Val d’Allos station wishes to “reheat the empty beds” but what does that mean exactly? The commercialization and devaluation of properties in leisure centres such a ski station is without a doubt one of the biggest problems in the high mountain nowadays
Empty accommodation: a problem for many ski stations
Many real estate programs have accompanied the creation and development of ski resorts and a large number of accommodations were sold to private owners who occupied little or nothing of their home. As a result, there are unoccupied accommodations, very often completely empty and poorly maintained.
The winter sports stations, aware that the increase in their gains and the profitability of their facilities are based on the commercialization of tourist accommodation, are doing everything possible to heat these “cold beds”.
In the Southern Alps, the Val d’Allos station wanted to pursue an initiative and address this problem from its base, working directly with the different actors of the station and the owners of the little or non-commercialized accommodations.
To achieve this, Val d’Allos has benefited from the knowledge of Alpissime, an operator with more than 10 years of experience in the tourist complex of Les Arcs, in the Northern Alps, which today represents a 15% market share in the city of Bourg Saint Maurice / Les Arcs. “Between 2016 and 2017, we achieved 54.000 overnight stays in Les Arcs, which is equivalent to what all the hotels in the community of Bourg Saint Maurice achieved during the same period, that is, 13 establishments,” explains Thomas Di Lorenzo, founder of Alpissime.
“We created Alpissime.com at the request of the owners of the station. We have two equipment stores in the secondary building of the station and when people asked us to administer their keys, it occurred to us to create a service that we ended up building with them. For this, we have prioritized everyone’s requests between 2006 and 2008 to create a tool that fully meets their needs, ” says Di Lorenzo.
Energizing empty accommodation: 10 years of experience in returning tourist homes to the market
The Alpissime operator is:
- A unique interlocutor to reserve the holiday residence with services associated with the practice of skiing such as the location of the ski equipment, courses or ski passes. In addition, they inform about other sports activities, advise on leisure options such as activities or restaurants and tourist advice such as visits or local events.
- A complete, clear and quality offer with all the necessary transparency and legal certainty for tenants and owners.
- Comfortable accommodations, well maintained, carefully equipped and furnished, with the guarantee of having all assistance and maintenance services during the stay.
- Reception on site 7 days a week and with personalized accompaniment for tenants before, during and after their vacations.
- All technical skills to intervene without delay in case of a problem and thus a better management of the unexpected during the stay.
The private rental market is a real resource for ski stations. By promoting the return to the empty housing market, towns can gain visibility. They attract and retain new customers that generate additional billing that allows the development of the entire local economy.
The professionalization of rental between individuals through new operators, platforms and advertising systems offers new perspectives of market growth, necessary for the future progression of the stations.
The welcome, having a concierge and a wide range of associated products, of quality and high added value, seduces the clientele and offer the owners a better profitability.
In the Southern Alps, the Val d´Allos complex faces a great challenge, that of using empty accommodation, especially since the second residences occupy a prominent place in the complex. According to Alain Rottino, president of AIRFA, “this is an important issue for the town of Allos, where second residences represent 93.5% of the total and where only 16.5% are rented according to figures from 2016-2017. We hope to find the right tools in Alpissime to use the accommodation in our stations. ”
Alpissime will be present at the Val d´Allos station from winter 2019-2020, to unite the owners in this project
After a survey of the owners of Val d’Allos, made during the 2018-2019 season, responded by more than 800 people, the lack of organization of the rental of the apartments in the Val d’Allos seemed obvious. To compensate for this deficit and respond to the concerns expressed by the owners, the Alpissime company offers an adapted and proven solution.
Concluded at the beginning of October, the partnership between Alpissime and the Val d’Allos complex now allows Val d’Allos owners to send their rental ads between individuals: key delivery and concierge services will be provided by the Point of Reception Alpissime, located in the information place of the ski area in front of Aiguille in La Foux d’Allos.
The SYNERGIX Consortium, which brings together the association of owners (AIRFA), the association of merchants (ANIMAFOUX) and the ski areas (Val d´Allos Loisirs Développement), was the one that turned to Alpissime. They relied on their experience as a platform for renting houses for tourists that has participated for 10 years in the economic development of tourist centres.
STILL ARRIVING LATER IN THE SEASON, WE WAIT FOR FIFTY ACCOMMODATIONS OF THE FIRST YEAR
“At the beginning of October, we met Gérard Bracali, and we opened at the beginning of November. We hope to recover market share in this first year at the Val d´Allos station. We are the intermediary at the station, and the reception point is used to explain the process to the owners“, said Thomas Di Lorenzo, founder of Alpissime.
Uncommercialized beds, a valuable resource for the community
The model proposed by Alpissime fits this context: landlords and tenants benefit from central reservation management, concierge services, key collection, inventory, cleaning and maintenance, as well as a wide range of à la carte products and services.
The development of Alpissime in recent years confirms this trend: the owners who have used Alpissime services have an average rental of 8 weeks. Thanks to this occupation, empty accommodations become rental ones.
For the towns, Alpissime is a tool capable of boosting the rental market by attracting new clients and a partner capable of collecting tourist tax and providing statistics on housing occupancy.
Returning to the market the empty accommodations allows owners to gain purchasing power, to maintain their accommodation and it contributes, by extension, to the overall improvement of the quality of the rental offer of the station.
TO CARRY OUT THIS PROJECT, WE NEED A FEDERATIVE STRUCTURE BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT ACTORS OF THE RESORT AS THE TOURIST OFFICE, THE CITY COUNCIL, THE SKI AREA OR THE OWNERS
“Alpissime has been involved for 10 years in the economic development of the stations putting on the market empty accommodations. We wanted to take advantage of their customer experience, their passion for hospitality, service and performance“concludes Gérard Bracali, director of the Val d´Allos station.
