For the first time, Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000 has appeared in the Top 20 of the Mountain Leaders ranking, which is compiled using turnover figures provided by the ski resorts. This position should be viewed with caution, as not all resorts systematically submit their data year on year. But behind the rankings lies a much more significant reality: since 2022, the oldest resort in the French Pyrenees has seen steady growth, driven by investment, rising visitor numbers and a major revamp of its image. Its director, Jacques Alvarez, explains the driving forces behind this transformation to I Love Ski.
The inclusion of Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000 amongst the twenty ski resorts with the highest turnover figures in the available data must therefore be viewed for what it is: not as the definitive establishment of a national hierarchy, but as a further indicator of the trajectory taken by this Pyrenean resort. For behind this remarkable entry lie figures that are far more revealing.
“That’s an increase of around 12 per cent a year, which has been fairly steady since 2022,” explains Jacques Alvarez, director of Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000.
2022 marks, precisely, the start of a new multi-year investment plan. And for the director, there is little doubt about the link between the two trends. “We have modernised the resort considerably and the decisions we’ve made are paying off more than we could have imagined.” But Jacques Alvarez refuses to attribute this growth solely to the ski area. On the contrary, he emphasises a collective effort: that of the local councils, the operator Altiservice, the organisations responsible for promoting tourism and the destination’s industry professionals.
“It is, ABOVE ALL, the result of a collective effort ”
From 470,000 to over 640,000 skier-days
The shift in scale becomes even clearer when we look beyond turnover to visitor numbers. When the public service delegation contract was signed in 2022, Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000’s business model was based on approximately 470,000 skier-days. Four years on, the resort has just recorded just over 640,000 skier-days.
The growth in turnover is therefore primarily driven by a significant rise in footfall. “The rise in footfall is very significant; there’s no denying that. It is also accompanied by an increase in the average spend, which, whilst less dramatic, has been fairly steady year on year.”
When an investment changes the way people use the resort
Among the investments made since 2022, Jacques Alvarez singles out one as particularly transformative: the replacement of the Airelles Express gondola lift. Beyond the equipment itself, it is the organisation of the resort that has been rethought. “The key investment was the replacement of the Airelles Express gondola lift. This enabled us to rethink the customer journey, from the main avenue in Font-Romeu to the base of the slopes, and to make access to the ski area much smoother.”
The project has also created a significant space for beginners and families. But its impact extends beyond the day-to-day running of the ski area. “This investment has profoundly changed the way our guests access the ski area and experience it once they are there.”
Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000 has turned this investment into a real marketing asset. This strategy has been wholeheartedly embraced by Jacques Alvarez, who believes it has helped to attract a new clientele to the resort. “We’ve seen new guests arrive, drawn by this transformation and keen to come and discover the resort.”
The new access route also makes it easier for people who do not ski to reach the resort. This is by no means a minor issue in a resort where, as Jacques Alvarez points out, non-skiers account for just over half of the holidaymakers.
A station doesn’t modernise itself
However, the transformation observed since 2022 is not limited to the ski lifts. Jacques Alvarez highlights, in particular, the move towards higher-end accommodation that has taken place in parallel with the resort’s investments. “Since the launch of this multi-year investment plan, we have seen a fairly significant move upmarket across all tourist accommodation, with the arrival of a four-star hotel, as well as serviced holiday residences.”
The combination of the estate’s modernisation, developments in accommodation and collective action to promote the destination would thus have gradually boosted its appeal.
Families, customer loyalty and advance bookings
Growth is also driven by a commercial strategy that has been refined over recent seasons. Jacques Alvarez highlights, in particular, Font-Romeu Pyrénées 2000’s ability to get the season off to a successful start. This consistency is said to boost sales of season passes and early bookings, at a time when customer confidence in early-winter conditions is becoming a key factor.
At the same time, the resort has strengthened its family-friendly policy with targeted promotional offers. “Over the past four years, we have clearly stepped up our strategy aimed at families and children, particularly with the ‘Kids’ offer available throughout January.”
Font-Romeu has also revised its pricing policy, with offers under which young people up to the age of 17 are treated as children. This strategy is accompanied by outreach work carried out in the resort’s main catchment areas, with a clear objective: to publicise the new offers, but also to demonstrate just how much the resort has changed.
“This grassroots work has enabled us to raise our profile and highlight the investments made in recent years. We’ve communicated extensively on this, and it was necessary.”
The oldest… and one of the most modern?
This may well be the crux of Font-Romeu’s history. The resort boasts an exceptional heritage: people have been skiing there since 1920, which allows it to claim the title of the oldest resort in the French Pyrenees. But this long history can also become a pitfall when it ends up freezing a destination’s image in time. Jacques Alvarez puts it bluntly: “We can’t always rely on the fact that we’re the oldest resort.”
For several years now, Font-Romeu has drawn on its history without wishing to remain bound by it. The challenge now is to use this heritage as a foundation, whilst projecting a resolutely contemporary image. “We needed to modernise the resort’s image. Today, we can be both the oldest resort in the Pyrenees and, in the eyes of our guests, one of the most modern in terms of infrastructure.”
It is an interesting paradox: it is precisely the oldest town in the Pyrenees that now wishes to be seen as modern. Seen in this light, Mountain Leaders’ entry into the Top 20 takes on a different meaning. It is less about a place in a ranking and more about a further sign of this transformation.
Seeking growth where it still exists
Font-Romeu still has room for improvement. Jacques Alvarez points in particular to customer base areas that have yet to be tapped into and periods of the season when visitor numbers could be further increased. “I think we can achieve a little bit of growth because there are catchment areas that we haven’t yet focused on sufficiently.”
The aim, therefore, is initially to seek out this growth in areas where the resort is not yet operating at full capacity. The experience at the end of last season illustrates this point. A particularly attractive offer launched around Holy Week proved a spectacular success.
But when *I Love Ski* asked Jacques Alvarez not about a few additional growth points, but about the possibility of Font-Romeu truly scaling up, his response opened up a much more strategic perspective. And one that has so far received little public attention. The director of Font-Romeu mentions neither a new ski lift, nor an extension of the ski area, nor a new pricing policy. He is looking beyond the resort’s current boundaries.
“The future lies in a union with our closest neighbours ”
The sentence is short. Its significance, however, is far greater. In a region where issues of cooperation, complementarity between sectors and the development of services on a broader regional scale are becoming increasingly important, seeing the director of Font-Romeu put forward so clearly the idea of a union with his neighbours represents a strategic development that warrants close attention.
And it adds a whole new dimension to the resort’s current trajectory. More than a century after its first skiers, Font-Romeu is no longer simply seeking to combine heritage with modernity. Having significantly upgraded its infrastructure, increased visitor numbers and strengthened its economic standing, the oldest resort in the Pyrenees is now beginning to look to the next stage.
