bio > Remy Loisirs
Remy-Loisirs (LabelLeMontagne) started life as a family hotel business at la Bresse in the Vosges. The group still has over half of its turnover in the Vosges. The current president is Jean-Yves Remy, son of the founders. The family own 80% of the business with financiers Avenir Tourisme et Institut Lorrain de Participation holding the remainder.
In the 1960s the family built the ski resort of la Bresse with the aim of attracting clients to the family hotel and restaurant. Situated between 900 and 1350 meters snow canons were installed in 1987. However the almost total lack of snow in the winter of 1989-90, which also severely affected the Alps, nearly caused the business to go bankrupt. Turnover was just 20% of a normal year. The group decided to diversify geographically in order to leave it less exposed to snow conditions.
The first target was le Corbier but its overtures were rejected by the community. It finally settled on Saint-François Longchamp in the Maurienne valley as its first acquisition. In 1996, in partnership with the community, they bought the company that ran the resort which had gone bankrupt. In the first year they invested in snow making, two new drag lifts and a chair. This attracted the attention of Maeva that took over an existing apartment block. The resort expanded from 5000 beds, 80% of which were holiday homes which remained empty for much of the season to 9000 all in rented apartments. This resulted in a tripling of turnover over ten years.
In 2000 Remy took over Allos-La-Foux followed by Crest-Voland - Cohennoz in 2001, Orcieres-Merlette in 2002 and Pralognan la Vanoise in 2004. The group currently has 230 permanent staff and750 season workers.
Running mid-size resorts has disadvantages, investment in ski lifts is not as profitable and the group currently lacks synergy. The long term plan is to restructure the portfolio of resorts over the coming years. Remy believes quality is the key to attracting clients and wants to take over managing much of what had previously been the domain of Tour Operators with help on arrival and departure day with parking, welcome to apartments without queing for keys, delivery of lift passes and hire skis and providing interesting après ski activities. The aim is for a high level of service where, for example, someone can be reimbursed for time not skied on a weeks lift pass.
Website: http://www.labellemontagne.com/
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