By Xinhua writers Lian Yi, Shan Lei
GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Tucked deep in the Alpine mountains, the Swiss chalet Hotel Dufour in Zermatt, Switzerland, has been packed with guests since early December. Upon the opening of the snow tracks in December, the town of Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn Mountain, witnessed masses of ski enthusiasts.
Carrying skis or snowboards, they tread on the snow in snow boots and hop onto the shuttle trains to relish the joy of skiing with an enticing mountain view. The trains connecting the ski fields are full of people, even at eight or nine o'clock in the evening.
The ski region of Zermatt encompasses 54 mountain railways and lifts as well as 360 kilometers of pistes. At an altitude of 4,478 meters, the Matterhorn, with its symmetric pyramid shape, is called the "jewel of the Swiss Alps." It looms over the breathtaking Alpine panorama. This Swiss landmark is considered the epitome of a mountain and a "holy mountain" for the skiers.
The town also sees ordinary tourists strolling down the streets warming their hands with breath, clinking glasses in the bars, eating hot cheese fondue in the restaurants, or huddling by the fireplace in shawls or robes in the hotels. Before the pandemic, Zermatt set a record for the number of tourists accommodated in the 2017-2018 fiscal year with 2,216,000 people, 60% of whom came from countries and regions outside Switzerland.
Zermatt is a town of 5,800 permanent residents, yet it has some 13,000 beds in total. More than half of the houses in the town are hotels, guesthouses, and B&Bs. During the winter months of the peak season, it is very difficult to find a bed here for less than 200 Swiss francs (about 1,635 yuan) a day. However, the epidemic had a huge impact on Zermatt's tourism industry, which is now recovering from a one-third drop in the number of tourists.
"Most of our room guests come for skiing or snowboarding. They are really sporty. Some of our guests also come here just to have good food, good drinks, and to enjoy a good view," said Sarah-Maria Andenmatten, manager of Hotel Dufour in Zermatt.
"The high season in Zermatt is the wintertime, especially in December after the 20th. Tourists always come for a whole week and book seven nights straight during Christmas time. Compared to the summertime, the price of each hotel room can be 20-50 francs higher per night in winter."
According to Sarah-Maria, the hotel doesn't need to put any advertisements on social media to attract tourists internationally. "They are coming alone because Zermatt is so famous that we don't need to make an extra effort to attract guests," said Sarah-Maria.
Nespresso X fusalp Cafe, opened here in Zermatt for the first time this winter, embraces in its cozy igloo-like transparent "bubble tent" bunches of guests who leisurely sip their coffee while appreciating the falling snow. The coffee shop runs from December until January of next year.
Propped by skiing as the core, as many as 180 tourism programs have been developed in Zermatt to attract tourists, including hiking, bike riding, paragliding, skydiving, and helicopter jumping. Various concerts, shows, and ski competitions of the world level also play themselves out in the area, having a wide appeal for young people and seniors alike. It is a similar case in Mont Blanc and Jungfrau in Switzerland, where the boost of the winter economy also leads to the boom of related industries.
Ski enthusiast Xue Xindi from east China's Shanghai came to Switzerland for a four-day ski trip. "I come here mainly for the mountain. The scenery of Matterhorn is stunning," said Xue. "The hotels here are comparatively more expensive than those in China, but the quality is also very good. There are the lakeside pools and the snow mountain SPA. The town is equipped with a range of skiing facilities."
Clara Esperon, a skier with the National Argentina Team, also said she was here for the mountain view. "I am here for training for one or two months," said Esperon. "I like skiing in Switzerland with all these stunning landscapes." Now ski enthusiasts and tourists from all over the world flock to ski resorts such as Zermatt, Jungfrau, and Wengen as ski resorts are currently open all over the country.
Switzerland has many natural ski resorts, and most of them are not far from populated cities. The mountain scale accounts for more than half of the country's land area. More than one-third of the Swiss people ski on a regular basis. Data from the year 2022 shows that Switzerland's revenue pertaining to winter tourism is about eight billion U.S. dollars (about 57 billion yuan). Swiss economy booms every winter, and winter sports have greatly revved up the country's economic development.
Ski fields in the mountainous area of Switzerland yield profit by providing skiing services such as cable car, mountain train, equipment rental, as well as training, catering, and accommodation services. In Switzerland, people believe every one franc spent on the lift generates six francs in the region.
Emanuele Cagnoli, ski instructor with Zermatters Ski School, said the local winter economy got a boost thanks to the all-in ski deal and adequate facilities. "The train starts from the town and brings people directly up to more than 3,000 meters high. This is something that you don't see in most other places. People here started building the railway a century ago," said Cagnoli.
"I think they manage things here in a really good way so that they are able to receive so many people. Down in the town, there are electric taxi cars. The whole town is a car-free zone, so when you come to Zermatt, it's like staying deep in nature."
In addition to small-scaled ski fields, different parts of Switzerland have developed snow and ice-related industries based on their local characteristics. The town of Wengen near Interlaken in central Switzerland, a mountaintop town accessible only by train, hosts the FIS World Cup every year. The town, with a population of just over 1,000, attracts 40,000 to 50,000 spectators every time it hosts a competition. After watching the games, the spectators party all night long in the town.
Big Air Chur in eastern Switzerland is the world's top-level snowboard freestyle competition, but now it's more famous for dozens of national and international musical bands and DJs performing during the event, attracting 30,000-40,000 people every year.
"In the past 10 years, I can see Chinese people have been paying more and more attention to winter sports, and they are beginning to enjoy skiing in daily life," said Chinese ski instructor Li Longlong. "This year, I have a full schedule of work throughout the whole winter season, and I receive Chinese tourists for more than 20 days every month." ■
