“Nobody is Asking About Covid Anymore”
Some ski holiday companies have been reporting that as most ski nations have dropped all Covid travel restrictions, most customers are no longer asking about the likely impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their future ski trips when making booking enquiries.
“It’s true nobody is now asking about Covid when they book,” says Nick Edwards, boss of ski travel agency Snowfinders, who adds, “I firmly believe that the demographic of skiers means that 99% have been fully vaccinated and they know that booking through an agency like us means they will get their money back in the event that borders are closed or resorts are closed. We are also insisting that clients have adequate insurance so they should be covered in the event of contracting covid and unable to travel.”
Other companies say people are still asking covid-related questions though, just not so much as they were.
“Covid questions are not gone, but they have definitely moved down the priority list for many skiers. While our customers still have questions, we’ll still support them in finding answers,” said John Mansell, Inghams COO, adding, “For some, Covid is still a consideration and for others it is not. Across Inghams and Esprit we continue to deliver on our ‘In Safe Hands’ promise and support our customers where appropriate,”
Crystal Ski’s Head of Commercial Scott Britton said that his company didn’t think Covid will have long lasting effects on the industry, however, “It goes without saying that we have clearly had a few challenging seasons with restrictions in place, either preventing travel or prohibiting key aspects of a ski holiday. However, we are confident as restrictions ease, Brits are waiting to flood back as our bookings suggest.”
Scott notes though that there is still some nervousness where there appears to be a backward step as when Canada’s recently re-introduced random airport testing of arrivals at its main international hub airports including Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver,
“For us, bookings have slowed for Canada in the last couple of weeks with the announcement they are returning to randomised airport testing on arrival,” he said.
Richard Sinclair of ski specialist SNO said the fact that the most recent high wave of infection passed with much less impact on everyday lives than the previous waves has further boosted confidence overall however, commenting,
“Bookings are at record levels and customer confidence is very high now, especially after the big wave of infections a month ago passed by without anyone seeming to care.”
