VERBIER, Switzerland, Jan 29 (Reuters) – A New Year fire that killed 40 people at a Swiss ski resort bar has shaken a lucrative tourism industry that long had an impeccable reputation and has piled pressure on the country to tighten safety standards.
News that “Le Constellation” bar, in the town of Crans-Montana in Canton Valais, had gone six years without a safety check quickly prompted officials to ban some practices, including the use of sparkling candles blamed for the tragedy.
The stain on Switzerland’s otherwise exemplary safety record was quickly felt as local hoteliers reported cancelled bookings in a canton where the cost of real estate in resorts such as nearby Verbier can fetch prices on a par with Hong Kong.
“There were cancellations, there were reservation postponements to later dates in hotels,” said Bruno Huggler, director of the Crans-Montana tourism office, after the blaze that killed mostly teenagers and injured more than 100 people.
Le Constellation owners Jacques Moretti and his wife are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes.
The disaster has ignited a fractious political debate over safety, including calls for harmonised national standards in a country that prizes local autonomy.
It has also sparked alarm in Verbier’s hospitality sector.
BUSINESS FEARS
“We realize this could very well happen right here,” said Lionel Dubois, head of Verbier’s Association of Hoteliers, Cafe Owners and Restaurateurs. “That, I think, is a bit frightening.”
Tourism in Switzerland was worth about $22.17 billion, or 3% of national output in 2021, official data showed.
While bookings at Crans-Montana’s roughly 1,300 hotel rooms have suffered, the overall picture is stable, as chalet and apartment rentals cover most stays, tourism boss Huggler said.
Young people have been shaken, though, and while some restaurants are returning to life, bars remain quieter, said Cedric Berger, head of the Association of Apartment and Chalet Owners of the Crans-Montana Upper Plateau.
Some local accommodation providers have seen cancellations in short-term vacation rentals.
“January is a month to forget, a lost month for everyone,” said Berger.
Survivors of the fire, which also killed French and Italian citizens, are still hospitalised around Europe.
Crans-Montana apartment owners from Italy and France are angry, said Berger, who is also a lawyer.
“People go to Valais not because it’s the ‘best party’, but because it’s Switzerland, and you think it’s safe. If that quality disappears, then Switzerland’s ‘fortress’ is a bit shaken,” he added.
Anxiety about the fallout is palpable in Verbier, where Reuters contacted 37 hospitality venues.
Most declined to speak or did not reply, though the 12 who did said checks were conducted properly. But all agreed that rules must be reinforced to guarantee regular inspections, limit numbers at venues and provide fire-safety training to staff.
In four of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, including Valais, building insurance is not mandatory – potentially increasing risks for owners hit by fire, as well as weakening controls.
The Swiss Insurance Association said over 90% of buildings in Switzerland are insured according to market estimates, adding it does not keep precise figures on how many are not. Reuters could not establish if Le Constellation had building insurance.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
The fire delivered the biggest hit to Switzerland’s reputation since the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse bank, said Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, the foreign ministry unit that promotes the country’s image abroad.
As media reports about Switzerland jumped to 25 times more than average in early January, a crisis room was established to support people abroad following the fire, said Edelmann.
Lawmaker Jacqueline de Quattro, head of the lower house of parliament security committee, said the fire had exposed potential shortcomings in Switzerland’s federal system, which allows cantons to set their own rules.
“We believed we had strict rules and that Switzerland was well‑prepared,” said de Quattro. “But then we were brutally confronted with reality.”
Proposing a national review to harmonise standards backed by an events industry group, she voiced concerns over event professionals’ reports of sloppy work stemming from inadequate training, cost pressures and irregular inspections.
But the head of Verbier’s Val de Bagnes municipality, Fabien Sauthier, said inspections need resources and that, while regular checks occur, it was tough to inspect some 400 public buildings annually with just four full-time safety officials.
And any push towards greater federal oversight could face resistance.
“I’m a Swiss person, so I think the canton should decide what it wants to do,” said Willy Schranz, head of the municipal council in Adelboden in Canton Bern. “If you take responsibility, then it’s a very good system.”
($1 = 0.7667 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinEditing by Dave Graham and Gareth Jones)
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