GENEVA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Swiss ski lift operators reported Friday that large increase has been registered in the number of passengers at the start of the 2017-2018 season after years of tough time for the industry.

From the start of the winter season, which begins in early November for some high-altitude resorts, to the end of December 2017, 36.4 percent more visitors bought ski lift passes in Swiss resorts compared to the same period last year.

The Swiss Cable Car Association said in a statement that this represents 13.6 percent more ski lift passengers than the average for the past five years.

The increase is partly thanks to the abundant snow that fell in November and December, the Swiss Cable Car Association said.

Early snowfall, even at low-altitude resorts, created excellent condition for pistes, which along with a fortunate alignment of public holidays helped the recovery after several consecutive poor winters.

Spectacular increases were even observed at resorts in lower alpine regions. Canton Valais recorded an 11.8 percent increase, while Graubunden rose by 15.6 percent.

Lift traffic increased almost fourfold in the Vaud and Fribourg Alps, while in canton Ticino it increased tenfold.

And the number of visitors to the Bernese Oberland region increased by 61.4 percent.

"A good foundation has been laid for the current season," said Dominique de Buman, president of the Swiss Cable Car Association.

Lift operators earn around one-fifth of their annual turnover during the two weeks around Christmas and the New Year, he noted.

Over the past nine seasons, the number of winter skier days in Switzerland has fallen steadily from 29.3 million to 21.2 million - the lowest level for over 25 years, Swissinfo reported.

This winter, ski resorts are expected to partly reverse this downhill trend using aggressive price strategies such as cut-price lift passes.