In recent years, mountain policies have gradually shifted their focus: no longer growth by adding new infrastructure, but the full and smart use of existing facilities. In a context marked by rising costs, environmental constraints, and mature systems, sustainability increasingly depends on the ability to intensify use, broaden the group of beneficiaries, and increase the social value of structures that are already in place.
By Luciano Malfer, Research and Family Development Manager, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK)
This is the logic of the saturation economy: not creating new services or new infrastructure, but using more intensively and more inclusively what already works, without significantly increasing variable costs. In this framework, the key lever becomes the ability to act on demand and to strengthen the link between facilities, residents, and local communities through targeted access policies. A clear example is Ski Family, an initiative promoted in Trentino (Italy), which allows underage children to ski for free when accompanied by an adult. The scheme values extended family networks and significantly broadens the group of users.
Developed through a public–private co-design approach, the initiative strengthens the role of the mountains as an educational community, promoting shared and intergenerational experiences and an early, conscious relationship with the Alpine environment. In this way, accessibility becomes a strategic lever for territorial attractiveness, making skiing more inclusive without the need for new infrastructure.
The model fully fits within the saturation economy, increasing the use of existing ski lifts and generating economic and social value without raising structural costs.
Alongside Ski Family, some ski resorts have also experimented with additional schemes dedicated to local residents, reinforcing the idea that accessibility is not only a social measure, but also a lever for economic and territorial sustainability.
To understand how these tools work in everyday practice, I use a form of territorial storytelling that compares two experiences in Trentino, Italy—different but complementary: Pejo and Passo del Brocon.
Two ski lift systems, two different contexts, but the same direction: making the mountains more accessible, more used, and more sustainable. This is done not by expanding the offer, but by making smarter and fuller use of existing infrastructure. This approach increases the use of facilities, their social value, and the overall attractiveness of the area, while strengthening the link between ski lifts, local communities, and new users.
A short methodological note at the end highlights why this practice is important, focusing on sustainability, replicability, and cooperation at the local level.
Interview with Simone Pegolotti, Director of Pejo Funivie Spa (Trentino, Italy)
Ski Family allows parents or grandparents to ski for free with their underage children or grandchildren. What kind of impact has this scheme had on the use of the ski lifts and on the relationship between Pejo and local families?
From Pejo’s point of view, Ski Family first of all meant a natural expansion of the audience. Free access for underage children removed an economic barrier that often limited how often families came, making it easier to decide to spend a day in the snow, even without much planning. This had a positive effect on the continuity of attendance, especially during the mid-season periods.
The most important effect, however, was on the relationship with the local community. Ski Family strengthened the idea that ski lifts are not only a tourist facility, but also a service for the local area. The presence of grandparents skiing with their grandchildren, in particular, brought back a more family-oriented and intergenerational dimension to the mountains, making snow activities part of everyday life in the valley.
From your point of view, initiatives like Ski Family help to make better use of existing ski lifts, bringing young people into skiing earlier and widening the base of users. Is this a real lever for sustainability for a resort like Pejo?
Yes, because Ski Family (https://www.skifamilyintrentino.it) works directly on demand, not on supply. Pejo’s ski lifts are mature infrastructure: the challenge is not to build more, but to make them work better and for a longer time. Encouraging access for children means investing in future demand and creating an early connection with skiing and with the territory.
In this sense, sustainability is not only economic but also cultural. A child who learns to ski in Pejo, together with parents or grandparents, is unlikely to see the mountains as something distant or elitist. This helps keep the use of the ski lifts alive over time, without relying on forced growth models.
In Pejo you have also introduced a special offer for residents of Trentino: €40 for ski lifts plus a meal. How important is it to combine skiing and food to help people stay longer and to strengthen the link with those who live in the valley all year round?
The €40 ski lifts + meal offer comes from the idea that today it is not enough to sell only a ski pass. People want a complete and easy experience. Combining skiing and food increases the value of the day without increasing the percieved cost, and makes it easier to choose the mountains even for a short time.
