04.01.2019

1.067 million guests at the Top of Europe

For the third time in its history, in 2018 Jungfrau Railways has attracted over a million visitors to the Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe. At the same time, the number of guests was increased in the summer season at all Experience Mountains.

The Jungfrau Railway Group can look back on a successful year in terms of visitor numbers. Strong demand from Asia contributed to the high visitor numbers at the Jungfraujoch. In 2018, 1,067,000 guests travelled to the Top of Europe, corresponding to a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent. This means the one million visitor mark was exceeded for the third time. It was important for the company to continue the intensive market development, particularly in Asia, and to further strengthen its Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe brand.

Due to the persistently warm temperatures and lack of snow, the Jungfrau Ski Region’s start to the winter season 2018/2019 was challenging. However, thanks to high-performance snow-making systems, Jungfrau Railways was able to open facilities from the beginning of December and to offer a continuous winter sports operation at its two sub-areas of Grindelwald-Wengen and Grindelwald-First before the holidays. Pre-sales of the season passes, which was positive for both season tickets for the Jungfrau Ski region for locals and the Top4 skipass (a partner offer from Adelboden-Lenk, Gstaad, Jungfrau Ski Region and Meiringen-Hasliberg) are looking positive. The Jungfrau Ski Region is a co-operation in which the Jungfrau Railway Group holds more than 60%. From the start of the season until 2 January 2019, the Jungfrau Ski Region registered 173,000 skier visits and recorded a decline of -3.9 per cent on the same period a year ago.

In the Experience Mountains segment, the other railways in the group all performed better than the previous year. First Railway (+26.8%) and Harder Railway (+21.0%) continued their positive trend, and both achieved a significant increase in the number of guests in the summer season from April to November, compared to the record level of the previous year. During the reporting year Harder Railway was in operation for the second time until the end of November. The long-lasting, stable and warm weather until late autumn boosted visitor numbers at all Experience Mountains. It also backed up the company's decision to extend the Harder season by one month. The Mürren Railway carried 719,500 passengers and was able to outperform the previous year’s good performance by 9.8%. Above all, cross-marketing with the Jungfraujoch contributed to the positive result.

 

Passenger numbers

2018

Passenger numbers

2017

Change

in per cent

Jungfrau Railway

(Up to Jungfraujoch)

1,067,000

1,041,500

2.4%

Grindelwald-First

(From the valley station, summer & winter)

587,500

497,000

18.2%

Mürren Railway

(Total numbers)

719,500

655,000

9.8%

Harder Railway

(Total numbers)

542,500

448,500

21.0%


 

Skier visits

Season start – 2/1/2019

Skier visits

Season start – 2/1/2018

Change

in per cent

Jungfrau Ski Region

173,000

180,000

-3.9%