The owners of ski resorts in Quebec are half-fig, half-raisin following the government’s announcement of new flexibilities regarding access to downhill ski slopes. They are very happy to see the customer limit disappear, but the obligation to validate the vaccine passports of skiers is proving to be a real headache.
This is particularly the case for the approximately 302,000 seasonal subscribers, who can normally get to the slopes without going through the ticket offices. “With the smart card system now installed in more than 25 stations, we are already equipped so that people can go directly to the chairlifts”, illustrates Yves Juneau, president of the Association des stations de ski du Québec.
“These cards must now all be deprogrammed. You understand that our subscription sales don’t start at the beginning of November, so suddenly we have to back-pedal! “
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Yves Juneau, President of the Association of Quebec Ski Resorts
Ski resorts are therefore rolling up their sleeves in an attempt to minimize the inconvenience caused by the fact that skiers will have to show their vaccination passport before getting on the ski lifts. We do not want customers to have to take their phone out of their pocket every time they come back to the bottom of the slopes.
“Each station will decide on its mode of operation, but we have already submitted a procedure to Public Health for the validation of vaccine passports to be done by videoconference for seasonal subscriptions,” explains Yves Juneau. The stations are thinking in particular of setting virtual appointments with their subscribers; we have to meet criteria to be able to proceed in this way, but the process is underway. “
For day tickets, it’s going to take some patience and some understanding; this will lead to a large volume of transactions and we are not in a situation of surplus labor.
Yves Juneau, President of the Association of Quebec Ski Resorts
In some stations such as Rigaud and Mont-Saint-Bruno, we have also decided to close the sites so that the verification is done at the entrance of the parking lots, so that people can then move around and have access to all services. Elsewhere, proof of vaccination must be linked to the purchase of the ticket. “Everyone is in the process of defining their method, it is the operators’ responsibility,” says Mr. Juneau. But we have several meetings planned where everyone intends to share their good ideas. “
The ASSQ president expects a small proportion of skiers to cancel their seasonal passes, even though he is forecasting a very good season overall. “According to an in-house survey, 9% of customers indicated that they would not ski this season if a vaccination passport was required; if we report this on our 302,000 subscription holders, it could represent a loss of $ 15 million, argues Mr. Juneau. But we also saw a lot of new followers on the slopes last year. People who have tried the sport tell us that they are going to be back, the same goes for fans who quit and came back last winter. “
We therefore expect to exceed the figures of last year, which had nevertheless been an exceptional season with more than 6.1 million days / ski according to the figures of the Economic and Financial Study of Quebec Ski Resorts carried out. by the School of Management Sciences of UQAM.
New in spades
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, THE PRESS
Several new features are on the program in the ski centers.
The skiers who will be attending this year will be able to benefit from several new features in a number of resorts. In addition to the renewed investments of several resorts in increasingly efficient artificial snowmaking systems, a good number of alpine ski centers now offer alpine hiking trails as well as spaces dedicated to off-piste skiing.
“We went from 5 stations 5 or 6 years ago to 33 now,” says Yves Juneau. People enjoy alpine hiking in a ski resort because of the cardiovascular exercise it provides. Often they go downhill skiing in the morning and downhill hiking in the afternoon. However, access to the activity may be limited by the availability of equipment, as the activity is a victim of its popularity. “
In addition to new chalets in Bromont and Saint-Sauveur or a new quadruple chairlift in Mont-Orford, we also note the development of new learning areas in several stations: La Tuque, Avila, Bromont, the Massif de Charlevoix and the Mont Avalanche all offer new slopes for beginners with conveyor belt type ascent.
“We can also do that in the city,” says Yves Juneau. We have similar facilities in Terrebonne, Saint-Constant, Saint-Bruno and Rigaud; there are a bunch of places that are easy to access with this kind of equipment in an urban environment, you don’t have to go far to learn! “
Visit the ASSQ website