Ski travel offers and advice

Ski travel advice and offers: UK ski operators have superb online offers to tempt skiers back to the slopes with some great deals.

To this end do find our Ski travel advice and tips on where to go and the best offers:

On offer Ski travel from Thomson First Choice and Crystal Ski – Neilson withdrawn poor value..

These are the best value Ski travel operators departing from the UK and betwean them have the best priced deals bar none.

For example, Crystal Ski is offering a week’s half-board at a three-star hotel in the Italian resort of Sestriere for £629, whereas a week at a similar hotel in the French resort of La Plagne costs £959.

Skiers choosing the Austrian resort of Ellmau over the French resort of Val d’Isere could save £260 on accommodation, ski hire and lift passes, even though both resorts boast a similar-sized ski area.

As a result of the drift in demand, operators have expanded their offering in Austria and Italy, good for varied terrain and lively nightlife.

Crystal is featuring family and beginner-friendly Igls, close to Innsbruck and Niederau, and Obertauern, Austria’s only purpose-built resort.

In Italy, Crystal, Thomson and First Choice are featuring Pragelato, a newly-developed resort that links into the huge ‘Milky Way’ ski terrain via the town of Sestriere, Folgarida, which gives cheap access to the stylish resort of Madonna di Campiglio and Santa Cristina, which is part of the vast Dolomiti Superski area. Inghams has added Arabba, which is also in the Dolomites.

Other countries to consider when selling to skiers on a budget are eastern European destinations: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. Spain is also a cheap option.

Though France lost 4% market share last winter, it is still the most popular destination among British skiers, but it’s the smaller, cheaper resorts that are tipped to do well.

All-inclusives
The major players expect all-inclusive deals to prove popular with customers who want to know their budget before they go.

After testing its Ski Plus all-inclusive concept in a handful of resorts last winter, Crystal has expanded the offering to 38 resorts. The operator reckons the ski-inclusive packages offer savings of up to £197 per person.

Crystal’s sister brand First Choice Ski has also launched all-inclusive packages, with prices starting at £419 for a week in Andorra. Neilson reports an increased demand for full-board, half-board and chalet packages, and offers ski-inclusive packages starting from £385 per person for flights, transfers, accommodation, lift passes and equipment hire.

Short breaks
Mini breaks are growing in demand, both as an addition to the traditional week-long ski holidays and also as a cheaper alternative, especially for those who can travel mid-week during school term-time.

In the past, operators only offered short breaks to the easily-accessible French resorts, but have now included Austria, Italy, Switzerland and even Bulgaria
and Slovenia.

January Ski deals to Austria, Italy, Bulgaria and France from £199. Tui has expanded the short breaks offering to its First Choice Ski programme, which now offers four, five and six-night durations from 13 airports to 44 destinations.

Good value resorts

Les Orres 1800 in the southern French Alps, added by Crystal and First Choice, is a new purpose-built resort with 56 miles of pistes, so is good for beginners and intermediates. Packages start at £388 for a week self-catering with First Choice including flights.

Andorra, which priced itself out of the budget market a few years ago, has swung back into fashion after the regional government decided to give better support to UK operators, enabling them to cut prices. First Choice Ski’s cheapest package is a week self-catering in Arinsal, Andorra, from £325 per person.

Romania is up and coming, according to eastern European specialist Balkan Holidays. The operator has added a third hotel, the three-star Hotel Bradul. Prices start at £876 for a week’s half-board in January.