Little snow falls, but public money rains down—how should tourism operators view the regional incentives?
Snow isn’t falling, but the money for the ski lifts arrives all the same. Environmental agencies explain how this year the snow water reserve of our non-Alpine mountains has worsened, with a deficit of 73 per cent—figures from the CIMA Foundation. How much money? Between 2025 and 2027, at least €12.5 million has come from the Apennine regions, all earmarked for supporting and upgrading ski facilities. Among those handing out the generous funding are Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Molise, Calabria, and Basilicata.
In Calabria, a full €1.29 million a year (in 2025 and 2026)—that is, over €2.5 million—was disbursed as a contribution to the management of the ski lifts in the resort of Lorica, in favour of Ferrovie della Calabria, the regional transport company. To give an example, according to Legambiente, at the Lorica ski resort “in the 2023-2024 season essentially only the conveyor-belt lift of a beginners’ slope remained operational, thanks to artificial snowmaking.”
In general, the scarcity and irregularity of natural snowfall have for years now affected the operation of ski facilities, with erratic openings and long interruptions during the winter season. Despite this, the government has provided €30 million from the Ministry of Tourism, earmarked for the Apennine ridge through the so-called “Apennines Decree.”
And yet, Legambiente’s Nevediversa 2025 report speaks plainly. In Italy, 265 ski facilities were decommissioned in 2025. The previous year’s report had already declared the end of the “white week” ski holiday in the Apennines, explaining that “the snow cover has never been as ephemeral as it is today in at least six hundred years, due to climate warming.”
Rethinking the mountain economy without thinking about climate change? How sustainable are these public investments? And can tour operators go along with such investments if the aid to mountain tourism is heading in the wrong direction? What tourist is interested in a ski lift if there’s no snow? Does artificial snow make sense?
In short, money is being invested in ski lifts just as snow becomes a rare resource—while an almost boundless tourism heritage awaits reappraisal and mountain municipalities face depopulation and a lack of facilities and services.
This is the paradox into which the Apennine regions are throwing themselves headlong, incentivising a tourism sector whose operators watch the mercury climb higher every winter as temperatures rise. The consequences of uncertain ski seasons are management costs that make the infrastructure unsustainable.
How Much It Costs to Keep Skiing Alive on the Apennines
Here are the other injections of euros for snow that isn’t there. The most recent measure was activated by Emilia-Romagna, which on 10 October announced a total investment of €2.5 million for the 2026-2027 two-year period, increasing already-planned resources by over €1.5 million. The funding concerns the upgrading and maintenance of the facilities at Lama Mocogno and Pievepelago, in the Modena area; Lagdei-Lago Santo and Schia-Monte Caio, in the Parma area; and Febbio, in the Reggio Emilia area. Also included is the Eremo di Montecopiolo, in the province of Rimini, where money is arriving to reactivate the ski tow—yet there are barely two small hotel businesses open in winter.
In Tuscany, in August 2026, the Region approved a call for €1.1 million in extraordinary contributions, earmarked for investments and running costs for the public ski lifts. But the Tiber basin recorded a snow water reserve deficit of 95 per cent in 2025—the worst result in the last thirteen years.
In Molise, the regional government recently allocated €330,000 to the extraordinary maintenance of the La Piana-Lavarelle chairlift at Campitello Matese, to prevent the facility from deteriorating.
Although snowfall continues to occur, environmental data show how the snow’s ability to remain on the ground has significantly diminished, with high temperatures capable of turning snowfall into rain and accelerating melting even after substantial snowfalls.
The answer, however, is not simply to abandon the facilities. The tourism economy must rethink them, making them usable in summer too—favouring a chairlift over a ski tow, facilitating hiking, cycle tourism, and practical access to the higher altitudes. And, above all, offering real resources to revitalise the mountain municipalities.
Andrea G. Cammarata