Report Claims 13.3% Drop In UK Ski Market Last Winter

I wouldn't want to say something I shouldn't so I'll keep my opinions of Crystal to myself )

Some of the blame for the poor start to last season, despite excellent snow conditions goes to what I call the "Robert Peston" effect. The media scared the life out of people at the end of last year, they were so scared of the impending financial meltdown that lots of people just stopped spending money thus the prophesy became self fulfilling. I base this on talking to our customers who visited us in the usual numbers but purchased less. January was a huge improvement, xmas and new year past and the "meltdown" wasn't nearly as bad as many thought it would be.

I haven't used a tour operator for a ski holiday in years but I still check their prices - if I can get the holiday I want more cheaply from a TO then I'll book it but it hasn't happened yet. I find that long haul on the other hand is usually cheaper with a TO, to the far east anyway.

I wouldn't fly with Ryan Air if the tickets were free and they were paying the taxes.

I think EasyJets model works so well because they don't treat their customers with the same sort of open contempt that RyanAir do.

As with most things in life the cheapest option is rarely the best value.

Pablo Escobar wrote:Just as an aside, do budget airlines not make huge losses in the winter anyway? Or was Ryanairs reported loss for the whole year?

It was the trading year

Neiltoo wrote:

As with most things in life the cheapest option is rarely the best value.

GPWM

When I made my comment about the budget airlines, my thoughts did not include Ryanair. We could start a new thread by guessing what the Ryanair Ski company would be like, but I don't want to get sued.

Equally, I don't like sleeping in a vertical bed, stacked 20 to a room. :mrgreen:

On the other hand, easyjet, while it has led the way in stripping out and separating out costs, they seem to have only gone as far as the customers find acceptable. I have had nothing but good service from them.

Not every airport offers access to good budget airlines. But you can't buck the market, and this kind of J2ski discussion is replicated in libraries and churches throughout our land.

Not to say that the easy brand gets everything right. I would not take an easycruise, (if they still exist), nor have I found that eaycarhire offers an attractive price. My point is that there are some budget airlines that may have a capability, and given a void, would look for an opportunity.

We took a summer holiday with a budget airline, they organised the taxi transfer and apartment. It worked fine.

Dave Mac wrote:


We took a summer holiday with a budget airline, they organised the taxi transfer and apartment. It worked fine.

I dont suppose you care to tell us which airline this was for the record?