For local residents, this is not a tourist offer, but something made for people who live in the area. It helps people stay longer, supports several local businesses, and builds a more stable and sustainable way of using the ski area. The offer is explained on the official Pejo website: https://www.visitvaldipejo.it/it/scopri/skiarea-pejo3000/Saturday%20Ski.
Interview with Sergio Paterno, President of Funivie Lagorai Spa (Trentino, Italy)
Funivie Lagorai has long presented itself as a family-friendly destination. What goals did you set by joining Ski Family, and what kind of visitors did you reach?
The main goal was to make access to the mountains easier for families, making the snow experience more natural and less complicated from both an organisational and economic point of view. Ski Family fits perfectly with this vision, because it allows one adult to ski with children or grandchildren without having to pay extra costs for each child.
The audience reached is very diverse: local families, families who visit different ski areas, and grandparents skiing with their grandchildren. This has helped Passo Brocon position itself as a welcoming place, where the mountains are not only about sports performance, but also about shared experiences.
This scheme allows parents or grandparents and children to access the ski lifts together and also has a strong educational and intergenerational value. How important is this aspect in your idea of the mountains and winter tourism?
It is very important. When adults and children use the ski lifts together, skiing becomes more careful and better organised. Above all, it brings back an educational side of skiing, where adults guide, teach, and share the experience instead of leaving everything to others. The presence of grandparents is a great added value. They not only help families take part, but also pass on to their grandchildren a deeper relationship with the mountains, a slower sense of time, and respect for the environment. This is a form of informal welfare that Ski Family recognises and supports in a very practical way.
At Passo Brocon you have developed family holiday packages that combine accommodation, ski passes, and services. How important is it to build integrated offers to make the mountains more accessible and to strengthen the attractiveness of a resort like yours?
Family holiday packages come from the idea that, for families, choosing the mountains depends more and more on simple and clear offers. Combining accommodation, skiing, and services reduces organisational complexity and makes the experience more accessible, especially for those travelling with children. In this way, the mountains become a natural choice, not a complex experience or something for only a few people.
For a company like Funivie Lagorai S.p.A., these packages help increase the length of stay and spread value across different local actors, from ski lifts to accommodation providers. This model strengthens the overall attractiveness of the destination and supports a more stable and sustainable way of using the area, able to attract families looking for welcoming, accessible, and people-friendly mountains. The family packages are presented on the official website: https://www.skilagorai.it/pacchetti-vacanza-family/
The saturation economy represents a change of approach for mature mountain systems. In this model, the main asset to value is the ski lifts that are already in operation. These are working infrastructures, already paid for or largely amortised, whose fixed costs remain almost the same as the number of users increases. Sustainability therefore does not come from expanding the offer or building new ski lifts, but from increasing the number of users and how often the lifts are used, without a corresponding rise in variable costs.
In this context, the key lever is not supply but demand. Targeted access policies can reach latent demand, increasing both the frequency and the variety of use of existing ski lifts, without creating proportional cost increases. Saturating existing infrastructure thus becomes a tool for economic efficiency and, at the same time, for social inclusion. It helps strengthen the role of the mountains as a shared space for experience and informal learning, where families, children, and adults build relationships and skills.
A central element of this approach is territorial co-action between public authorities, ski lift operators, accommodation providers, and local services. Integrated offers make it possible to create clear and easy-to-understand products that increase length of stay and spread value across the whole local chain. In this way, the ski system becomes an educational community, where infrastructure, services, and people contribute together to the cultural, social, and environmental growth of the area.
The result is a win-win model, where all actors benefit from better use of what already exists. Ski lifts increase use and continuity over time; accommodation and food services attract additional flows and longer stays; families and residents access clearer and more sustainable offers; and local communities strengthen their link with local infrastructure and their educational role. In this way, the saturation of existing assets brings together economic sustainability, social value, and territorial attractiveness, without relying on growth by adding new infrastructure.