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By October 31, 66 666 season tickets would have been sold to the Saas-Fee ski area for the price to be 255 francs. But at the beginning of the week, the counter on the holiday region's website had barely 45,000 orders. So, the board of mountain railways had to help with a gimmick. The so-called crowdfunding action is valid because it wants to establish a sign of cooperation with service providers locally and reward the regulars for their loyalty, he wrote.
The Saas-Fee offer was a revolution at the launch three years ago: for 222 francs, you could buy a subscription. The goal of this marketing campaign was to sell 99,999 winter cards within five weeks. The business was successful, even though the target quantity had not yet been reached. The action has attracted much attention to the Valais ski area – and the number of guests has increased. "The attractive new offer has brought great success to the destination," says the 2016/2017 annual report. The number of overnight stays increased by 17% in the Saas Valley and the first steps in the ski resort by 50%.
Saas-Fee was delighted with the "Winter Tale" and the makers of the "Hammer Deal" felt confirmed. During a conversation with this newspaper, the head of the Saastal Mountain Railways said a year ago that his pricing model in the village and by industry colleagues had initially been criticized . "With the price of dumping, we would only attract bargain hunters, they accused us," said Rainer Flaig at that time.
The euphoria is past
It is not yet known how successful the low price bid was in the second year. Exercise figures will only be released in the spring. But it is already obvious that the euphoria has disappeared from the mountain railways. "Thanks to the low season card, our turnover has increased, but we have also recorded higher expenses," says Simon Bumann, board member of Saastal-Bergbahnen.
Higher expenses mainly affect marketing. While revenues increased by approximately 6.7 million Swiss francs in 2016/2017, marketing expenses increased from 0.6 to 3.2 million Swiss francs. "We have reduced advertising spending this year," said Bumann. The Winter Card brought a lot to Saas-Fee, because the hotel industry, restaurants, sports shops and grocery stores would have benefited from the growing number of visitors. But the mountain railways themselves operate a restaurant business whose annual turnover is less than one million francs.
The Bergbahnen Board of Directors has learned the lessons of the past two years. The sale of the subscription of 255 francs has been extended until until next Sunday. "After that, only weekly and daily tickets are sold at the normal price," says Bumann. Last year, you could buy discounted tickets in December. "However, this has led to a cannibalization of prices."
Other ski resorts responded
Is Saas-Fee's low price strategy a sustainable success? "For the destination as a whole, the bill has been introduced so far," says Jürg Stettler, of the Institute of Tourism Economics of the University of Applied Sciences. Lucerne. "However, it is difficult for the mountain railways to sell the required number of winter cards in order to generate the necessary revenue and cover all the costs." The first year, it was still working, said Stettler. The current crowdfunding action shows that it has become more difficult. "Other railway companies have also followed suit with new pricing models," Stettler said. In the Bernese Oberland, for example, several season pbades are offered at reduced prices. Providers are increasingly focusing on dynamic promotions or fares, where day-ticket prices depend on weather or demand. The competition on Saas-Fee, whose "Hammerangebot" thus loses its appeal.
Stettler, a tourism expert, expects the upcoming season to be decisive for the continuation of Saas-Fee's price policy. Staff changes and the new main shareholder of the Saastal Mountain Railways could also have an influence. Rainer Flaig, one of the fathers of the Winter Card, has left the company. He takes charge of Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG. His successor is not yet determined. The legend of the company with its 21 chairlifts, gondolas and lifts is new for the Austrian group Schröcksnadel. The company of the president of the Austrian Ski Association, Peter Schröcksnadel, brings a new capital of 12 million francs in the cable cars of Saastal. The money will go to renewing railroads and snowmaking equipment, as decided last Monday 's General Assembly.
(Editors Tamedia)
Created: 30.10.2018, 23:46
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