Raising the resort’s global profile
Sophisticated, vibrant and chic, St Moritz is one of the world’s best-known ski resorts. Frequented by celebrities, artists and aristocrats, it is home to gourmet restaurants, grand hotels, luxury boutiques and high-end art galleries. Originally a spa town, it became popular with British thrill-seekers in the second half of the 19th century with the creation of the world-famous Cresta Run, followed by the Bob Run in 1904, establishing its reputation as the birthplace of winter sports tourism.
St Moritz saw its stature as the Alps’ premier resort grow as a result of hosting the Olympic Winter Games for the first time in 1928. The Games were such a resounding success – despite challenging and unexpectedly warm temperatures – that the town was entrusted with hosting the Games again 20 years later, when it became the only resort in the world to have hosted the Games twice.
Though the second of those Games received far more in the way of global media coverage, thanks to advances in radio communication, St Moritz 1928 was still covered by 330 accredited journalists from 27 countries. The copy they produced enhanced the international reputations of St Moritz and Switzerland as winter sports destinations, and contributed to them becoming synonymous with the Olympic Movement.