For French tourists, it’s automatic: when you want to go skiing, you need a car. Foreign clients do not ask the question: will it be the plane. Nowadays, only 10% of tourists choose the train to reach winter sports resorts and it shows. Transportation represents almost 60% of the carbon footprint, not counting the inconveniences and inconveniences related to traffic.

According to a survey carried out by the National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts (ANMSM) in 2022, more than half of tourists would be willing to take the step. On one condition: that we offer them “an adequate offer.” Understand: dates and times that suit your stay, but also the security of being able to reach your accommodation without problems, sometimes much further up the valley.

Offer “door-to-door” stays

The Compagnie des Alpes, which operates a dozen ski resorts such as Tignes, Les Arcs and Méribel, has understood this well: it has just launched a call to all European railway operators to offer “door-to-door” stays from Belgium, the Netherlands or the United Kingdom.

This is not the station operator’s first rail experience. For two years, it remains in the form of package – including the trip, but also the rental of the equipment or even the purchase of the package – between London and Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Savoie), are now on sale by its own tour operator Travelski.

Accelerate and sustain the movement.

This winter, supply will be limited “lack of train supply” by Eurostar and SNCF. But, above all, the company points out quite encouraging figures: between mid-December and mid-April 2022, around thirty rotations were carried out and 12,000 passengers were transported.

“We know that this movement responds to a need, now we must accelerate it and make it sustainable! »estimates the director of the distribution and hospitality division of the Compagnie des Alpes, Bryce Arnaud-Battandier, who intends to launch new European lines from winter 2024.

A greater service

To reach the million and a half Belgian, Dutch and British skiers who visit the French Alps every year, we have to think big. The service, which until now was offered on board TGVs, could be carried out by night trains or intercity connections, in trains with a volume of 300 to 600 passengers.

“It all depends on what the carriers offer us.” specifies the Compagnie des Alpes, according to which negotiations are being held with the main national operators for three-year contracts, in order to guarantee better visibility on each side. The company could even open the door to other tour operators in the region who want to join this carbon-free transportation offer.

Support from local elected officials

Jean-Luc Boch, mayor of La Plagne-Tarentaise and president of the ANMSM, regrets that the risks are assumed by a private actor “to compensate for the failure of the railway policy”in his words, to which are added the direct consequences of the closure of night trains or the drop in TGV orders.

“Nowadays, all stations ask for the train: it allows us to clearly reduce our impact and responds to the growing environmental awareness of customers! “, recalls the elected, who explains his participation in this impulse by calling public authorities and implementing strategies, at his scale, “that make life easier for tourists.”

Actions to encourage train travel

“Many communities and local actors are working today to encourage the use of public transportation”comments Alexis Pin, director of the climate association Protect Our Winters.

Les Arcs station, for example, offers free access to the funicular for those coming by train, while several companies in Morzine-Avoriaz offer discounts to travelers who present proof, with the Alpine Express pass. The association has just launched “Pow Mobility”: a booking platform for multimodal travel “until the last kilometers.”