How it all started

[Music] Women donning tightly-laced corsets to accent their wasp wastes. Men sporting 12 moustaches and tall top hats. That was typical for the Bell epoch. The time between the 19th and 20th centuries, tourism in the Alps experienced the first boom at that time and grand hotels began popping up everywhere. One of the first in Switzerland was the grand hotel Bellevue in Andermat. Evening's featured lavish parties with beautifully attired guests from around the world. The band played fiery tangos, earthy polkas, and romantic waltzes. Generally, one can say that the mood at that time was relaxed and carefree. With this image of time's past, I would like to welcome you to the Andermat Swiss Alps company podcast. Here is where we put our promises to the test. Today's topic is how Andermat made its way back to the Champions League of Tourism after nearly 100 years. A promise that Sami Soweris made more than 15 years ago. [Music] The grand hotel Bellevue in Andermat opened in 1872 as one of the first grand hotels in the Alps. It stood precisely where the five-star Deluxe Hotel, the Chedi Andermat, stands today, or rather the other way around. With a nod to Times Past, with plenty of glamour and pomp, the Chedi Andermat was built precisely where illustrious personalities once spent their holidays in the mountains. But the glamorous life came to an abrupt end when the military arrived on the scene. It recognised that Andermat was the perfect location for the defence of Switzerland. Women in elegant dresses had to give way to men in military uniforms. And panoramic picnic spots became restricted military zones. The intensive military presence lasted about 100 years, bringing time in Andermat and its development to a sudden standstill. Although Switzerland's first ski lift went into operation on Netshin in 1937, Andermat could no longer claim to be a tourist destination. But at the start of the new millennium, the military sharply reduced its activities in the Andermat area. This resulted in the loss of many jobs, and Andermat was faced with the task of reinventing itself again. This was not easy, given that the tourism heyday was long past, and even the memories of it had faded. More and more residents were forced to leave the beautiful high valley, because their simply was not enough work. The former Cantinal councillor and current state councillor, Joseph Didley, recalls that time. The locals had moved away. There was a feeling of hopelessness, no investors. The army massively cut back the number of stationed troops. They were still here, but just a lot fewer of them. There were no jobs or apprenticeships for young people and so on. Everyone was sort of hoping that a miracle would occur. Someone even had the idea of building a swimming pool where the Bellevue once stood, in order to make Andermat more attractive, but all the investors bolted. The situation was truly dramatic. The aim wasn't to rescue Andermat. We knew Andermat had potential, scenically, the geographic location, and also the touristic underdevelopment. Instead, the aim was to awaken Andermat from its slumber. Andermat is beautifully situated, and there are development opportunities everywhere you look. It was inexplicable to me why no one had seen the tourism potential here, and we had always hoped to find someone who was willing to invest. And of course, another aspect was that the army had a leading role, since it was tasked with national defence. That made touristic development impossible. But then fate had a turn in store that no one had foreseen. By coincidence, Joseph Didley and Raymond Kunz, the former Swiss ambassador in Cairo, were seated next to each other at an event. On that game-changing evening, they struck up a discussion and set the course for Andermat. The tourfile had the grosser ol' experience. And then the tourfile had the grosser ol' experience, and the tourfile had the grosser ol' experience. And then the tourfile had the grosser ol' experience. If you're looking for an investor, I might know one, but he's from Egypt, whether that will suit the locals, that's something you will all now have to consider. Then we parted our ways after dinner, but a few days later he phoned me at my office in Bern. Listen, we've given it some thought. We're going to try it. Can you get in touch with Samisawaris and ask him whether he's interested? I did just that. Gladly. I asked him whether he had heard of Andamatt, and he said no. And then I wanted to know whether he had heard of the Gotard. And he said, of course, Gotard is the heart of Switzerland. Would you be interested in investing there? They're looking for an investor. In the mountains. Okay, but how far is it from Milan? About two hours by car. And from Zurich. About the same. The ideal. Milan has about two million inhabitants and Zurich half a million. That means a lot of potential customers. Then he asked, is there an airport