Ski resorts and regions have begun fighting back against the perceptions of coronavirus being a threat at their resorts.
Italian areas have been keen to point out that whilst Italy may have more cases than any other European country at present, many of the country’s ski regions so far have no cases at all. Livigno issued this video designed to reassure today.
Coronavirus: Travelling Safely
Coronavirus: travelling safely. Our guests tell you why not to cancel your holiday in #Livigno. http://bit.ly/39UCPzs #WeWontstopCoronavirus: viaggiare sicuri. I nostri ospiti vi spiegano perché non annullare la vostra vacanza a #Livigno. http://bit.ly/2T9WOn8 #LivignoNonSiFerma
Posted by Livigno on Friday, 28 February 2020
A number of major ski racing events are also coming up in Italy, including the World Cup Finals in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Currently, the FIS says these are still going ahead as planned, but one official, discussing different scenarios, suggested they may happen with no spectators to minimise risk, although it does not appear a final official decision has been taken yet.
Meanwhile in Switzerland, where the government has banned events of more than 1,000 people, the organiser of at least one ski area event set to attract far more people than that in just over a month’s time, has issued a statement to reassure festival goers that Snowpenair in the Jungfrau region, billed as the country’s biggest winter music festival, is still going ahead,
“The Snowpenair takes place. The Swiss Federal Council has declared on Friday that public transport, railway stations or ski resorts are not affected by the ban of large-scale events. The Jungfrau Railways operate normally,” a statement from the organisers reads.
This appears to mean that other bigger festivals and concerts in ski areas in Switzerland, including The Stranglers playing at Rock The Pistes on the Swiss side of the giant Portes du Soleil region on March 21st, should still be going ahead.
Meanwhile France has banned all public events of more than 5,000 people in a confined space. There are a number of festivals at French ski resorts in March that will attract more than 5,000 people, including the huge Tomorrowland Winter festival in Alpe d’Huez (pictured above) which expects 30,000 visitors from around the world, but most of it does not take place in a confined space.
