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SKIIING

Why your ski trip in Italy will be more expensive this winter

Due to rising energy costs, many mountain resorts in Italy are increasing their prices this winter - with some saying they won't be able to open at all. Here's what you should know if you're planning a winter break.

Skiing in most resorts in the Italian Alps will be more expensive this winter.
Skiing in most resorts in the Italian Alps will be more expensive this winter. Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP.

Italy’s ski season, which usually lasts between November and March in high-altitude areas, will be more expensive this year as operators are hit by high energy prices.

The price of ski passes has risen to offset the cost of electricity used to operate ski lifts. Prices for daily, seasonal or multi-day passes in Italy have risen by between 6 and 13 percent, according to SkyTG24, with average increases of 10 percent across the country.

The ski slopes of Bormio in Alta Valtellina have seen the highest increases, with the cost of day passes rising from €46 to €52, according to a survey by the consumer rights association Assoutenti.

In Valle d’Aosta, day passes with rise from €56 to €61 in Courmayeur (8.9 percent), from €53 to €57 in Cervinia (7.5 percent), and from €47 to €51 La Thuile (8.5 percent).

The Dolomiti Superski day pass, which gives users access to 12 different resorts across a 3,000 sq km area in the Dolomites mountain range (making it the largest ski area in the world), will cost €74 in high season, up from €67 last year.

The prices increases only partially cover the increased energy costs, Dolomiti Superski’s press officer Diego Clara told the Repubblica news daily, with the company noting on its website that it reserves the right to raise prices further if necessary.

Energy crisis: Italy risks ‘thousands’ of business closures, say industry groups

Only the six ski areas of Friuli Venezia Giulia have said they won’t raise prices, with a day pass continuing to cost €39.50 and a week pass €250 for the entire ski season.

The ski resort of Panarotta 2002 in Trentino Alto Adige, for its part, has said it will remain closed this winter.

“Under these conditions we do not feel up to starting the winter season”, Matteo Anderle, president of Panarotta 2002, told Il Dolomiti newspaper in October. “There are too many unknowns that risk causing the collapse of the company.”

The news came as a blow to ski equipment rental businesses in the area, who say they learned of the decision just a couple of months before the start of the ski season and are now scrambling to find alternative sources of income.

“Last season I bought 50 sleds because the slope had been opened, now all that investment will be thrown away because if the ski slopes close the rental is worth zero,” Marco Bogazzi, who owns the ‘Snowfamily’ ski rental shop on Panarotta, told local press.

Other resorts are reportedly considering various measures to bring costs down, including opening only on certain days of the week or for limited hours during the day, or opening only the most popular slopes.

Valeria Ghezzi, president of the cable car operators association Anef, told Repubblica that “structural solutions and not those based on contigency” are needed to prevent the industry from facing a crisis.

“We lead a sector that creates an economy. If the ski lifts close, that closes all the related industries.”

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TOURISM

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Inflation may now be falling but the price of a summer holiday in Italy has risen again - by up to 20 percent compared to last year.

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Italian consumer rights groups said last year that the summer of 2023 would be remembered as “the most expensive ever” for travel. But 2024 has already smashed that record, according to the latest price surveys.

The rising cost of air fares, ferry tickets, hotels, restaurants and beach clubs add up to mean a holiday in Italy will be 15-20 percent more expensive this summer compared to last year, according to a survey conducted by the Assoutenti consumer research centre in June.

While price rises in recent years have been attributed to Covid and rising inflation, which is no longer thought to be a factor, this year Assoutenti said high demand was pushing up prices amid the post-pandemic tourism boom.

Prices in Italy were “out of control as a consequence of the resumption of tourism, after the stop imposed by Covid, and the record number of foreign visitors recorded in the last year,” the survey’s authors wrote, calling on the government to take measures to contain price increases.

READ ALSO: ltaly set for summer tourism boom as bookings increase again

They warned that more Italian families were likely to “give up the summer holidays this year, not being able to face an expense that increases from year to year,” and that those who do travel may book shorter trips to keep costs down.

Some 6.5 million Italians say they won’t be going on holiday this summer at all, with half citing economic difficulties, according to a separate survey commissioned by price comparison website Facile.it.

Meanwhile, there had been a nine percent increase this year in applications for personal loans for travel purposes, the survey found.

Flight prices

One of the biggest factors was the cost of air fares, as both domestic and international flights to and from Italy were found to be more expensive again this year.

While the cost of flights between European countries had fallen slightly following inflation-driven price hikes in 2023, Italy was bucking the trend.

Italy’s flight costs had risen instead, according to recent analysis in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, with the average price of a summer flight between Italy and the rest of Europe up by seven percent and domestic flights by 21 percent.

READ ALSO: Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

Industry sources suggest the price increase is again down to unprecedented demand, while consumer groups say the main culprit is a lack of competition on the Italian market.

Transport costs

There were price hikes too for those using other modes of transport, with the rising cost of fuel and motorway tolls in Italy named as another contributing factor in the Assoutenti survey.

Ferry tickets were also more expensive, it found, with the average increase this August at +6.3 percent compared to 2023.

Hotels and B&Bs

For a family of four, the Assoutenti survey found the most expensive place to stay in Italy this summer was Porto Cervo, Sardinia, where the average price of a week’s three-star accommodation in August came to 3,500 euros.

The cheapest options were found to be Bibione, outside Venice (872 euros) and Rapallo in Liguria (909).

READ ALSO: Tourist tax: How much is it increasing in Italy’s cities this year?

The cost of accommodation at coastal destinations had risen by 23 percent on average overall, a separate survey by consumer group Altroconsumo found.

Hotels in cities were found to be a less expensive option, with most Italian families heading for the beach or mountains to escape the heat.

Restaurants

Adding to the overall cost, prices also continued to rise this year at restaurants in holiday resorts and at beach clubs: Assoutenti recorded an average increase for the catering sector of +3.5 percent on 2023.

Beaches

Renting sunbeds and umbrellas at Italy’s beach clubs is seen as a necessity by many Italian families – and often by international visitors too, given the lack of free options in many areas.

This too was becoming more expensive in 2024, with the average daily rate for a slot at one of Italy’s private beach clubs up by more than five percent on last year. Prices had also risen by as much as 11 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Beachgoers can now expect to pay around €30-35 for two sun loungers and a beach umbrella for the day on average, though prices can rise as high as €90 in Salento and €120 in parts of Sardinia.

Both private and free-access beaches in Italy also increasingly require advance booking due to higher demand.

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