Have
you ever considered what happens to Alpine ski resorts during the
summer months? What
do you think? Do they (A) close down altogether? (B) Become havens
for old folks looking for fresh air and sunshine at areasonable
price? (C) Get off their duffs and create other Activelifestyle
pursuits to take up the slack?And the answer is – drum roll
please - all of the above.
On second thought make that all of the above and just about any
other festival, sport, event, gathering, happening or dream that
may get the fickle traveler to come to, say, Zell am Ziller rather
than Phuket. In fact there are some really big names in the world
of alpine resort destinations that, until recently, had to simply
close up shop for a great part of the summer. Indeed many resorts
that are more reliant upon the ski business than anything else can
boast of just a few weeks, maybe a month, of tourism activity in
summer. That’s not much time to pay the rent for half a year,
especially when you consider that margins are lower when the grass
is
greener as well.
As a result many hotels just close down from the end of the ski
season to July, their owners and staff off to golf courses around
the globe. Targeting that niche market by the way is something no
tour operator has awakened to as yet. Talk about a business
looking for a driver (pun intended).
Still other resorts rely upon busloads of tourists from Japan,
America, Britain and other countries to put bums in beds. These
are surely nice folk, but they are not known as big “players”
or high rollers. They are rightfully pigeonholed as “budget
travelers”; better than an empty bed, but only just.
Still other resorts rely on the increasingly popular “music
festival trick”. The Swiss Resort of Montreaux successfully
pioneered this “all the alps are a stage” idea. The continuing
and current popularity and drawing power of this event has lead to
many imitators. Since then there are almost more music festivals
in the Alps than there are ski lifts. Many have achieved a
degree of success, but few, if any have matched the pull and power
of the Montreaux Jazz Festival.
So where’s the answer? How do winter rich alpine ski resorts do
more than make ends meet during the long and often beautiful
summer months? Many resort promoters now think that wherever
environmental and political conditions permit, the perceived pot
of gold at the end of the alpine rainbow lies in the greens and
fairways
of golf courses
.
Now many of you will already know that there are a few world-class
golf courses in the Alps. And, there are some pretty prestigious
tournaments played on them as well. The Swiss open played at Crans
Montana high
in the Swiss Alps above Sierre and the ladies PGA in Evian on the
shores of lake Geneva are the first two that spring to mind.
However if your game is anything like mine it does not require a
championship challenge. For that matter even
if it does, you should get a lot of unique enjoyment out of
golfing in the European Alps. There’s challenge in them thar
hills, but there is also beauty, tranquility and good value
too.
And, as the marketing boys and girls in the Alps are fast coming
to realize, golfers spend like skiers. Golf, like skiing is not
really a sport after all is it? It is more a way of life. Consider
it. One has to have the proper equipment, and clothing, and if you
are anything but a local there’s sure to be some travel
involved. You can’t play golf unless you have a place to sleep
and something to eat, and who knows, you may even but a new
golf bag while you’re there. And if you bring the family or go
with friends, so much the better. And don’t forget the attitude
that is displayed by golfers and skiers. Flaunted even. Golfers
and skiers alike seem to enjoy talking about their exploits on the
slopes or fairways as much as they as they do actually playing
their game. Word of mouth advertising anyone? Turning grazing land
into putting greens seems to be
a no lose investment, the classical win-win situation.
So are ski resorts jumping on the golf bandwagon and planting the
seeds of golf courses just to turn a quick buck? Some are to be
sure, but why not? As long as they don’t destroy the environment
or turn cows and sheep into herds of homeless hungry drifters, who is being hurt?
Others though are no newcomers to the game. Resorts like Seefeld, Kitzbuhel,
Zell am Seeand Innsbruck in Austria, Courmayeur in Italy and Crans Montana
in Switzerland have been spearheading the golf revolution in the Alps for
decades. In this series we will look at some of these. And in the interest
of fairness we’ll start with the pioneers first.
Bill Fogarty |
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