17 July 2008

Skiers flock to Austria at expense of Andorra

Austria enjoyed a significant increase in ski bookings last year, as wintersports customers turned their back on Andorra and Italy.

CrystalÃ¢â¬â¢s annual ski industry report revealed that AustriaÃ¢â¬â¢s market share of UK ski bookings in the 2007-08 season rose by 2.8 per cent over the previous year to 21.8 per cent, while ItalyÃ¢â¬â¢s share fell by 1.8 per cent to 12 per cent and AndorraÃ¢â¬â¢s share slumped 4.1 per cent to 7 per cent.

France remained the most popular destination for British wintersports fans, with a market share of 37.5 per cent, up 0.4 per cent on the 2006-07 season.

Crystal managing director Mathew Prior said Italy had suffered from a poor snow record, but Andorra had bigger problems.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAndorra has been really suffering, partly because of its uncertain snow record, but the biggest issue is that it has tried to change its mix of clientele, moving away from cheap holidays, but has priced itself out of the market,Ã¢â¬~ he said.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœBudget skiers have switched to Austria because it is offering good quality accommodation at good prices.Ã¢â¬~

The report was compiled from Civil Aviation Authority statistics and feedback from tour operators, and showed a three per cent increase in bookings to 1.23million in the season 2007-08.

Prior said early bookings for December and January last year were slow because of the previous yearÃ¢â¬â¢s poor snow, but soon picked up following snowfalls in October. There was also a five per cent increase in ski bookings from the schools market last year, due to there being two half term holiday weeks last season and an early Easter.

By Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)