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The Méribel-Mottaret resort in Savoie’s Les Trois Vallées, France.
Although there are many factors that can still affect the skiing industry, the season looks bright, according to Simon McIntyre, general manager – ski at Iglu, Britain’s largest independent ski-travel agency. In the six weeks to mid-July, business was up 50% on last year, although cost-of-living fears were steering people towards less-expensive deals.
“There are emerging trends, likely driven by the economy, with customers looking to Austria and Italy for better value,” says Simon. “Over three months, Italy, Austria and Bulgaria’s share of enquiries rose 15% compared with 2019. Average prices for Italy are 10% less than in France.”
“The cost of living hasn’t affected demand, but skiers are looking for extra value, be that half-board hotels or all-inclusive holidays with lift passes.”
Iglu sells a large proportion of all UK ski holidays — including last-minute deals — and McIntyre foresees a “strong late market” due to economic factors. But he predicts greater availability given that spring ski trips were hard to come by last season due to rebookings from previous seasons. “By virtue of this not happening again there are more holidays on the market,” he says.
Scott Britton, head of commercial at Crystal Ski Holidays, agrees with the positive outlook. “We’ve been seeing record bookings,” he says. “With chalet availability harder to come by or more expensive, there’s an appetite for good hotels and larger self-catering apartments.
“Italy was a little more relaxed on entry requirements last season, and this led to a larger share of bookings then, and demand has continued.”
With economic problems yet to hit bookings and Brexit only affecting company logistics so far, the industry is in a good position to recover from two seasons of lost bookings.
“We’re 10% up on 2019/20, our last proper year, across all resorts,” says John Mansell, chief operating officer at Inghams, which includes family brand Esprit Ski. “Canada, one of our higher-end destinations, is up 100%.”
And there’s good news for last-minute bookers. “We’ve the ability to increase capacity, tapping into more flights and accommodation,” says John.
Despite the upturn in bookings, chalet availability isn’t what it was. Some tour companies still have reduced offerings in the wake of Covid-19 and Brexit.
The latter has hit the popular chalet-hotels run by British companies, which were largely staffed by young Brits taking a year out. EU legislation, which means UK citizens can now only visit for 90 days in every 180, has knocked this work on the head. Employing EU workers has also proved an expense that pushes up the cost of the holiday.
Also, post-Covid-19, some chalet owners have been reticent in releasing properties, meaning fewer options — and not quite as many late chalet deals as people might expect.
Nick Morgan, managing director of Le Ski, runs more than 30 chalets. He says that over half of Le Ski’s holidays were sold by mid-July. “Last season, many skiers were badly bitten by Covid-19 cancellations if they weren’t travelling with ATOL-bonded operators,” he explains. “This has led to a rush to secure a package, including flights and transfers, with the few remaining reputable chalet operators.”
The top end of the market is also bouncing back. Luxury specialist Oxford Ski Company reports average spend up almost 20% on pre-Covid-19 years. Although much of this might be due to increasing costs, Oxford’s founder and CEO, Rupert Longsdon, says people are still spending more. “When they came back from lockdown they’d forgotten just how much they enjoyed skiing and it’s now an investment in lifestyle.”
More people are also booking two holidays. “They’re doing their main trip with friends, maybe Christmas, then making time for a long weekend, perhaps without the children,” says Rupert.
Oxford has had no problems finding upmarket chalets, due to cancelled bookings by Russians in France and Switzerland.
Meriski has been offering luxury chalets in France’s Méribel resort since 1984. Chairman Colin Mathews has noticed a changing market. “If people are spending several million on [buying] a chalet they don’t necessarily need to rent it out, but they want to balance the figures,” he says. As a result, Meriski now works with owners who only want to release their chalet for a few weeks.
Lech Zürs, Austria has a biomass heating plant servicing local businesses.
Inghams — which has reported more people turning to higher, more snow-sure resorts at either end of the season — announced a sustainability programme in March 2022, offsetting flights and ground operations with carbon credits, and teaming up with Protect Our Winters UK to commit to a more sustainable future while supporting rewilding projects.
Several resorts are becoming carbon neutral or launching other schemes, but this largely generates goodwill, not bookings.
The most noticeable switch is from plane to train. Last season, French company Travelski Express took over the long-standing Eurostar Ski Train exclusively for its holidays. It carried more than 5,000 skiers last winter, and this season it has added three more resorts to its roster, including Courchevel and Val Thorens. An early Saturday departure from London St Pancras International and late Saturday return enables seven full days of skiing.
