Investigation
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Advised by a promoter, the ex-basketball star and businessman bought the Villard-Corrençon resort in 2019 in order to build residences there to welcome tourists all year round. But the obstacles are piling up and the business is slipping.
The winter season which is drawing to a close is a miracle for operators of French ski areas. After a year of total closure due to the health crisis, offset by generous state aid to the sector (7 billion euros in 2020), morale is high in the Alps, where attendance has exceeded levels pre-Covid. The return of tourists was boosted by favorable snow cover and sunshine, including in the mid-mountains. The Vercors massif is one of the lucky winners. On this plateau with slopes covered with fir trees, popular with hikers and cross-country skiing enthusiasts, news caused a stir in the spring of 2019: the Franco-American basketball star Tony Parker offered himself the resort of Villard-de- Lans-Corrençon-en-Vercors, in Isère.
Some 125 kilometers of slopes between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level, located half an hour from Grenoble, one hour from Lyon and Valence: the investment is surprising for the quadruple NBA champion who spent part of his life in shorts and jersey in Texas. And who had never been on skis before – his professional basketball contract forbade him to. But for three years, Parker’s project seems to have made little progress. However, the negotiations are going well to make viable the “vision” that he has acce…