Tourism Titlis mountain railroads achieve significantly higher profits in the first half of the year

Titlis Bergbahnen continued to grow in the first half of 2023/24. Following the already strong recovery in the previous year, more guests came to the Titlis once again. Traffic revenue was above the pre-coronavirus level for the first time. Net profit more than doubled compared to the previous year.

Guest numbers climbed by 7 percent to just over 607,000 in the period from November 2023 to April 2024, as the mountain railroad announced on Friday. Business with group travelers continued to recover, but had not yet reached pre-coronavirus levels. On the other hand, the previous year's record for individual travelers was broken again.

Significantly more profit

Operating income also increased accordingly. At CHF 47.1 million, it was almost 33 percent higher. Of this, 24.9 million (+10%) was attributable to income from the mountain railroads. This was the first time that transport income was higher than in the first half of the last pre-corona year 2018/19 (+4.6%).

Income in the restaurants and hotels also increased by 5% to CHF 8.3 million. Above all, however, the company benefited from extraordinary proceeds of CHF 8.1 million from the sale of a plot of land.

Meanwhile, operating expenses rose by only 14 percent to CHF 29.0 million. The operating result (EBITDA) therefore climbed by a whopping 80 percent to 18.1 million. Net profit more than doubled to CHF 10.5 million - compared to CHF 3.9 million in the same period of the previous year.

Consistency thanks to altitude and snowmaking systems

Early snowfall and "excellent" weather conditions over the festive period and in January gave Titlis Bergbahnen an excellent start to the winter season, according to the press release. The months of February and March were then characterized by warmer than average temperatures.

In snow sports, the cable car recorded 361,724 first-time admissions in the first half of the year. This corresponds to an increase of 3 percent. In contrast to destinations at lower altitudes, the resort benefited from its high altitude and modern snowmaking facilities.

Another record for individual travelers

The group travel segment has continued to recover, but has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. However, with 116,209 international group travelers, 30% more were counted than in the previous year. In terms of individual travelers, the previous year's record was exceeded again with 129,325 first-time visitors.

According to the press release, around half of these guests came from Switzerland, followed by visitors from India, Germany and the USA. With the exception of guests from China, who are still suffering from the problematic visa situation for the Schengen area, there was an increase for almost all countries of origin.

Looking ahead, the company expects the upward trend in both international group and individual travelers to continue.

Focus on turnover

"The guest record is not decisive for us," said Titlis CEO Norbert Patt in an interview with the news agency AWP. "What's more important for us is the sales trend and we're doing well here."

Whether the record of 1.24 million guests from 2018/19 will be broken in the current 2023/24 financial year also depends on the number of Swiss guests, Patt continued. However, the number of Swiss guests depends heavily on the weather.

However, Swiss guests are less relevant for revenue compared to international guests due to the Half-Fare travelcard. International individual travelers are particularly lucrative, as the per capita expenditure here is somewhat higher than for group travelers, explains Patt.