Ally

The UK ski market grew by 7% last winter, the largest single-year growth since the winter of 2000/2001, according to the Ski Industry Report 2006 by Crystal Ski.

More than 1.15m ski holidays were bought in the UK last winter, 40% more than in the mid-80s, a period often regarded as the hey-day of British skiing.

The operator bases its report on tour operators' own statistics, AC Nielson's TravelTrack market research, CAA published statistics, tourist office figures and travel agency feedback.

Tour operators grew their customers from 400,000 to 430,000, mainly due to a late Easter which allowed them to add extra capacity.

Crystal Ski carried 160,000 passengers in 2005/06, up from 148,000, while Inghams carried 120,000, up from 112,000.

The gap between the top two operators and the next four has widened further.

According to the report, the mid-sized companies all experienced below-trend growth, except Neilson which has knocked First Choice off the number four spot.

Crystal said the growth in the ski market was also down to the increasing number of independent travellers, which increased from 9% from 330,000 to 356,000.

No-frills airlines carried 947,000 passengers to ski destinations, just above the levels of 2003/04, and regular scheduled airlines saw slight growth to 1,150.000.

The number of skiers choosing America and Canada was up by 30%, partly due to easier and cheaper accessibility.

But France remains the most popular ski destination, taking 36.3% of UK skiers, up by 0.2%.

Austria maintained its market share of 20.1%, while Switzerland grew (by 0.4%) as did Bulgaria, Slovenia, Serbia and Finland.

Italy's market share fell from 15.7% to 14% but the destination remains in third place, while Andorra, in fourth place, fell from 13.7% to 11.9%,

Looking forward, the report said high fuel costs and a late Easter would hit bookings this winter, but on the upside the strength of the pound against the dollar promises further growth of US and Canadian markets.


(TM)