The ski season in Cortina has already begun: a couple of week in advance, the lovers of skiing holidays have already inaugurated the ski slopes.

On the 13rd of November the first ski lifts have been opened in Cortina and in other ski resorts, satisfying the tourists who are used to spend their winter weekends in Cortina to enjoy the magic of the snow on the Dolomites. The opening of the slopes was anticipated in comparison to the past, when the first ski lifts "came out of hibernation" only at the end of November, but thanks to October snowfalls and the work of the people who have shot artificial snow on the slopes through snow cannons, the aficionados of the pearl of Dolomites had the possibility to inaugurate the slopes before the middle of the month. The first ski lifts opened in Faloria, and they did not remain open only in the weekend, as happened in the past, but the whole week. In addition to Cortina, many other ski resorts have taken advantage from October snowfalls, and from Bormia to Solda, from Madesimo to Cervinia, the slopes have been inaugurated in advance.

Good news for the hoteliers and the real estate agents of Cortina and of many other mountain villages, which are now ready to welcome the tourists that prefer skiing holidays to travels to some exotic and hot destinations. The real estate agencies assert that the reservations for Christmas holidays are very promising, especially for those cities that have been able to diversify their offer to give the tourists much more than slopes and ski lifts. The winter tourists of 2000, indeed, do not only want to have fun on the slopes, they expect something more from their holidays. Even alpine skiing seems to be less popular, to the benefit of many other activities, like snowboard and freestyle, but also snowshoes walks, winter trekking, night ski and snow golf. Offering only alpine ski is not sufficient to keep pace with the times: the resorts that are already achieving good results, indeed, are those who are actualized and diversified: in addition to Cortina, the zones of Courmayeur and Cervinia stand out for a variety of services which can attract different types of tourists, who have different interests and expectations. The strengths of these resorts, in addition to a reputation gained over time, are the diversity of the slopes, which are fit for different activities, and nightlights, which allow tourist to ski also when it gets dark, as well as many other features that do not belong to the idea of skiing holidays tout court. When we speak about Cortina, don’t you think about trendy restaurants and famous shops that give tourists the possibility to go shopping or at least window-shopping? This is also part of the fascination of Cortina and of other ski resorts which are notably popular, and this is also what tourists expect from their stay in one of these resorts.

Other cities and villages are specializes in wellness or gastronomy; what is certain is that tourists want more, and although nature gives us a hand with heavy and anticipated snowfalls, snow alone is not sufficient anymore.