Jubil

In what regions are you particularly
strong?
In Latin America, where there is
gratifying market development. We
also have our own subsidiary in
Argentina. We can hold our heads
up high in Europe - not only in our
domestic market, Switzerland, but
also in places such as Luxembourg
where you would normally not expect
to find much demand for ropeways.
In addition, the Asian market
is developing, and in North America
we also see good potential.
What are your advantages over your
direct competitors?
Today, it is possible for us to virtually
look them right in the eye, ever
since we managed to gain the highly
sought-after European CE certification,
which is so vital for future market
development. With it, we have finally
left the niche in which we were
forced to build smaller systems. And
when a direct bidding competition is
required, we have no need to hide
when it comes to expertise, innovation
or price. Quite the opposite in
«We have very good cards as a smaller
competitor with streamlined structures.»
fact: Particularly with more complex
solutions that deviate from the standard,
we have very good cards as a
smaller competitor with streamlined
structures.
How do you assess the future development
of the market?
There is great potential, both for
new ropeways and also for the modernisation
of existing systems. In
the Alpine region, the need for restructuring
is considerable, and the
trend is increasingly moving in the
direction of adventure trips. This
means that it is no longer just about
carrying the passenger comfortably
and quickly up the mountain but
rather about turning the trip itself
into an event. Today, a lot is possible
from a technical perspective. We
played that through in a project study
for a mountain in Central Switzerland.
The results point in a new
direction. There are many options,
from gondolas in the form of chalets
to two-storey ones that are open at
the top and have a glass bottom and
a correspondingly spectacular view.
This means that many mountain
railways could play an additional
trump card in the difficult summer
season.
In other regions of the world, the
markets still hold an enormous potential
for new systems. Many attractive
mountain regions are hardly
developed in the emerging countries
in Latin America. This also applies
to Asia. And ropeways can also be
constructed in tropical rainforest,
such as in Costa Rica, where they
are a highly appealing tourist attraction.
Where are you in the market for
amusement park systems?
We have more rivals there, and some
of them are highly specialised. As a
ropeway manufacturer, we bring
decisive technical know-how that
not everybody can offer in this form.
And we solve very complex tasks,
such as the construction of the onekilometre
long wild water ride in
Shengzhen near Hong Kong. It is the
biggest of its kind in the world. The
1
Interview