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Skiing in the Corona winter is tied to strict requirements in the canton of Bern. In several larger winter sports areas, municipalities must create protection concepts for winter sports operations.
This affects Adelboden, Grindelwald, Hasliberg, Kandersteg, Lauterbrunnen, Lenk, Meiringen, Saanen and Zweisimmen, as the governing council announced on Thursday. These are the eight municipalities with the most frequented ski areas in the Bernese Oberland.
For a few days it has been clear that a permit will be required to ski from December 22. Now the government has elaborated the requirements in more detail.
Many factors
Not only is a protection concept required for a permit. Other aspects also need to be considered. There should be sufficient testing capabilities for people with Covid-19 symptoms in the communities or region in question.
Winter sports resort protection concepts should also contain information on the capacities available for any necessary repatriation of holiday guests and the accommodation of Covid-19 patients at the station itself. The canton supports winter sports resorts if necessary, to the extent its capabilities allow.
The protection concepts of winter sports resorts should cover in particular those areas that are not covered by the operators of the ski areas.
Governors must assess whether the concepts meet the requirements. As representatives of the canton in the different regions, they know the local conditions.
Any closure is part of planning.
A governor’s permit is only granted if the epidemiological situation allows it and the medical care and contact tracing capabilities allow it.
The cantonal health, social and integration directorate monitors these general parameters. He is responsible for the continuous evaluation of the situation and controls the result of his evaluation with a traffic light system.
If the epidemiological situation worsens in general, the governing council decides a possible general closure of the ski areas at the request of the Directorate of Health, Social and Integration.
Operators of individual ski lifts that are not connected to other transport systems, a cross-country ski area or toboggan run without an associated transport system do not need a permit.
Checked by the police
The implementation of the requirements in the ski areas is controlled by the police of the canton of Bern, as announced on Thursday by the governing council.
In recent days, photos and videos of skiers who crowded in front of the valley stations without observing the rules of distance and hygiene have been circulating on social media. This is expected to be avoided in the canton of Bern.
Several mountain railways have already announced that they will deploy staff if necessary to direct the flow of visitors and enforce distance rules.
Ski area operators that have already started operations or want to start operating before December 22, 2020 must present their protection concepts to the canton before Friday, December 11.
Tourism support
The canton of Bern wants to allow tourist destinations to receive at least partial compensation in relation to the accommodation fee. This tax will be applied again in early 2021. But because fewer overnight stays are likely to accrue than in normal years, the government asks the Grand Council for a loan of 1.07 million francs. The money is intended to partially make up the missing amounts of the accommodation tax.
In its own competition, the governing council has already decided to contribute 1.43 million francs to the tourism marketer BE! Tourism AG. It is financed with money from tourist destinations. Here too, the contribution is intended to help offset losses. The governing council justifies the decision that market cultivation plays an important role in the recovery of tourism. (SDA)
