Switzerland is one of the most well known ski destinations in the World. Alpine Skiing has long been the most favoured winter sport discipline.

Continuous efforts from the regional ski-resorts to extend snowmaking facilities, and improve ski-lift infrastructure are resulting in a large number of skiers visiting Switzerland.  As per current trends, more than 20 million skiers visit Switzerland every year.  During the 2015 16 winters, total number of skiers was recorded at about 27.5 million in 194 ski areas.  Among the total number of skiers almost 24.5 million were international visitors.

There are some key factors that are driving the industry:

• Significant capital investment in the sector over the years has been aiding the ski and other winter sports markets in some forward thinking resorts in Switzerland.
• Some places in Switzerland with a very consistent snow record, as per several of the first investment targets, e.g. the Saas Valley, are gaining much popularity.
• Global Warming is increasingly having an effect on the length of the ski season. The 2016/17 season being an example of the effect of global warming on the resorts located at lower altitude. As of the 5th January many resorts remain closed due to a lack of/ no snow. It is only the destinations that are at high altitude and have advanced snow making equipment that will be able to provide a credible product going forwards.  The ski season in Europe historically started at the beginning of December. The snow over the last few seasons has not arrived until mid-January making the season on average 5 weeks shorter than 10-15 years ago. This has led to a 25% reduction in the viable ski season for many resorts located below 1200 metres.
• The Fund’s identified targets will be year round destinations, and not only seasonal in their offerings.
• Significant investment for expansion and the upgrading of lift and cable car infrastructure is creating increased visitor numbers from across the globe.
• Multibillion CHF investment by the Government improving road and rail links is helping in connecting the destination resorts located in higher altitude with other places of the country and adjacent countries in Europe
• In February 2017 Swiss Air is commencing daily flights from London City airport to Sion. This will make resorts like found in the canton of Valais (as is the Saas Valley) more attractive to U.K. tourists with a reduced journey time from airport to resort from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes.
• The reputation of Switzerland as one of the best and most exclusive tourist destinations in the world continues to grow year after year.

Italy is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and has a huge potential for foreign investment in the hospitality and tourism sector.

The hospitality market in Italy is ranked first in Europe per number of guests/occupants per rooms and ranking second per night stays. Inbound tourism is flourishing in Italy and the investment in hotel industry increased dramatically in 2016. Compared to 2015, investment in hotel industry increased by 135%. In terms of number of rooms offered, Italy ranks fourth in the world, after the US, China and Japan and there are more than 210,000 hotels and similar accommodation locations with more than 6.6 million rooms.

The Italian government provides various benefits to the foreign investor in terms of tax benefits, investment loans at a discounted interest rate and other financial aids. One of the incentive measures also provided by the Italian Government to foreign investors is that, depending on the geographical location, foreign investors can avail investment grants of up to 65% on the investment invested in
acquiring fixed assets. With these types of favourable governmental policies, acquiring carefully chosen portfolio assets in Italy has the potential to yield above-market profitable returns on their investments.