nearby that I could buy? Yes, there is Ambri Piotta, a military airport. But I'll have to check whether it's for sale. He thought about it for a moment, and said, "Rimon, I'll come." And so it came to pass that Sami Soweris was invited to Andamatt. Even today, people talk about how he flew over the Urson Valley by helicopter and how enthusiastic he was about this patch of Switzerland. But just who was this saviour from the Levant? Sami Soweris was born in Egypt in 1957 as the second son of a coptic family. After leaving school, he studied industrial engineering at Technischer Universitat Berlin. In 1980, the graduate engineer formed his first company, the National Marine Boat Factory. It built fiberglass boats and floating jetty's. Nine years later, his career took an entirely different turn. He formed what is now known as the Erascom development holding and began building the Lagoon city of El Guna on the Red Sea. The Erascom development holding now operates 14 holiday destinations on three continents. So this successful inventor and visionary was invited to Andamatt by the Uri government. He was impressed by the rugged mountains on the edge of the open high valley. At the same time, it was incomprehensible to him that no one had yet discovered the potential of the Urson Valley. Back then, I didn't participate as an investor, but as an advisor, I gave them the complete work plan for how to do something like that. But it was a little too big for them and they weren't sure how to make it happen. I didn't hear anything for a few months and then they got back to me and asked whether I myself might not be interested in doing the project I had described. I immediately said yes. I was convinced the plan would be a success. What's more, this plan hasn't changed at all. And 16 years later, it is still exactly the one I had proposed back then. Everything suggested that this location could be turned into a super destination. It would take a lot of work, but that didn't mean that it wasn't feasible. It simply meant that the task was very big. The path from vision to realization involved many hours of work and negotiations. First, Sami Soweris wanted to be certain that he had the support of the citizenry. At an informational event, he took questions from citizens. His charisma and perfect command of German certainly also helped to gain acceptance for his vision. An international architecture competition was then announced in order to put a face to the vision. First, a master plan was drawn up, namely for the entire area where the military garrison used to be. But in addition to that, all individual buildings and hotels also had to be planned. Current state councillor Heidi Segrargan was part of the Cantinal Project Group at that time and paved the way for this construction work to receive planning permission. Everyone agreed that an investor like Sammy Sagueris was a godsend, but it was of course only the start of many discussions. The structural planning procedure is a Cantinal procedure that spells out for municipalities what they're allowed to build and where they're allowed to build it. A modification to the structural plan always requires the approval of the federal council. For that reason we made sure that all federal offices were involved from the outset. A structural plan also has to list all actors and stakeholders such as environmental associations, municipalities, farmers and so on. The structural plan helps to create a generous overview. Another thing we did which was truly exceptional, we said to ourselves, "If we're modifying the structural plan, then let's also do a sustainability study. That way we'll be able to gauge what the impact will be on the environment, on the economy and on society. Because we included all stakeholder groups, we were able to prepare the government well and also get them on board." Because the golf course took up a great deal of space, it was necessary to negotiate with the local farmers. That didn't proceed quite so successfully as hoped. It even went so far that the farmers refused to speak with the government. In order to diffuse this situation, Heidi Zegragan organized a meeting, but aside from the mayor, no one showed up. After she found out that all of them were at the tell-in in Andermat, she marched right over to the restaurant. I stomped from the schoolhouse to the tell-in. The mayor behind me mumbling the whole time, "You can't do this." But in the canton of Yuri, I go into whatever ins I want. So I arrived at the tell-in. Folk music was playing and the mood was light-hearted. I could tell that even from the outside. But when I entered the inn, the music stopped and everyone looked at me, probably wondering what I was doing there. I spotted an empty chair in the corner. I grabbed it, took it over to the table, set it down next to a farmer, the one with the biggest amount of land, and told him he should make room for me. He slid over