"Runners stand with one leg in jail"

Director of Tourism Zermatt: "Runners hold one leg in prison"

DANIEL FUCHS / ch media

Around 30,000 people live in Zermatt this week in mid-February. "For us, it's the most important week of the year," said spa director Daniel Luggen, at his reception at the tourist office just off the train station . It's just after noon. For the high season, it's pretty contemplative in the village. "Luckily," Luggen said, pointing to the blue steel sky and the ski resorts. Behind one of the houses you can see the Matterhorn. "People are on the slopes, as it should be, and this morning we counted about 17,000 entries on the ski area," says the director of tourism, who asks us in a meeting room.

In Crans-Montana, another Valais ski resort, an avalanche swept over an open-air trail last week. A runway rescuer died and, fortunately, there was no other death. What went through the man after the disaster, the bare slopes commercialized in the high mountains above Zermatt, where thousands of people frolic daily?
Daniel Luggen: Of course, we took sympathy. Zermatt once had a similar case. But I also thought: the pig had. This is especially true for those whose film has been broadcast on all online media and where the avalanche has devastated the track just behind him.

And on the slopes? Have Zermatt security guards been more cautious?
We have every confidence in our ski slopes. But I am convinced that with such an incident, the sensitivity increases even more. Runway leaders are in jail with one leg almost every day. You know, there is no mistake. And yet, it is never excluded that something happens. Incidentally, we have an advantage in Zermatt: we are big enough and we can close a track earlier if in doubt. The area offers so many alternatives that the guest must hardly accept a loss of supply.

They talk about prison. Was there an error in Crans-Montana?
I do not know, this will show the investigation. I just want to emphasize that justice and the media are asking the question of guilt.

Apparently, it was an avalanche of slippery snow. A problem that has become more prevalent recently due to climate change. Also here in Zermatt?
That climate change is happening, we see more on glaciers. I will be director of tourism here for almost twenty years. Zermatt is constantly trying to react to the retreating glaciers. We had to dismantle a train for this reason. I would go that far and say: Probably almost nowhere where climate change is as clearly visible as in Zermatt. We see the changes one by one.

Then, you need better climate protection?
Yes, actually. But climate change is a global problem. There would be more in Switzerland too, but we are already doing very well. And we are small, the world is big and it takes a lot for global warming to slow down.

There is now some movement on the subject, suddenly proving that FDP President Petra Gössi was in agreement with a ticket tax. How would you like it?
From an economic point of view, it is perfect. Such a tax would affect Swiss passengers and holidays in Switzerland would become more competitive. Nevertheless, I do not think that such a ticket would bring much to the climate. But it would be a small step.

Is flying too cheap?
Stealing is definitely too cheap

You probably can not say that after all, Zermatt is also seeing guests from overseas.
It's a double-edged sword for us. If flies were more expensive, maybe fewer guests would come from overseas, yes. But on the other hand, we are losing people in our main markets because of cheap airline tickets. Switzerland is our most important market with a 40% market share.

Zermatt is car-free and durability is important for the place. Some images fundamentally contradict this image. New, you can book this relatively cheap package: In the rental SUV, you will drive in the Rhone Valley. There you can jump directly to an Air Zermatt helicopter and fly you with rental equipment for a day of skiing directly into the ski area. Return in the evening by taxi – in a street adjacent to the railway – back to the Rhone Valley, where the rental SUV is ready to return. In good faith, it is schizophrenic.
I must tell you very honestly that at first, I understand everyone who sees things that way. We also had to swallow the first empty moment, because we had heard about this offer, especially as we were still spreading the journey by public transport. Zermatt is very well connected to the public transport network.

They swallowed empty? Why then the offer?
It is an offer of Air Zermatt that contradicts the efforts of Zermatt Tourism. But until now, there were only three reservations. There are five people in a helicopter. Of the three helicopters, only two were able to fly. One beat was too bad. So, there were ten people up to now.

