The location of Morzine in the French Alps means that it can not spread out as easily as some other towns.
Yearly Population
The yearly population of Morzine is approximately 3,000. It has an area of about 44 kilometres squared.
The population of Avoriaz never stays completely stable for long. This is due to the seasonal nature of the town. In winter it becomes much busier but outside of the winter season the annual population of the town is only around 3,000 people. This means that, except for the winter months, Avoriaz can be quite quiet.
The Savoie Mont Blanc agency estimated, in 2015, that the total tourist capacity for Avoriaz is 17,446 tourists in 1,916 locations. These include numerous chalets (both catered and self catered), hotels (including a large Club Med presence) and a large number of self catered apartments
There are approximately two thousand permanent residents in the town and it becomes a great deal quieter outside of the winter months. It does get busier in summer but it is still a great deal quieter than in winter and also quieter than the neighbouring resorts of Morzine and Les Gets during summer.
Due to the quieter summer months it is the best time of year for building work to take place. This brings in new workers for the larger construction jobs. For example, when the two hundred million euro Aquariaz complex was built many skilled labourers were brought in for the huge project making the town significantly busier.
Seasonal population
However, these figures do not tell the full story. Every winter thousands of people come to Morzine to live for the winter season, from December to the end of April. A large proportion of these seasonal workers come from Britain but also from Holland, Scandinavia and as far away as Australia and New Zealand. The town tends to become a lot quieter during the months between winter and summer, before becoming busier again for the summer mountain biking season from June till September.
Visitor Numbers
In 2016 interest in Morzine went up by 16% making it the most popular ski destination for British holidaymakers. With approximately 900,000 British tourists taking ski holidays, and France being far and away the most popular destination (with about 87% of inquiries being about France) the influx of tourists has a huge impact on the number of people in Morzine every year.