was enough to have the Alps, Mont Blanc and snow’
FRANCE’S ski industry is urging the government to help modernise resorts to combat increasingly fierce competition from Austria and Italy.
France was the world’s most popular ski destination for more than three decades until it was overtaken by the US, with American resorts attracting more skiers than their French counterparts during the 2015-16 season. Austria surpassed France in the 2016-17 season.
Michel Bouvard, deputy head of the Savoy departmental council, said France must reduce red tape to encourage more investment.
“French resorts face growing competition. If France wants to stay in the race, it must meet three challenges: it must renew its customer base, increase investment and adapt to the lack of snow. Today, administrative issues are causing us to lose years. Bureaucratic procedures must be simplified so we can be more flexible.”
Three-quarters of British tour operators say ski bookings for France have increased this season because of abundant snow, a contrast with the previous three years which had very little over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The number of Russians taking ski holidays in France has also increased, but France is struggling to attract skiers from Germany, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, who often prefer Austria.
Britons make up the largest group of foreign skiers in France, but the French fear they too may be lured elsewhere.
Laurent Reynaud of Domaines Skiables de France, the skiing industry body, said: “Skiing is the national pride of Austria and the Austrians are making huge efforts to develop it.” Austrian resorts are easily accessible from Innsbruck airport, whereas the larger French resorts are several hours’ by road from Lyon or Geneva.
Special “snow trains” via Paris serve the hub of Moutiers in the French Alps, but skiers still need to take buses to resorts. France also tends to be seen as expensive, Mr Bouvard said.
“Foreign customers are concentrated in the larger, more upmarket resorts such as Courchevel, Val d’isère or Mégève,” he said. “There are more affordable family resorts but they’re not well known abroad.”
Dominique Marcel, head of Compagnie des Alpes, the ski resort operator, said: “For a long time, we thought it was enough to have the Alps, Mont Blanc and snow to be sheltered from any shortcomings. But that doesn’t work any more. Problems of accommodation, transport, crowds and the quality of restaurants are all factors that are important to customers.”
Last year, the Auvergne-rhônealpes region provided more than £26million in aid to install snow guns to produce artificial snow, but Mr Reynaud told The Daily Telegraph more was needed.
“We need to improve the quality of accommodation so we want the government to introduce tax incentives to allow us to invest in refurbishment and construction,” he said.
“More than half the number of beds at French resorts are in holiday homes that are only occupied for an average of three weeks a year. Each year, the number of beds available for rentals goes down by about 3,000. We must make it easier for people to rent out their apartments.”