Ski Solutions reveals that booked revenues through the summer and into the peak booking period this autumn have been 51 pc ahead of 2021 levels
Aviation data aggregator and analyst firm Cirium and British specialist ski-holiday travel agent, Ski Solutions, have jointly published a report saying that the December scheduled departures from the UK are projected to hit 83 pc of December 2019 levels, as the industry continues to see strong winter demand.
Flights from UK airports are also up 35 pc compared to December 2021, with over 65,000 planned departures during this month. The report adds that the flights from the UK to Europe’s most popular ski resorts are scheduled to exceed pre-pandemic levels this December, as winter leisure travel booms:
The report says that the flights from the UK to Switzerland are projected to hit 94 pc of 2019 levels, with Geneva seeing 4.1 pc more flights than December 2019 and flights from the UK to Austria are scheduled to reach 91 pc of Dec 2019 levels. In Austria, the ski resorts of Innsbruck and Salzburg both seeing 24 pc more UK flights than pre-pandemic. The lesser-known city of Klagenfurt will also see a huge 200 pc increase in UK flights this December as against the traffic in December 2019.
The report adds that while flights from the UK to France have only reached 74 pc of 2019 levels, Grenoble that serves the Alpine mountain resorts has seen a 4 pc rise in departures compared to December 2019, while another Alpine airport, Chambery, has matched pre-pandemic frequencies. Lyon, the French gateway to the Alps, however, is scheduled to see flights 11 pc down.
Data goes on to show that northern Italy has also showed growth, with flights from the UK to Turin and Verona up 12 pc and 5 pc respectively. Flights to Milan Malpensa and Bergamo are also around the same levels as recorded in December 2019.
In terms of ski-holidays, Ski Solutions reveals that booked revenues through the summer and into the peak booking period this autumn have been 51 pc ahead of 2021 levels. Despite the headwinds in the economy and political volatility in recent months, Ski Solutions has seen booking revenues up 23 pc compared to 2019, before the pandemic.
Ski Solutions says it has has been staggered by the unrelenting strength of demand coming through this year, with the underlying demographic of skiers looking to be incredibly resilient to the current economic pressures, with customers not prepared to give up their annual holiday to the mountains.
Despite prices being up 15 pc compared to 2019, Ski Solutions is seeing no dip in demand for core four and five-star premium packages, or any trend towards lower grade destinations. Covid-19 has highlighted the value that can come from booking a package with a genuine travel expert, says the agency.
The classic, snow-sure resorts of the Alps continue to feature most prominently, Val d’Isère, Val Thorens, Verbier, though Ski Solutions has seen strong demand this year for Canada, Whistler in particular, and family friendly options in Norway which offer good value for money.
“After a couple of seasons of unpredictability for the ski industry throughout the pandemic, we’re thrilled to see the demand for ski holidays this winter exceeding pre-pandemic levels with booking revenues up 23% compared to this time in 2019. This is reassurance that this winter is going to be one of the strongest seasons we’ve seen yet. Our bookings team has seen huge demand for some of the familiar favourite resorts such as Val d’Isère and Whistler, but also some of the lesser-discovered alternative options including new resorts that have been added to our portfolio in Norway. There’s never been a better time to get your ski holiday booked, and we look forward to welcoming our customers, both new and old, back to the slopes very soon,” says Craig Burton, Managing Director of Ski Solutions.
