On the one hand, the glittering fairy tale that the official reports tell about the Aosta Valley: that of a sold-out mountain, which breaks records and overwhelms every historical record. On the other, the reality of those who live and work on that mountain every day, far from the glossy spotlights of Courmayeur or the Matterhorn, along the side valleys where hospitality is still a matter of tradition and family.
Looking at it through the data, the region has never enjoyed such health: 2024 ended with an absolute record of over 1.3 million arrivals and more than four million presences, driven by foreign tourism (53% of the total) returning to full capacity and by a continually growing winter season. Yet, behind the golden surface of very large numbers, deep structural faults stir.
He knows something about it Elisa Palmitessathird generation of the Hotel Beau Sejour in Etroubles, in the Great Saint Bernard Valley, founded by the grandparents, carried on by the parents Helium And Monicaand today from the mother, from Elisa herself and her brother Alain. From its privileged observatory, the story of the boom gives way to unresolved issues: an insufficient transport network, local traditions often devalued to folklore and a profession that risks losing its intimate vocation, despite finding new oxygen in the training of the younger generations.
A three generation long tradition in Valle d’Aosta
The history of Beau Sejour begins far from Etroubles. The grandparents of Elisa they met in elementary school, then their paths diverged for years: he in France, she in Switzerland, both working in the restaurant industry. They found themselves on Swiss soil, and from there they decided to return to the Aosta Valley. In Etroubles, on the passage road that leads to the Gran San Bernardo pass, there stood a villa, already used as a small hotel by the previous owners. The grandparents took it over and enlarged it, starting their entrepreneurial adventure after years spent working in other people’s rooms and kitchens.
In 1998 the structure underwent a major renovation, which kept the hotel closed for two years: it reopened in 2000, in its renewed guise.
In 2007 the grandparents retired, leaving the management of the facility to their daughter Monica who, with her husband Elio, led it to its current form and substance.
In the future, it will be up to Elisa. «The idea is to continue the family hotel tradition», he says. And he adds: «This is a job that must be done with passion. If you don’t have it, there’s no point in trying, because you’ll never be able to do it in the same way as someone who has that fire inside.”
Training to manage a hotel
Elisadespite the family tradition, he did not attend hotel school. His parents had advised him against it, aware that it was a particularly demanding job. In high school, he had chosen the Technical Institute for Surveyors, with other goals in mind (at least at the time). The turning point came later, at university level, when his father found an advertisement in a newspaper for a new university school: the HIA, Hospitality Innovation Academy, based in Florence. The entrance test assessed academic progress and knowledge of languages. Elisa was admitted without hesitation.
The course included a year and a half in Florence, then an internship in Tuscany and a three-month master’s degree in Switzerland, in collaboration with the Florentine university. But at the end of those three months, the degree was not yet in his pocket: there were still six Swiss months to go. Elisa he then decided, to broaden his training on a practical level, to get involved with a four-month internship in Greece. At the end of the latter, in October 2025, he completed the missing period, graduating last March.
The opinion on HIA remains very positive, with some observations. «On certain points, in Switzerland, I was better prepared than my colleagues who had started directly there», she says. The course is management-oriented and covers reception, lounge, bar, booking and administration. To be honest, training on a purely culinary level is missing. What instead Elisa demands is that, at least, practical theory be taught with respect to certain fundamentals. In Switzerland, for example, he met students who didn’t know how to open a bottle of wine, without even knowing the theory behind it.
The issue, according to her, is cultural rather than educational. “Now there’s nothing obvious anymore,” he confesses. «When you hire someone new, you can’t take anything for granted. You have to follow it everywhere, even when welcoming customers.” Managing the relationship with the guest, the way to make him feel at ease, the tone to keep: all this is taken for granted in the study programs. And yet it isn’t at all.
What is missing from the Gran San Bernardo Valley
Etroubles is a village of around 500 inhabitants, on the route of the Via Francigena, a few kilometers from the tunnel and the Gran San Bernardo pass. The location is extremely strategic: an obligatory point of passage for those going to Switzerland. But it is also a valley that, unfortunately, struggles to retain visitors.
Elisa is direct: «We need to publicize the area more. I’m not just talking about Etroubles, but about the whole valley.” The traditions are numerous and authentic. The carnival, for example, is one of the most heartfelt events in the country. La Veillà, a festival that brings back to life the crafts and customs of the village of the past, interpreted by the inhabitants themselves, is an extraordinary event. Yet, as he observes Elisa«I don’t think everyone in Valle d’Aosta knows it either». Institutional communication exists, but is sadly discontinuous. «On the Valle d’Aosta Instagram page they put something every now and then, always the same things. There is never anything that encourages tourists to come, to get to know the valley more deeply.”
The transport problem is probably the most concrete. The valley is connected to Aosta via buses that run every two to three hours, with the last uphill ride as early as 5.30pm. For comparison, Cogne and Courmayeur (much further from the regional capital) have buses every ten or twenty minutes. This shortage has ripple effects. Not only are tourists without cars unable to move around independently, but even those who would like to work in the area give up. “The kids who come here don’t have a car or they don’t have accommodation,” he explains Elisa. «They feel locked in. And then they don’t stay, or they don’t come at all.”
How the world has changedhotel industry
On the customer front, the Hotel Beau Sejour reflects the general trends quite faithfully. In the summer it mainly hosts families: mainly Dutch and German, but also American and Australian, attracted by the Via Francigena and mountaineering routes. The Swiss and French are almost always passing through, and stop for a night or two. Italians, on the other hand, tend to stay longer: in July and August, there are still guests who stay for two weeks.
In winter, the profile changes: skiers, sports groups, schools (including foreign ones) arrive. German motorcyclists are a constant presence.
The hotel focuses on Aosta Valley cuisine as a distinctive element: typically local dishes such as Valpellinentze soup, polenta concia, carbonada. The “roe deer and polenta” sign on the side of the road has its weight in the seduction of those who pass by. But around Beau Sejour, in Etroubles, the commercial fabric is thinning. Restaurants closed, places that do not reopen. Guests ask for information about it, but often neither the owners nor the employees know the answer. «The guest would like to be part of what happens in the town», he observes Elisa. “When he sees that we don’t even know what happened to a nearby restaurant, he thinks we are disconnected from the local reality.”
There is also the issue of personnel. According to her, the hotel industry has become a temporary job: something you do to save some money, not a profession in which to grow. “You do it to earn enough to go on holiday or study,” he says. «There is no longer stability. And, very often, the passion is no longer there.” On the other hand, there is an increasingly demanding customer, often convinced that he deserves a five-star service even though he is not willing to pay the corresponding price. The Beau Sejour is a three-star hotel that offers, according to its future owner, four-star services. The gap between expectations and reality, however, is still difficult to bridge.
The regional data tell the story of a growing tourism in the Aosta Valley. But this growth is not very linear. It requires infrastructure, communication, training, continuity. And it requires people willing to make it a profession for life, not just for a season.
