The Italian ski resort of Cervinia, which lies below the Matterhorn, was forced to shut a day after opening last month as pictures of hundreds of queuing skiers ignoring social-distancing went viral.
Since that setback, the barely underway Alpine ski season has been further thrown into turmoil by lockdown measures rippling across the continent, shutting slopes in France and Italy and keeping most would-be visitors to the region at home until at least December.
The pandemic has left the lift companies, hotels, bars and instructors that make up the $33 billion Alpine ski business, which employs hundreds of thousands across the region, bracing for a potentially disastrous winter. Resorts are trying to attract more locals this season, but that won’t make up for the loss of international visitors due to quarantines and lockdowns, according to Laurent Vanat, a ski industry consultant based in Geneva.