Then you can just as well let him be. It's all about marketing.
Yes, it's a bit far. But the competition is tough and people want a wide range. Let me give you an example: most hotels have an indoor pool, whose operation is strongly associated with emissions. 90% of hotel guests do not need the pool. And yet they explicitly book a hotel with a pool.

You mean that a guest only delivers Zermatt because he theoretically has the ability to fly directly to the ski slopes.
A guest delivers Zermatt because it has a wide range here. Among other things, he can do heliskiing or a flight around the Matterhorn.

The policy seems to react to the climatic events of the students. Still in Valais, students go out into the street. And you, in Zermatt, take your guests to the glacier and advertise with the "fastest ski lift in the world"?
So, if you talk to politics only the FDP. I do not want to offend this party, but in the end it is nothing but marketing that it now adapts its fashionable journey. But Zermatt is way ahead of the Zeitgeist. We have been working for decades to position ourselves in a sustainable way. However, I recognize that we have been offering heliskiing for years, with which we generate more emissions than others. Environmental activists at Mountain Wilderness have been fighting this offer for years. But I say that if these activists in the port of Marseille had once prevented a cruise ship from leaving the port, they would have accomplished much more than their protests here.

These advocates of the environment work mainly in the mountains. And we have them in Switzerland.
Zermatter believes that the consequences of climate change are particularly heavy. We have heavy snow, then precipitation with debris flows, and so on. But I am convinced of the necessary helicopter offers. Air Zermatt is not just for fun. The helicopters are also in the worst accidents, remember the terrible accident with the Belgian children on the highway near Sierre. But pilots can not simply use it at the push of a button, they must also practice it. Recreation offers help to get the necessary flying lessons.

They even mentioned the limited number of heliskiing. Because of the two flights of an organization, Air Zermatt helicopter pilots are not the best savior.
No of course not. But this is a cooperation with some marketing intentions. Their main activity is in the name of God a company that is not without CO₂The exit passes. Nevertheless, both industries have the right to exist

Does it really bother you that you, as a spa director, also pay attention to these questions?
No, that's part of the job. Sustainability is an important part of our concepts. But we can not just dictate to a company like Air Zermatt, to leave now for relief. We must also give businesses the opportunity to fly in trade and rescue.

For 80 francs you can fly mountain bikes in the summer with Air Zermatt on the Rothorn. Nowhere else in Switzerland is it cheaper to book a helicopter flight.
That's the market price. It's a two-minute flight. One minute of flight per person – there are five people in the helicopter – costs 40 francs. Two minutes 80 minutes

The imagination knows no limits: heli-hiking, heli-hunting, heli-aperitifs …
… yes, there is already everything. There is still helicopter climbing, fishing at the helicopter, but not at home. Do you know where it is? In Canada for example, the heli-bike also comes from there. But: should we stop this here and say instead: Dear Switzerland, fly over the Atlantic to go to Canada in heliski?

From an environmental point of view, both are useless.
Already, but you must also see, at least people stay here, where it is strictly regulated and verified. Without Atlantic flight emissions, you can do it here. And we still have value added in the economically weak alpine region of our country.

Would it be a problem for a destination like Zermatt if helium helicopters or snow groomers were getting a CO2 tax?
This would mean higher prices, the demand would be slowed down. It also contributes to the protection of the environment, of course. But the demand will not dry up. For example, skiing is too important for our destination. We will not let that happen.

In short, would you support helicopters and snow groomers for a CO2 tax?
I would be in favor if money was allocated to measures to reduce the impact of climate change in the mountains. For example, avalanche safety or mudslides et cetera.

They said that the Swiss market is the most important. How do you want to keep that?
We are mainly looking for customers from Switzerland. And there is a lot more in it. Polls have taught us that only 20% of Swiss people have ever seen the Matterhorn.

You can see the Matterhorn from the mountains above Crans-Montana, for example.
Maybe with the binoculars. I mean closely. And our offer is there, for example our cable cars here, which I like to call public transport. (Aargauerzeitung.ch)