Last year, the Jungfrau Railway Group achieved traffic income of 110.2 million francs – an increase of 6 million francs over 2010.
Jungfraujoch–Top of Europe
765,000 visitors travelled to the Jungfraujoch–Top of Europe in 2011, more than ever before in the history of the Jungfrau Railway. This growth was in particular achieved through business with Asian guests. This clearly shows that the Jungfrau Railway Group’s engagement in global marketing has borne fruit. The tsunami and nuclear disasters in Japan have had little effect on tourist traffic to the Jung¬fraujoch.
Winter sport
While excursion traffic flourished in 2011, winter-sport business was sluggish. The JUNGFRAU Ski Region, in which the Jungfrau Railway Group has an around 60% revenue share, recorded a drop of 10.6 per cent in the number of skier visits. This can be put down to a warm spell in spring 2011, amongst other things. The weak Euro led to fewer winter-sport guests taking holidays in Switzerland and the JUNGFRAU Ski Region. Operational interruptions caused by the weather also had a negative effect. The 2011/2012 winter season opened on 17 December, three weeks later than the previous year.
Experience mountains
The Jungfrau Railway Group recorded good visitor numbers in the experience mountains business segment, which comprises excursion traffic to the Harder Kulm, First and Winteregg-Mürren. The Harder Railway carried 15.3 per cent more passengers from 1 January to 31 December 2011 than in the previous year. The First aerial cableway recorded a reduction in frequency of 5.8 per cent, although a plus of 0.7 per cent was achieved during the summer season alone. The Lauterbrunnen-Mürren rail & cableway transported 0.2 per cent fewer passengers than in the previous year.
Prospects for 2012
Launching the Jungfrau Railway centenary year, light artist, Gerry Hofstetter, illuminated the Jungfrau with various images including the Swiss cross and a portrait of Adolf Guyer-Zeller, founder of the Jungfrau Railway. The Jungfrau Railway Group is confident that it will profit from the global interest shown in the centenary. Reservations from Asia provide us with optimism.
In contrast however, the company is facing a considerable challenge in the winter-sport business segment. In view of the strong franc, the Jungfrau Railways Group anticipates a further decline in visitor numbers from the Euro zone. An abundance of snow has fallen since the beginning of 2012 and the pistes are in excellent condition.
