“The Upper Engadin offers its guests a lot even in off-season — but visitor information is more than inadequate.” The participants in the second workshop discussion “St. Moritz 360” by the St. Moritz Kurverein came to this simplified conclusion. Although it must be possible to improve the offer again in the “dead times”, there is the most lack of information about what is already being offered to guests today despite the off-season.
Tourism in Alpine regions has always been characterized by pronounced seasonality: The infrastructure designed for peak frequencies is shut down for many months a year. Guests who visit St. Moritz in off-season are in front of closed doors in many places and express disappointment. “Mid-season — what now?” Was the title of the second workshop discussion in the series “St. Moritz 360” organized by the St. Moritz Kurverein with representatives from the hotel, trade and industry, services and public transport industries.
More and more service providers are reducing their offerings during off-season and off-season or closing them completely in order to keep their costs as low as possible in the low-income months. If everyone only optimizes their own business and does not pay attention to their role in the overall offer of the town, this leads to a negative spiral that makes the off-seasons less and longer. St. Moritz, the tenor of the round, must break out of this spiral. For once, this requirement does not only address politicians or the marketing organization, but the service providers themselves.
Although off-season and off-season guests often only stay for one or two nights, they take home an impression of themselves and become positive or negative ambassadors of the town. St. Moritz must therefore offer them something even in the off-season. The offer cannot be completely turned upside down or multiplied from one year to the next. However, there is an urgent need for efficient and simple information about what St. Moritz currently offers and which businesses are open. This is the only way for off-season guests to experience something and leave satisfied.
Show what's open, don't emphasize what's closed
Such an information system could function in a similar way to a trail map in winter: At a glance, guests must be able to see which hotels, restaurants, railways, swimming pools or museums are open and which are not. There must be no borders between villages or even districts. The aim is to market the Upper Engadin as a whole.
While such a system would have to be operated by the municipalities or the destination, the service providers themselves must not remain idle: Anyone who has guests or customers in their company in May or November must actively recommend other open establishments to them in order to provide them with a pleasant stay. Industry associations from the hotel, parahotel, catering and trade and industry sectors are also required. They can trigger appropriate actions with their members. The idea of working together to open or close when is also being addressed to service providers.
Because only together can an industry create a basic offer for guests and locals, which can then be operated almost all year round. But closed businesses must also pay attention to what impression they leave on guests. All too often, shop windows are carelessly glued shut and look as if the company doesn't even exist anymore. Even the construction sites, which are omnipresent in off-season, are too often barely maintained and there is a lack of signs and information boards.
Prioritize Corviglia
Options were also discussed to mitigate the seasonalities themselves and thus the mid-seasons. St. Moritz must be marketed again as a skiing and sports resort and the core target group of enthusiastic skiers must be brought back to Engadin at the beginning and end of the season. The participants in the round also see potential among owners of second homes: Special campaigns would have to be launched for them or their tenants. Hotels in particular have called for the funiculars on St. Moritz's local mountain Corviglia to be opened all year round.
Although it is very positive that one of the Engadin mountains is always open, more priority must be given to Corviglia and its gastronomy. There was praise to the mountain railways* for their efforts to open up to new guest segments and sports in summer, and the range of offers for mountain bikers must be further expanded. A request was made to the municipality's tourism commission to promote longer opening times for the Chantarella and Corviglia funiculars and to consider how the municipality could encourage the opening of certain service providers even in off-season.
Organizers of existing or new events should also be encouraged to use their events to extend the season and to schedule them accordingly. There was a lot to talk about about the “charm-free” pedestrian zone: urgent efforts should now be made here to make the village center more hospitable, cozy and charming again, and appropriate private initiatives should be promoted. St. Moritz is therefore better than its reputation in the off-season. Efficient information for guests from service providers and public authorities as well as a gradual reconstruction of the offer are required.
Join the discussion!
This article was also published on the website of the St. Moritz Kurverein. It can be commented on and discussed online there.
Ideas from the conversation
- Creation of an information system for guests about open businesses, online and offline.
- The Corviglia funicular and simple gastronomic offerings on the Corviglia are open all year round.
- The municipality could promote the opening of certain infrastructures during the off-season.
- Coordination of service providers in the off-season: Cooperation between open companies in all sectors.
- Positive communication. Show what we have, not what we don't have.
- More cooperation with other municipalities.
- Improve the appearance of construction sites.
- More with each other than against each other.
- comfort.
- Listen to the industry too.
- Village and spa are one. Do more together again and show ourselves together.
- Efficient coordination. Involve associations and connect with each other.
participants
The Kurverein would like to thank the participants in the workshop discussion on September 11, 2014:
- Sandro Bernasconi (Hotel Waldhaus/ Board of Kur- und Verkehrsverein)
- Andrea Biffi (Pomatti AG/Board Member of the Kur- und Verkehrsverein)
- Flurina Caviezel (Pink Fairy/new: Waldhaus Sils)
- Cornelia Clavadätscher (Loga Real Estate)
- Richard Dillier (President of Kur- und Verkehrsverein)
- Andrea Florineth (Corviglia Sport)
- Roland Heuberger (Heuberger butcher shop)
- Luis Maissen (Rhaetian Railway)
- Marco Michel (St. Moritz Sport)
- Martin Scherer (Hotel Schweizerhof/Board of Kur- und Verkehrsverein)
- Christoph Schlatter (Hotel Laudinella)
- Reto Stoekenius (Hotel Kempinski)
* A representative from the mountain railways had signed up, but then apologized again.
Project responsibility at Kur- und Verkehrsverein St. Moritz
Richard Dillier, President
St. Moritz 360 project management and moderation
Christian Gartmann, gartmann.biz