The price is a big draw — seven nights from £569 with lift pass, transfers and accommodation — but travellers also love the adventure of rail travel and the environmental benefit of a train carrying more than 600 skiers. “Each journey emits less than a quarter of the CO2 of a flight, and you’re straight into the heart of the Alps,” says Guillaume de Marcillac, Travelski’s CEO. “Every train can carry the equivalent of three plane loads and there’s no charge for skis or extra luggage.”
A DIY train holiday using regular services, however, with changes and individual transfers, can be a costly headache. But ski-train champion Snowcarbon is working with small operators to create bespoke packages.
Pierre et Vacances, the French apartment-rental giant, says its car-park bookings have risen, suggesting a switch to road travel. It’s also offering some Sunday changeovers to take advantage of cheaper flights.
But climate change continues to have an impact on the mountains themselves. The summer heatwave forced French resort Tignes to end glacier skiing 14 days into its six-week run. The resort used to open year-round, but now the future of all summer skiing is in question.
Elsewhere, the Marmolada glacier in Italy’s Dolomites partially collapsed due to the summer heat, killing a number of climbers. Late-season skiing is increasingly less reliable in lower resorts and operators are often now ending their season earlier.
Portes du Soleil, the French-Swiss ski region with over 400 miles of runs, is looking to the future. “Some resorts are having to adapt their opening and closing times,” says a spokesperson. Avoriaz, the highest Portes du Soleil resort, at 5,900ft, opens before and closes after the other 12 resorts. “We’ve had to accelerate the diversification of activities. If there’s no snow in December, resorts open their bike parks.
“People want high-altitude resorts, but there’ll be limits and a saturation of ski areas of altitude. There’ll be no more room on the slopes and prices will increase.”
Back country snowboarding on Berthoud Pass, Winter Park Colorado.
Ski resorts are confident of bouncing back from the more immediate problems of Covid-19. “During the second half of last season, we welcomed almost the same number of British skiers as before Covid,” says Alex Herrmann, director of Switzerland Tourism UK & Ireland. “Based on what we hear from tour operators, we expect this season to be even better.”
Martina Jamnig, of the Austrian National Tourist Office, agrees. “We’re optimistic and hope there won’t be any major restrictions,” she says. “According to tour operators the outlook is positive. There will also be more flights, including Ryanair from Stansted to Klagenfurt.”
Florent Hazucka at Courchevel, the chic French resort in the Trois Vallées — the world’s biggest ski area — is looking forward to welcoming the British again. “Last winter they were the resort’s leading clientele — despite the Christmas closure for them — far ahead of other nationalities,” he says. “That’s been the case for years, so no doubt they will come in great numbers this winter.”
The US, once a big draw for British skiers, came adrift as flight prices rose a few years back, but still attracts a devoted audience and woos transatlantic skiers.
Alterra Mountain Company, which runs 15 US and Canadian resorts, including Colorado’s Steamboat and Winter Park, and Utah’s Deer Valley, is working hard to bring back Brits. “The UK has always been a priority and bookings are set to reach pre-pandemic levels,” says Nicolas Barrancos, vice-president of international sales at Alterra. “We’ve extended our multi-resort Ikon Pass early-bird offers to give British travellers more time to book through travel agencies and ski specialists, including HolidayWorld, Ski Safari, Ski Solutions and Ski Independence.”
Ski Independence was one of the first British companies to focus on North America and still arranges tailor-made holidays to more than 20 resorts in the US and Canada. Managing director Michael Bennett says: “This is shaping up to be a build-back season for Colorado. Daily British Airways flights to Denver are joined by a daily United Airlines service, making fares pretty affordable. The latter also has linked flights to other Colorado airports such as Aspen, Hayden (for Steamboat) and Gunnison-Crested Butte,” he adds. “Although the US is still a long way behind Canada, travel restrictions have eased and business is starting to return. For us, Breckenridge, Vail and Aspen are dominating [bookings].”
Laax, Switzerland
Powered by CO2-neutral hydropower and with its own wind and solar plants, Laax aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Avoriaz, France
Long a green pioneer, relying on horse-drawn taxi sleighs since its 1960s inception, Avoriaz is powering forward. Since 2011, a wood/electric fuel system heats the modern accommodation and water park.
Ischgl, Austria
Since 2021, all lifts, mountain restaurants and snow systems in Ischgl have been powered by eco-electricity from Silvrettaseilbahn. The company’s practices save 18,000 gallons of oil a year.
Lech Zürs, Austria
St Anton’s neighbouring resort is hot on sustainability. Its biomass heating plant services households and businesses, and there’s a smart electric bus system.
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser–Brixental, Austria
The resort’s Sonnenlift drag-lift, near the link with Kitzbühel, is 100% solar powered. And the SkiWelt’s many snow reservoirs are replenished naturally in summer by snowmelt or rain. SkiWelt also utilises 100% renewable hydropower.
Published in the November 2022 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK)
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