The Delta Marriott Mont-Sainte-Anne, hotel partner of the event, hopes to be able to welcome the athletes at the end of the season in order to avoid further losses after a catastrophic holiday season.
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For Sébastien Roy, general manager and co-owner of the Delta Marriott, the end of the day on Monday turned out to be a little more positive than the beginning.
“I think we will postpone the event. We knew there was a snow problem. It was evident. We spoke to Snowboard Canada for dates in March after the spring break. I think we found a solution that is good, ”he explained.
Lower income
Since December 10, revenues have melted like snowflakes. Usually, the occupancy rate is around 95% at Christmas, whereas it was around 40% this year.
The hotelier was afraid of losing nearly 600 nights this time. “We will move them to a less busy period. We are confident of doing it,” added Mr. Roy.
Since the last major thaw, the mountain staff had choices to make regarding artificial snow, either to deliver slopes to subscribers already impatient with a month of forced closure, or to prepare for the Snowboardcross World Cup which requires a quantity phenomenal snow.
Not due to gondola
According to Patrice Drouin, co-owner of Auberge & Campagne in Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, the fall of a gondola worried the people of the International Ski Federation, but this is not the reason that motivated their decision.
The businessman and ex-partner of Gestev knows the ups and downs of the weather, he who performed a miracle by delivering a cross-country ski course in downtown Quebec for a World Cup at the start of the month of December 2012.
“Challenges with the weather, I have seen them often. We came very close to canceling a few times. The snow must be ready two weeks before the event. The FIS has rules and there are controls. A postponement in March would be good news. »
On December 20, when Mont-Sainte-Anne was closed, Patrice Drouin and about twenty other signatories sent an open letter about the significant repercussions for the Côte-de-Beaupré tourism sector.