Industry News
A ski-run was opened in the middle of Milan, Italy, as part of a promotion for Tourism Switzerland. The synthetic ski run was opened on Monday, November 7, 2022, as part of the Swiss Winter Village on the Piazza Gae Aulenti, which is located near the Milan Garibaldi train station and about 1.7 miles north of the famous Duomo or the Scala Opera in downtown Milan.
As part of the grand opening, Italian celebrities such as former race skier Giorgio Rocca and Michelle Hunziker were in attendance. Giorgio Rocca was an Italian Alpine ski racer who competed from 1993-2010. He won a total of 11 World Cups and competed in two Olympics. He now operates several ski racing schools in Crans-Montana and St. Moritz, Switzerland, as well as Livigno and Cervinia, Italy. He performed a ski demonstration together with Michelle Hunziker, who was clad in the new Swiss race dress. Ms. Hunziker used to be married to Italian rock star Eros Ramazotti and more recently Tomaso Trussardi of the Italian fashion house Trussardi. Michelle Hunziker is the face of Tourism Switzerland in Italy, as she is very well known in that country. She hails from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, making her a native Italian speaker.
The Swiss Winter Village was opened in partnership with Andermatt, St. Moritz, the Bernina Express train, and the Bernese region in Switzerland. Other sponsors of the pop-up village include ski manufacturer Stöckli and sports clothing manufacturer Mammut. The winter village will be open until November 27, when, coincidentally, several ski areas in the St. Moritz ski region open.
The Swiss ski resorts of St. Moritz or Andermatt are only about 2.5 hours from Milan and are very popular with Italians, especially the well-heeled Milanese high society. Many Italian celebrities and millionaires have ski homes in the St. Moritz region, like Donatella Versace or Giorgio Armani.
