Deadly Crans-Montana fire sends chills through Swiss tourism with safety in spotlight

(Corrections have been made to clarify officer’s statements in paragraph 23)

By Olivia Le Poidevin

VERBIER, Switzerland, Jan 29 (Reuters) – A New Year’s fire at a Swiss ski resort bar that killed 40 people has shaken a lucrative tourism industry that has long enjoyed an impeccable reputation and piled pressure on the country to tighten safety standards.

News that the bar “Le Constellation” in the Canton of Valais town of Crans-Montana had gone six years without security checks led authorities to swiftly ban certain practices, including the use of sparkling candles, which were blamed for the tragedy.

The stain on Switzerland’s exemplary safety record was felt immediately, with local hoteliers reporting canceled bookings in a canton such as nearby Verbier, where property prices in resorts can be on par with Hong Kong.

After the fire, which killed mostly young people and injured more than 100 people, Crans-Montana tourism office manager Bruno Huggler said, “There were cancellations, hotel reservations were postponed to later dates.”

Le Constellation owner Jacques Moretti and his wife are under investigation for negligent homicide and other crimes.

The disaster has sparked a bitter political debate over security, including calls for harmonization of national standards in a country that values ​​local autonomy.

This also caused alarm in Verbier’s hospitality industry.

BUSINESS FEARS

“We are aware that this could happen here too,” said Lionel Dubois, president of the Verbier Association of Hoteliers, Cafe Owners and Restaurant Operators. “I guess it’s a little scary.”

The value of tourism in Switzerland was approximately $22.17 billion, or 3% of national production in 2021, according to official data.

Tourism boss Huggler said that although bookings for around 1,300 hotel rooms in Crans-Montana were down, the overall outlook was stable, with chalet and apartment rentals accounting for most of the accommodation.

Cedric Berger, president of the Crans-Montana Upper Plateau Apartment and Chalet Owners Association, said young people were shaken and bars remained quieter while some restaurants came back to life.

Some local accommodation providers have seen cancellations of short-term holiday rentals.

“January is a month to forget, a lost month for everyone,” Berger said.

Survivors of the fire, in which French and Italian citizens also lost their lives, are still being taken to hospitals in various parts of Europe.

Berger, who is also a lawyer, said Crans-Montana apartment owners in Italy and France are angry.

“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 is lost, Switzerland’s ‘fortress’ would shake a bit,” he added.

Concerns about the fallout were evident in Verbier, where Reuters contacted 37 accommodation venues.

Most people refused to speak or did not respond, but the 12 who spoke said checks were carried out properly. But everyone agreed rules needed to be strengthened to ensure regular inspections, limit numbers in venues and provide fire safety training to staff.

Building insurance is not compulsory in four of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, including Valais; potentially increasing risks for fire-affected property owners and weakening controls.

The Swiss Insurance Association said more than 90 percent of buildings in Switzerland are insured according to market estimates, adding that it does not keep exact figures on how many are not insured. Reuters was unable to determine whether Le Constellation had building insurance.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, a foreign ministry unit that promotes the country’s image abroad, said the fire had created the biggest media storm in Switzerland since the collapse of Credit Suisse bank in 2023.

Edelmann said that media reports about Switzerland increased 25 times the average in early January, and that a crisis room was established after the fire to provide support to people abroad.

MP Jacqueline de Quattro, chair of the lower house of parliament’s security committee, said the fire highlighted potential shortcomings in Switzerland’s federal system, which allows cantons to set their own rules.

“We believed we had strict rules and Switzerland was well prepared,” De Quattro said. “But then we were brutally confronted with the truth.”

It has proposed a national review to harmonize standards, backed by an events industry group, voicing concerns about events professionals reporting sloppy work resulting from inadequate training, cost pressures and unregulated inspections.

But Fabien Sauthier, mayor of Verbier’s Val de Bagnes, said inspections required resources and that although there were regular checks, it was difficult to inspect around 400 public buildings a year with only four full-time security guards.

And any push for more federal oversight could face resistance.

“I’m a Swiss, so I think the canton should decide what it wants to do,” said Willy Schranz, president of the city council of Adelboden in the Canton of Bern. “If you take responsibility, it’s a very good system.”

($1 = 0.7667 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Dave Graham and Gareth Jones)