Due to enormous interest in ski passes, the online GOPASS sale was stopped in the resort of Jasná on Friday 3rd January at 10:00am. “The measure had to be taken to guarantee comfort and safety of clients in the resort as the optimum capacity was reached. Business is not the biggest priority in such case. Instead of skiers being pushed and shoved everywhere, we prefer less people and safer, more comfortable conditions. Even at the cost of a lower profit. At the moment there is more than 33km of ski pistes opened, which is the widest offer as for Slovakia. Clients who had bought ski passes online in advance could ski at the best prices. A limited number of ski passes was sold also in client centres in the resort,” said Martin Hloušek, the sales and marketing general manager of the Jasná resort.
Ideal sunny weather and the fact that it was Friday had attracted thousands of skiers and tourists from the very morning. The car parks in the resort were full before 9:00am.
By stopping the ski pass sale at the busiest hour, the importance of buying ski passes in advance was emphasised. “This means that clients who can plan their skiing adventures ahead have better prices and better conditions guaranteed,” explained Martin Hloušek.
“To guarantee comfort and safety for more skiers in Jasná, the infrastructure has to be improved, i.e. more car parks must be built, existing ski pistes need to be widened or new ones need to be created to offer more space. All this is a very long and difficult administrative process. However, we are not able to put it through and improve the quality of our infrastructure and services in Jasná due to various obstacles that we have to face. That is why we had to regulate the numbers of our clients by introducing flexible prices and once a certain capacity is reached, which was the case today, the online sale of ski passes has to be stopped,” said Matej Hulej, the resort general manager.
The stopped ski pass sale has a broader context for Bohuš Hlavatý, the TMR CEO: “There are no clear rules. There is no zonation that would define where nature needs to be protected and where tourism can be developed. We have to cope with a non transparent system of exceptions instead and these result in absurd situations such as ski pistes in zones of the highest nature protection level. We are often reminded to follow the example of Austria but if you look at the country, you will find clear rules there that specify what can be done and where. In Slovakia, potential development is not perceived rationally and pragmatically but rather chaotically, emotionally and sometimes also hypocritically,” added Bohuš Hlavatý.
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Tatry mountain resorts, a.s. (TMR) is the leader in tourism in Central and Eastern Europe; it owns or leases and operates attractive mountain resorts, amusement parks, golf resorts, restaurant facilities, sports services, stores and hotels. In the Low Tatras, Slovakia TMR owns and operates the resort Jasná Nízke Tatry and hotels Hotel Grand Jasná, Boutique Hotel Tri Studničky, Chalets Jasná De Luxe, Hotel Srdiečko, Hotel Pošta and Hotel Rotunda. TMR is also the owner of Aquapark Tatralandia, the largest Slovak water park with year-round operation, which besides water entertainment includes Tropical Paradise, a special tropical indoor hall with sea water, as well as Fun Park, and accommodation in bungalows and suites of Holiday Village Tatralandia. In Slovakia’s High Tatras TMR owns and operates the resort Vysoké Tatry with mountain areas of Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec, and Štrbské Pleso, which TMR co-manages. In the High Tatras TMR also owns hotels Grandhotel Praha Tatranská Lomnica, Grandhotel Starý Smokovec, Hotel FIS Štrbské Pleso and A night on Mt Lomnický štít. In Austria the Group owns and operates the alpine glacier resort, Mölltaler Gletscher, and its sister resort, Ankogel Mallnitz. In Czechia TMR also owns a minority share in Melida, a.s., which leases and operates the Špindlerův Mlýn resort. TMR also leases and operates the ski resort Ještěd, Golf & Ski Resort Ostravice and leases Kaskáda Golf Rezort Brno, where it runs a hotel, a restaurant and a conference centre. In Poland TMR owns and operates Szczyrk Mountain Resort and Legendia – Silesian Amusement Park (Śląskie Wesołe Miasteczko). Real estate projects are mostly focused on development, construction, and selling of apartments and non-residential premises and on hotel lease in the TMR resorts. By the end of 2018 around EUR 350 mil. had been invested into development and modernisation of TMR’s resorts. TMR shares are traded on three European stock exchanges – in Bratislava, Prague, and Warsaw.