a bit, and they sat down a coffee with snaps in front of me which they had all been drinking. Actually, I don't care for it, but I drank it anyway. And then we started talking. They told me in no uncertain terms what they wanted and where the problems were. Although we didn't find a solution that evening, we were at least talking again. That made it possible for the negotiations to resume. Many meetings followed, including with Sammy Soweris until a solution was found. One piece of the puzzle after another found its way to the right place. The citizens were also behind the plan. In a referendum, 96% voted in favor of the construction project. In 2009, Sammy Soweris was able to get started. Four years after his first visit. The master plan calls for the construction of 42 apartment buildings and five hotels on the former garrison site. This new neighbourhood also needed a name. A citizen's contest provided a remedy here as well. It was decided that the name should be "Andermat Rus". At the beginning, much of Switzerland took a very skeptical view of the mega project. There were musings in the media about whether it would ever come to fruition. But Sammy Soweris was undeterred. He had a very unconventional recipe for success. I believe that you have to be persistent and think in the long term. And never look down. If you're walking on a tightrope, you can't look down, because otherwise you'll become afraid and fall. Luck has a lot to do with it. Luck, or you can also say, if God bestows it on you. Much of it had nothing to do with your own performance, your intelligence, or your hard work. That's why I think that 60% of success is luck. You meet with success only if you're at the right place, at the right time, and with the right idea. You can take credit for the good idea, because you came up with it. But forget about it if you have the best idea, at the wrong place. And those are important prerequisites that you simply get as a gift. Only then do other aspects come into play that are also important. For example, you can't be dumb, but you don't need to be a genius either. And the same goes for persistence, long-term thinking, and lots of courage. Otherwise, it won't work out. The work, when you include luck, the idea, and also persistence, it amounts to 12%. But it's important not to forget the more you work, the more you can do with your luck. Therefore, it's up to each individual, whether he or she wants to achieve a lot, to make a lot of money, or simply enough in order to do something with it. In late 2018, the tide suddenly turned. The Chedi-Undermatt had been in operation for five years at that point. Then, the Radisson-Blue Hotel-Ruson opened in Andermatt-Rus, giving rise to the first village square, Piazza-Gottardo, and that brought life to Andermatt-Rus. Back then, eight apartment buildings had been completed and occupied, and shops and restaurants had opened on the Piazza. Right on time for the winter season, the ski area connection was also completed. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Andermatt was back on its feet, heralding a new era of tourism. The objective of the year-round destination, the prime Alpine destination, was a giant step closer. The next milestones also garnered attention. In June 2019, the Berlin Philharmonic inaugurated the new concert hall. Critics were delighted by the state of the Art Acoustics and the large window facade. From that point on, developments happened in rapid succession. The following December saw the opening of two Gorme restaurants, which have since been awarded Michelin stars and Gormelio points, on Goodsch at 2,340 metres above sea level. In the spring of 2020, construction started on six further apartment buildings. The highlights came non-stop. There are 18 apartment buildings today, and all units have been sold and handed over to the owners. Four buildings are under construction, and six additional ones will be launched this year. The planning for the next hotel has also been completed. For 100 years, Andematt was predominated by men in military uniforms, but today, it's possible again to celebrate balls that are just as beautiful as those during the days of the Bellypoc. Andematt is back on the Tourism Map. That was today's Andematt Swiss Alps Company podcast. If you're interested in learning how the destination in the heart of Switzerland is continuing to develop and would like to hear our stories, then please subscribe to us. You can also leave a rating if you liked this podcast. If you have a topic that you're particularly interested in, write about it in the comments, or send an email to [email protected]. We look forward to your input. In the next episode, we'll talk about the International Architecture Competition, the Master Plan, the apartment houses, hotels and villas. We're signing off for today now, but we'd be delighted if you tuned in again next time. Goodbye for now. (gentle music)