A strong partnership to develop and promote the Swiss Alps

Interhome the Swiss self-catered accommodation specialist, whose head-office is in Glattbrug, Zurich, together with the Swiss investment fund Mountain Resort Real Estate Fund (SICAV), based in Sion, Valais, embark on a new joint-venture. In the next 10 years this partnership will develop at least 10 new holiday residences in the Swiss Alps, financed and managed by the investment fund, while the commercialisation and management on the national and international market of the complete portfolio of holiday residences, comprising approximately 4500 beds, under the brand Swiss Peak Resorts, will be handled exclusively by Interhome.

Demand for high quality, good-value, self-catered accommodation in Swiss resorts is very high. Philippe Lathion’s vision, as catalyst and CEO of Mountain Resort Real Estate Fund (SICAV), is to develop a sustainable portfolio of functional holiday residences, across numerous well-known and up-and-coming Swiss ski resorts, that would be built close to the lifts and ski runs; a vision that has already born fruit. He has managed with the help of institutional investors to raise over 60M CHF for the first two projects which will be built in Vercorin and Morgins in the Valais. The Mountain Resort Real Estate Fund (SICAV) will retain ownership of the Swiss Peak Resorts estate. Interhome, the Swiss self-catering accommodation specialist has been given the exclusive distribution and management rights across all markets.

The construction of these first 2 residences in the Valais, in the resorts of Vercorin (470 beds) and Morgins (500 beds), will start in the spring of this year. The delivery of the finished residences comprising 2 to 4 buildings each, and the arrival of first guests, is expected in December 2017.

All of these holiday residences will be recognizable by their style, blending wood and stonework to create a cosy functional whole. Their implantation in resort will complement the existing offering and in no way compete against existing infrastructures. Building work will be completed by local companies. Supervision of the construction has been delegated by Mountain Resort Real Estate Fund (SICAV), a fund controlled and authorised by the FINMA(Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) in 2014, to the company GEFISWISS SA, from Lausanne.

These two pilot projects for high-end holiday residences in two Valaisain resorts; Vercorin just above Sierre for the first, and Morgins for the second, in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, a Franco/Swiss ski area that is the largest in the world, mark the start of an innovative collaboration. Eight other Swiss Peak Resorts projects will follow across the Swiss alpine arc – In the Valais, in the Bernese Oberland, in the Tessin and in the Grisons.

Interhome AG is specialised in the rental of holiday apartments, chalets and houses with over 33,000 properties spread across 31 countries. 620,000 holiday makers enjoyed the excellent service in 2015, achieving a turnover of around 180 million Swiss francs. Interhome AG, whose head office is in Glattbrug, Zurich, is a 100% owned subsidiary of Hotelplan Holding AG, who in turn is 100% owned by the Migros Group, the largest retail organisation in Switzerland, also domiciled in Zurich.

Mountain Resort Real Estate Fund (SICAV), is a Swiss unit trust investment fund, registered at the Sion chamber of commerce. It is subject to the control of the FINMA, the Swiss Financial Supervisory Authority, that authorised its creation in 2014. It is the first unit trust fund whose investment policy is concentrated exclusively on the construction and ownership of holiday residences across the Swiss Alps.