Is The 4 Valleys Lift Pass No More?

A rift between the different lift operators in the Swiss 4 Valleys, the most famous resort member of which is Verbier, means that the 4 Valleys pass has been withdrawn for the coming season.

We have been here before. There have been long running revenue disputes between the lift operators of the different sectors which, around a decade ago, led to similar threats which dissolved before the ski season began and the 4 Valleys operated as normal.

It is so far unclear whether the situation this time is more serious, but local media have been reporting that no agreement has been reached on crucial decision days which have now passed. It may be a case of brinksmanship.

Although they have not been specified in detail, the disagreement seems to centre on revenue sharing between the different lift companies involved.

The demise of the 4 Valleys ticket will have implications for those who own property or holiday in Nendaz at a much lower cost than doing so in Verbier, while having access to Verbier's extensive off piste terrain.

Similarly those who stay in Verbier but prefer to ski on the more pisted terrain around Nendaz will be disadvantaged.

In either case it seems likely that anyone concerned will have to buy two passes, or possibly a daily extension, or drive to/from the other area before accessing the lifts.

Although the size of the 4 Valleys is disputed by some independent cartographers, its marketing department claim that with 400km of linked terrain, it is Switzerland's largest linked ski area, but in future you may need two lift passes to ski all of it.

J2SkiNews wrote:Switzerland's largest linked ski area, but in future you may need two lift passes to ski all of it.

I'm sure Verbier's marketing team can spin that positively... "our ski areas so big you need TWO lift passes!" 8)

Swiss skiing, reassuringly expensive :?

Along with the other Swiss issue of bumping up workers earnings to £32,000 a year, ~ thus ensuring that almost all TOs have closed their chalets. This was a move created by defensive and thoughtless Swiss hoteliers, accompanied by a collective groan from lift company operators, who face a reduction of thousands of visitor lift passes.

All just as the Swiss were getting smarter at cost reduction.

The dispute is about how the lift pass revenue from Thyon 2000 http://www.thyon.ch/home-2/resort/discover-thyon/thyon-2000?lang=en is divided between Télé-Thyon and Télé-Veysonnaz. Up until now it has been split 50:50, but Télé-Veysonnaz reckons it should be split 70:30 in their favour. According to reports in the local press, this amounts to CHF 400,000 a year, which Télé-Veysonnaz wants back dating, making a total of 14 million francs. The dispute has been ongoing for several years, Télé-Veysonnaz took Télé-Thyon to court over it in 2009 and lost. In spite of this Télé-Veysonnaz has maintained its claim, calling into question the legal basis of the judgement. In December 2012 they gave notice that they would pull out of the 4 Vallées and Printze agreements at the end of June 2014.

The lift companies have now agreed to the Canton's offer of meditation, the Canton is currently seeking a mediator who will be acceptable to all those involved.

Whereas Télé-Thyon and Télé-Verbier have multiple shareholders with no one person / organisation holding more than 30%, Télé-Nendaz and Télé-Veysonnaz are controlled by one person, Jean-Marie Fournier. He owns Télé-Veysonnaz outright and is the majority shareholder in Télé-Nendaz, he also owns a property development / management company, Veissonne Immo Promotion, which manages 400 apartments and chalets and owns hotels, restaurants and bars in Veysonnaz. In addition he has interests in at least 18 other companies in the region, including chairmanship of Rhône Média SA the company that publishes Le Nouvelliste the main newspaper in the French-speaking part of Valais. He is a major economic player and business leader in the region, employing about 500 people. His is also a very controversial figure.

He seems to be taking a very hard line on this, the loss of revenue that his companies will incur as a result of this is likely to be far greater than an extra 20% from Thyon 2000. My guess is that there is a lot more to this than how the money from Thyon 2000 is divided up. There are a number of possible reasons for this; he seems to be unhappy that Télé-Thyon sold a 30% stake to Télé-Verbier without giving him first refusal, he owns a 10% stake in Tele-Verbier but has been unable to obtain a seat on the board, it might be that he wants new agreement covering the whole area or he may even want to break it up. When he gave notice that he was going pull out of the 4 Vallées agreement he called into question the very existence of the 4 Vallées saying that it had been a "huge strategic mistake".

He would also prefer that the top station of the proposed lift from Sion was sited in Veysonnaz rather than in Thyon.



http://www.lenouvelliste.ch/fr/valais/valais/sion-et-veysonnaz-s-opposent-sur-la-telecabine-de-la-piste-de-l-ours-498-1313588

He also wants to build a 1500 bed tourist development at Mayens-de-l'Ours.
http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/c608a398-9d64-11e2-8486-6a361ad02508/Ce_Valais_qui_r%C3%A9siste_%C3%A0_Jean-Marie_Fournier

The issue DaveMac mentions concerns the enforcement of the legally binding collective labour agreement for the Swiss hotel and restaurant industry (L-GAV) http://www.l-gav.ch/index.php?id=22&L=0 it regulates working hours, holidays, notification of termination of employment periods and minimum wages. The minimum wage for an unskilled worker over the age of 18 in 2014 will be CHF 3407 per month payable in 13 monthly instalments (Swiss employees are traditionally paid in this way, they are paid double in November) this comes to CHF 44291 per annum which at today's exchange rate equals £29,004, by Swiss standards it's a pittance. It also requires that employers (and their employees) pay Swiss social contributions, deduct Swiss income tax at source (if applicable) and insure their employees against accidents.

It came into force at the beginning of 1999 and was made legally binding at the request of the parties involved http://www.seco.admin.ch/themen/00385/00420/00430/ contrary to what you might have read elsewhere the Swiss government has not recently changed the law to include chalet operators http://www.seco.admin.ch/themen/00385/00420/00430/01435/index.html?lang=de compare Art. 2 Abs. 2 of 19.11.1998 with 12.06.2013.

For some reason the Cantonal authorities didn't enforce the law as they should have done. When this was pointed out to them they had no alternative but to enforce it, to have done otherwise would have provoked an enormous political storm. If you look around you will see that there are few if any chalet holidays on offer in Switzerland apart from those in Valais.

SwingBeep wrote:.....
The lift companies have now agreed to the Canton's offer of meditation, .....

There's a creative way of solving commercial disputes :wink:

TO's are pulling out because they won't be making as much profit without slave labour, up to them really. Plus there would still be chalets.
It's not that difficult to book a chalet via any real estate agent that runs them on behalf of owners. Yeah, not all-inclusive, but when people are in charge of their own catering they eat and drink better and don't tend to stuff themselves because "it's all paid for", they are also more flexible and don't rush because they can miss afternoon tea or whatever.

Admin wrote:

J2SkiNews wrote:Switzerland's largest linked ski area, but in future you may need two lift passes to ski all of it.

I'm sure Verbier's marketing team can spin that positively... "our ski areas so big you need TWO lift passes!" 8)

I am just thinking about less people queuing up at Tortin cable and gondola to go up.