An integrated leisure and service company in response to challenges and potentials

In order to protect itself against the volatility of the tourism industry, Jungfraubahn Holding AG has developed particular strengths: this is based on the high level of self-financing at 80.9%. The financing of the ongoing major investment in the V-Cableway is designed and planned in such a way that this value will only temporarily decrease over five to ten years and only by a maximum of 15 percentage points. In addition to minimising borrowed capital, stability also guarantees broad support in three different segments and lucrative secondary activities such as electricity production and shopping. The portfolio is designed on an ongoing basis, so that the diversified businesses are mutually intertwined and have a stabilising effect on the overall result with regard to short-term trends and dips.

In order to take advantage of the potential demand, the Jungfraubahn Group has developed brand management and distribution via tour operators as a key area. This also includes cooperation with important partners from the industry such as Schweiz Tourismus, BE! Tourismus AG, Jungfrau Region Tourismus AG and Interlaken Tourismus (TOI) as well as companies such as Tissot, Coop and ABB. Awareness of the Jungfraujoch is promoted by prominent visitors. Setting the stage for visits creates stories that are told around the world and guarantees a correspondingly high media presence. Visiting delegations that wish to become familiar with the Jungfrau Region for travel reports or for preparing travel arrangements («familiarisation trips» or «fam-trips») are supported and supervised by the Jungfrau Railways sales team on a daily basis. Our own representatives in various Asian cities support the contacts and the distribution of Jungfraubahn Railways products. They ensure that these are included in the tour operator programmes or in catalogues. The newly designed jungfrau.ch website, which invites visitors to make plans and dreams, is aimed at individual travellers who can also book their holidays and excursions directly online, and potential group travellers who will find out about Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe at their travel agency. Due to the fact that more and more people are travelling individually, global online sales are gaining in importance. The IT systems of Jungfrau Railways have been designed for this requirement, and the development in this area continues at approximately CHF 2 million per year.

There is a growing demand for tourist services that are out of the ordinary or that offer a wide variety of experiences in the shortest possible time. Therefore, the integration of the service chain is becoming increasingly important. Through coordinated services and ordering procedures, for both the tour operator and the individual traveller, the planning as well as the carefree experience can be made easier and the demand can be channelled. Combined offers and packages allow attractive pricing. In this environment, the mountain railway can no longer focus exclusively on the provision of transport services. The Jungfrau Railways Group is already very well positioned to sell combined services through its various segments, the diversity of the mountain experiences it has developed, and its close ties with the rest of the region's service providers. The online system was designed several years ago, in order to combine various providers into one shopping cart and to navigate various user platforms.

With the explicit commitment in its latest strategy to develop the Jungfrau Railways Group towards an integrated leisure and service company, the board has now definitively set its course. In addition to its previous core skills in railway technology, IT will become increasingly important. It is set up as a separate specialist department and is thus established in an equal position alongside marketing and technology. The board has decided to integrate gastronomy, so central to the value creation chain in tourist excursions, into the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe business area. The existing tenancy agreements with the independent catering contractors at Kleine Scheidegg and the Jungfraujoch will be terminated at the end of the summer seasons 2017 and 2019 respectively. A new subsidiary of the Jungfraubahn Group will be looking after guests according to the railway excursion offers and under the quality requirements of Jungfrau Railways. In this context, the sales volume will increase by approximately 10% over the next two years.

As an integrated tourism company, the Jungfraubahn Group is a major driver of the economic development in the region and of alpine tourism in Switzerland. It makes a significant contribution to the strengthening of the Jungfrau Region. It takes into account the interests of the locals, encourages its employees and looks after nature, which is an important resource for the tourism industry. Nature should be preserved and accessible to future generations in keeping with the Jungfraubahn founder's vision. The stakeholder approach of the Jungfrau Railways Group results in a veritable engine of tourism development: the activity of the Jungfrau Railways helps to strengthen retail, trade, agriculture and local infrastructure, and it establishes a basis upon which the hotel industry can continuously renew itself. This has a positive effect on the attractiveness of the overall offer and thus on the international aura of the Jungfrau Region. Potential demand emerges here, from which the Jungfrau Railways Group draws value, which in turn strengthens the local anchoring through consolidated partnerships, taxes, wage payments and investments.