Winter breaks
The Cambrian reviewTTG’s Matthew Parsons hits the slopes in Adelboden, p52; Active Malta Abseiling, cycling, snorkelling and more on aTTGfam trip, p54; Last-minute Christmas Round-up of warmer climes with availability, p57
Hopes high for fresh bookings
Has the ice of last year’s poor ski sales now thawed? Gary Noakes asks operators how things are shaping up for the 2010-11 season
hope. Worries about job security and the economy saw the number of ski and snow- board holidays sold fall 11% to below the one million mark last season for the first time since 2001. However, operators anticipated this collapse in demand and cut capacity by 10%. Some of this has been restored this season, but operators believe capacity should be just in line with demand. Crystal Ski product director Ian Davis said this season was looking “reasonably positive”
W
inter sports enthusiasts who missed out on their annual treat last year should be back in force this year, operators
with prices holding up, but warned that sales patterns were changing.
“We have to live with selling reasonably late. People now leave it until the last minute but they still have a reasonable budget. The message to agents is that it is not all about £199 deals.”
Skiers are looking for value in these tough times. Crystal introduced Ski Plus last season – an offer that includes lift pass and ski hire or carriage plus the normal accommodation, transfer and flights under a single package price. Ski Plus has been extended to more than 100 resorts and with a wider range of dates this season. This has helped early
Operators say capacity should be in line with demand this year
season sales and rivals Inghams and Neilson have followed suit with an identical offer. “Crystal Plus has done the job for us in what is normally the off-sales period in July and August,” said Davis. “We’re not quite on target, but we are up year-on-year.” Neilson commercial manager Nina McMaster underlined the search for value by consumers: “Sales to date have been stronger to the good value resorts with Andorra, Italy and Bulgaria attracting early bookers with offers and overall value for money,” she said, but added: “France has picked up after a slower start with the best movers to date ahead of bookings at this time last year. Peo- ple are going to the better value, snow-sure resorts of Les Deux Alpes, Alpe d’Huez and Les Arcs. We’ve also seen good bookings into some of the higher end Austrian resorts of Obergurgl and St Anton and to Scandinavia.” Agents seeking to reassure customers about high prices in the big three euro currency resorts – Austria, France and Italy – should push clients towards half-board packages or chalets where the need to eat out at expensive restaurants is avoided. Operators also have more full-board packages this season, cutting costs further.
These kinds of offers are also being found 22.10.2010
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