Ski bookings hit by loss of child benefit
The withdrawal of child benefit from 1.2 million households caused "a huge ripple" in family ski bookings last winter, said Andy Perrin, boss of family ski specialist Esprit and sister companies Inghams and Ski Total.
Whilst he admitted that the majority of Esprit clients didn’t rely on the benefit "to put food on the table", he said the loss of the withdrawal or reduction in the universal credit for all but the poorest families – leaving middle and higher income earners with two kids up to £1,800 a year worse off – had led to a reduction in discretionary spend.
However, Perrin said that the winter "turned out pretty well overall".
He said the company was expecting the ski market to shrink 5% last winter due to a combination of factors including an early Easter which knocked a week off the end of the season, but in fact it stayed level with the previous year.
For Inghams, he said the biggest challenge was the loss of the beginners market, which resulted in the operator dumping Bulgaria from the programme and halving its capacity to Andorra. However, with growth elsewhere the operator managed a two percentage point increase in sales.
"This has set the platform for winter 2013/14," he said.
Ski operators should benefit next winter from the decision by First Choice to exit the market, said Perrin, and he also questioned the future of Neilson following an announcement by parent Thomas Cook that the ski operator had made a £9.9 million loss last year.
Thomas Cook’s chief executive Harriet Green is believed to have been keen to sell Neilson, but seemingly no buyer has come forward. "Possibly, from a Thomas Cook perspective, the writing is on the wall," said Perrin.
He said suggested the new Cosmos programme, launched on the back of sister airline Monarch’s flights to Munich, Friedrichshafen and Innsbruck, would not pose much of a threat. "To launch a ski programme on the back of flights to these three airports just might give them a bit of a struggle," he said.
For next winter, Inghams, Ski Total and Esprit have seen a 10% to 20% increase in bookings but Perrin admitted he did not expect this to be sustained. "We are aiming for 10% growth overall," he said.
One of the challengesthis coming winter is the "phenomenally " late Easter, which doesn’t fall until April 20, by which time all but the highest resorts will probably be closed. "Pulling the season through to Easter is going to be a challenge," added Perrin. "High resorts should be fine, but will the demand be there? If it is, it will come late."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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