With the benefit of an earlier Easter this year, heavy mid-March snow helped get bookings flowing again after an unseasonably warm February led to consumer media headlines about barren and snowless ski resorts.
Most in the industry emphasise how strong early snowfall created a good snow base at major European alpine resorts, ensuring clients’ experiences have not been impacted by the higher than usual temperatures.
Diane Palumbo, sales and marketing director at Skiworld, told TTG Easter had sold well in the early part of the booking cycle, but sales had slowed while so-called “snow watchers” bided their time and kept their eyes on the weather forecasts.
“Ahead of time, Easter sold very well. However, bookings slowed as I think people were waiting for the snow,” said Palumbo. “Phones were busy again last week with another half a metre due. The epic early season base has hardly been impacted by intermittent rises in temperature, and thankfully it’s been regularly topped up.”
It has been a similar experience for Club Med, with “bumper” snowfall in March helping fuel a 23% year-on-year rise in last-minute bookings for March and April departures to European resorts.
“Our best-selling resorts for this timeframe are Val d’Isere, Tignes and La Rosiere – all high altitude ski domains where there are ample slopes with a solid base of snow,” said Nicolas Bresch, Club Med managing director UK, Ireland and Nordics.
Specialist agency Iglu Ski also reported “higher than average” demand for Easter with resorts such as Val Thorens, La Plagne and St Anton proving particularly popular.
Rupert Longsdon, from Oxford Ski Company, added: “Easter is looking fantastic, fuelled by some incredible late season conditions which have been better than any in recent memory.
“Being a school holiday period, we always see a strong focus on family friendly resorts such as Val d’Isere, Tignes, Lech and Crans-Montana.”
Season review
While hopes are high for a strong finish to the current ski season through Easter and the early weeks of April, most specialists have already enjoyed a successful year.
Philip Wright, head of sales and service at Iglu Ski, said: ‘Like the rest of the industry, we wondered if we would exceed last season’s bookings, thinking the big increase after Covid could have been a one-off.
“It’s good to see even more skiers departing this year, showing double-digit growth. Good value, high resorts in Italy have fared well, such as Cervinia and Courmayeur, together with chalets across the Alps.”
Italy has also sold well for Travel Counsellors’ Aaron Caddell, who specialises in ski holidays. Other strong performers have included Austria, Bulgaria and a “smattering” of Romania. “French and Swiss prices have been a deterrent unless booked during a two-for-one lift pass offer, for example,” added Caddell.