In Part Due to the down Turn Many Snowboarding Operators Are Reducing Their Number of Luxury Catered Ski Chalets
Friday, July 31st, 2009Due to the depression snowboarding accommodation occupancies fell last ski season.
Even with very good early on bookings and excellent snow fall.
This fall in no.s follows on from six winters of successive growth in the snowboarding industry, and the numbers went down from 1.25. 1.3 million two years ago to under a million last winter.
This is partly due to snowboarders giving their annual skiing vacation a miss, while other snowboarders who’d normally take two ski vacations, only took the one.
The independent travel sector fell by 15% with a handful low cost airlines reducing the no. of routes to certain destinations.
Tour operators also saw the sales reducing by around 15%.
Even so, the top operators share stayed at just over a healthy 70% and the Alps in France retained its position as the most popular ski destination with nearly 40% of the English ski market.
This meant that several ski operators cut down the amount of luxury catered chalets they lease this year.
Catered ski chalets especially will witness a reduction in vacationers due to the fact that a catered ski chalet incurs more costs in terms of chalet chefs and lease when it is empty.
It remains unlikely that we will benefit from the last minute ski deals France which were on the market this winter.
And prices are in all likelihood to rise, costs probably won’t increase much.
The 2009/10 season without doubt presents grievous challenges for the skiing industry which is touched by by the events of the credit crunch, fall in the value of the pound, increased costs of fuel and high fixed costs for snowboarding businesses.
This year vacationers will become increasingly cost aware, this will contribute to a turnabout of the last years that saw a development in independent travel.
