Skistar announces that it is closing all of its ski resorts in Sälen, Vemdalen and Åre. The resorts will be closed from the start of the Easter holidays on April 6th and for the rest of the winter season.
– If we can help support our healthcare system, which is on its knees, we are happy to do so, says Skistar CEO Stefan Sjöstrand to SVT News.
Skistar CEO Stefan Sjöstrand tells TT that he made the decision after speaking with the Swedish Public Health Authority's Director General Johan Carlson and receiving advice to close facilities due to the risk of overloading the healthcare system.
Earlier on Tuesday, he also spoke with the infectious disease doctor in Dalarna and the health center in Sälen.
“The picture of the healthcare situation changes every day,” he says, pointing out that intensive care beds in Mora and Falun are already fully occupied.
”Hard pressure to close”
Patrick Quicker, reporter at SVT Nyheter Dalarna, says that the decision comes unexpectedly because Skistar has long claimed that they will continue to stay open and that the company meets all safety criteria to be able to stay open.
– But it probably comes after heavy pressure, as the Public Health Agency, the National Board of Health and Welfare and political parties have tried to get the facilities themselves to make this decision voluntarily.
”Have a long winter season”
Skistar writes that the decision to close will have an effect on the full-year results, but to what extent it has not yet been analyzed.
– In terms of tourism, the ski industry has had a long season that has rolled on as usual, but Easter week is a major source of income and the week of the year when there are the most people in the mountain area. It has already gone down on a voluntary basis and it was expected that it would be a bad end to the season. But now it will come to a complete halt, says Patrik Quicker.
While there is disappointment over lost income and cancelled events at the ski resorts, the vast majority have wanted tourists to stay away, says Patrik Quicker.
– The local population, who are not closely tied to the ski industry, did not want tourists to come here at Easter.
Skistar's facilities in the Norwegian ski resorts of Trysil and Hemsedal have been closed since March 12.
Source: svt.se
