Laax, June 8, 2021. Encouraging visitor numbers, occupancy rates, and capacity utilization, as well as satisfied faces – the results of the first Mountain Spring in Flims Laax Falera are positive. Tourism figures have multiplied compared to previous years. The foundation has been laid for the successful continuation of the Mountain Spring initiative.
On April 16, 2021, Flims Laax Falera kicked off its first mountain spring season, directly following the winter season. Flims Laax Falera Management (FLFM) AG had put together an extensive range of tourist activities for this event, focusing on nature, hiking, and recreation. In addition, the hotel industry, restaurants, retail, and businesses, as well as the mountain railways, were also brought on board. Those responsible for the project were convinced that there was great potential in the previously unused period between the winter and summer seasons.
Tourism director André Gisler sees his expectations not only confirmed, but exceeded: "Our first bold steps toward eliminating the off-season and expanding into a year-round destination have been rewarded. The guest and user numbers speak for themselves." Gisler is grateful that so many tourism representatives participated in Mountain Spring and opened spontaneously. The bold move paid off for everyone. "Completely new opportunities arose, not least because of the coronavirus pandemic, and we seized them."
: a welcome expansion of transport services
The extent to which the extensive services were used between April 16 and May 24, 2021, is evident from the adventure buses and mountain spring shuttles that provided access to the Rhine Gorge. More than 1,140 people used the transport services. The mountain spring shuttles to Trin and Valendas Station were thus more successful – broken down over the approximately five weeks of their operation – than the Rhine Gorge Cabrio in its pilot year in 2017, which carried 500 passengers. The Rhaetian Railway's adventure train, which FLFM AG sent through the Rhine Gorge on its own initiative, also met with a great response. Over four days, 520 passengers were counted. These encouraging figures are particularly remarkable for André Gisler because the weather during this period was anything but spring-like: last April was the coldest in 20 years. May was also rainy and cool.
Lively hotel and restaurant industry
The hotels and restaurants in the destination were a key pillar of the mountain spring season. In 2020, only four hotels were open during this period, compared to around 19 this spring. The same applies to restaurants. There were 26 restaurants open in the valley (around 10 last year) and five on the mountain (none last year). Christoph Schmidt, president of the hoteliers' association, can also confirm that the mountain spring season was a success. "Occupancy in the destination's hotels was very good, especially on weekends and public holidays."
Encouraging interest in mountain spring offers
Eliane Bernasocchi-Volken, member of the management team at the Weisse Arena Group, also draws a positive conclusion. More than 7,700 first-time visitors were registered at the Foppa chairlift, despite the poor weather conditions. The Freestyle Academy was also very busy, even though there were restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Interest in the mountain spring is also reflected in the website's user numbers: in the internal ranking of the Flims Laax Falera website, the mountain spring page was the third most visited page. "The mountain spring already generated a large number of clicks during the winter season," says Bernasocchi-Volken.
The municipalities of Flims, Laax, and Falera are among the main supporters of Mountain Spring. Guido Casty, member of the Flims municipal council and head of the tourism department, is a strong advocate of the year-round strategy. "Despite the bad weather, our experiences with the first Mountain Spring in the municipality have been thoroughly positive. Adjustments will be made as necessary." Casty goes on to say that it is important for guests to have product security, i.e., certainty about the offers available at the destination throughout the year. For service providers, on the other hand, it is important to know that they have partners around them who are pulling in the same direction when it comes to opening times.