Savoie Mont Blanc Resorts See Rise in Early Ski Holiday Bookings by Brits

A total of 1,675 people were surveyed, 530 from the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. It shows that there is a great desire to ski among the French, with three out of 10 people having already booked their stay in the mountains and six out of 10 not yet booked but likely to go on a winter-sports holiday due to the space and nature. The survey found that 3.5% of the Brits polled expected to go on winter sports holidays this winter, a lower figure due mainly to inflation and the geopolitical situation.

However, in an interview in Tourmag on 16 September, Cecile Revol, General Manager of Sunweb France – which has been selling ski holidays in the French Alps for 25 years – said that Brits have been very early in booking their ski holidays for the 2022/23 season, with twice as many reservations made as for the corresponding period in previous years. Bookings made by the French in the same period have risen by 15%, and by the Germans and Swedish by 10% and 30% respectively. For the Dutch, figures remain on a level with previous years.

Revol points out that French resorts remain the biggest-sellers for Sunweb, that holidaymakers are showing a preference for 4- over 5-star hotels this year, and that ski packages including equipment rental are popular because they allow holidaymakers to avoid possible price rises throughout the season.

Brits make up 35% of all international visitors to the Savoie Mont Blanc region, which as the leading destination in France for those heading to the mountains in winter embraces 112 ski stations combining to offer more than 1.4 million beds.

The lure of fresh air and winter pleasures – especially skiing!

The report also shows that the desire to ski or board is the main reason travellers head to the mountains in winter – for 66% of respondants across the nationalities. This rises to as high as 74% for travellers to the Savoie Mont Blanc region, reinforcing its role as the heartland of skiing and outdoors activities in Europe.

But it’s about more than the pistes: one in two visitors come to the glorious landscapes of the mountains for the walking, for fresh air and for other snow sports such as luge. And 41% of them also come partly for the pleasure of eating local produce.

New initiatives making ski holidays easier, more flexible and more sustainable

Three developments for the 2022/23 season have been brought on board to make the Savoie and Haute Savoie mountains even more attractive for winter-sports holidays.

The first is Free Time Ski Time, which allows everyone to choose the holiday format that best suits them – a trip during or outside the school holidays, a last mid-week short break or a standard seven-day visit – and at the best price. Proposing an alternative to the traditional Saturday–Saturday holiday, it will free up access roads that currently get too busy in high season – in doing so, reducing pollution. www.savoie-mont-blanc.com/en/winter-mountains/ski-holidays-100-flexible-in-savoie-mont-blanc

The second is a door-to-door, multi-mode travel-booking service, Go Savoie Mont Blanc, which will allow visitors to a destination to book and pay for all their travel from A to B, in the same online basket and with the same means of payment. This will be possible anywhere, including from abroad, to any of the 112 Savoie Mont Blanc resorts. The options given will be displayed with the estimated CO2 emissions of each means of transport, making the travel experience not only more efficient (by giving the best travel time and cost) and simple, but also greener.

The third is Savoie Mont Blanc Explore, a 100%-digital concierge service in partnership with platform Alentour, which will allow visitors to book more than 1,000 activities in one click, at any time.