Travel & Holiday

The UK’s largest ski tour operators is ending its chalet business. It blames Covid-19 and will have huge implications for next season’s ski and snowboard holidays.

Winter is on its way with snow at altitude in Canada. The resorts are looking ahead to what the season of 2020/21 may be like as the pandemic continues. UPDATED

The Austrian resort has become a byword for a ski resort that spread coronavirus.  Many others likely did similar, but the mud seems to have stuck on Ischgl. The resort has unveiled its plans for next winter. UPDATED

Harris Holidays Ltd that trades as Ski Weekends has been placed into administration.  Observers fear it is one of the first of more as the fallout from Covid-19 continues. UPDATED

If the example of some of the summer party hotspots in anything to go by then the answer is very different. Some may even not open.

It has been going since 1997 but has hit the buffers after Eurostar cancelled it for next winter. It has blamed coronavirus, but some think this is exactly the moment when train travel could be a viable alternative to flying.

Tour operators report a rise in bookings, summer travel restrictions are being eased and resorts are planning ahead for next winter. It will be a somewhat different affair but there are, at last, growing signs of some optimism.

The company, which owns the ski brands Inghams, Ski Total, Esprit Ski, Flexiski and Santa’s Lapland, is to reduce the size of the business and is considering cutting jobs by 27% due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis. 

People will need to self-quarantine for 14-days with some counties introducing reciprocal arrangements. The tourist industry criticises but some say it is far too late.

Both countries are allowing their ski resorts to open later this month.  It will be primarily aimed at locals but if deemed safe an air link would be established that could make a big different to the ski resorts, especially in New Zealand.

Three more resorts announce they are opening. They follow Thredbo and Mt Buller. We look at what the experience may be like, what other resorts may learn & ask if it can be economically viable.

In the second of our special reports we look at what life might be like in a socially distanced ski resort. It will be an altogether different experience.

In a two-part special PlanetSKI looks at what skiing and snowboarding may be like next winter.  One thing is likely  – it will be very different if a vaccine hasn’t been discovered and administered.

The team at PlanetSKI is reporting all the news & developments as it affects the snowsports world in our ever-popular rolling blog. If you want to see its impact and the response of skiers & snowboarders then read on…

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has outlined the plans of the country as it looks to ease some of the country’s tough restrictions. It will affect the summer season and people are beginning to look at what the next winter season may look like.

The pandemic is having a devastating impact on the travel industry.  How is the snowsports world faring and what might next season look like?  PlanetSKI assesses the situation.

The resorts are preparing, but will there be one as the coronavirus pandemic continues? Resorts are hiring, plans are being made but it is unlikely to start as normal in June.

Now may not perhaps be the time to think about next winter, but at PlanetSKI we are.  Big time. We need to stay positive, support the beleaguered snowsports industry and show we care.

The decision of France to shut has caused huge problems with a mass exit underway. Many major resorts in the USA and Canada have announced temporary closures. Sunday is another day of developments as we report the rolling news.

Italy, Austria, Norway, Switzerland and Andorra have closed all their ski areas because of the coronavirus crisis.  In France the resorts are virtually all open.

Resorts across Austria, Switzerland, Andorra, parts of the Spanish Pyrenees and others closed due to the spread of the disease. Italy had already closed. But France is holding out amid strong criticism from some quarters.

A group of 10 skiers has left the Austrian resort of Saalbach after being forced into isolation in a hotel there.

We are updating this rolling blog with news from the UK ski tour operators and agents. See here for the latest.

The whole country is under quarantine due to the coronavirus crisis. PlanetSKI reports on all the latest from Italy, our winter home for this season.

The area has the highest number of cases of Coronavirus in Europe and if you believe some of the hype you may think bubonic plague is here. Not so.

It’s a dilemma troubling Jill Helm and her family.  They are booked to travel to Val Gardena in the Dolomites this Saturday.  She tells PlanetSKI her story.

Events with large gatherings across Europe are being called off. All the major alpine resorts, except France, have closed for skiing. Read our our rolling blog.

The Engadin Ski Marathon in Graubünden is the world’s second largest cross-country skiing event. It was due to take place this weekend. Coronavirus impacts on Switzerland.

The specialist ski insurance broker, MPI, has put together some guidance if your trip to the mountains is affected by the outbreak of the virus.

PlanetSKI is currently in Northern Italy scene of the worst outbreak Europe. We report on the impact of  the Coronavirus in Italy & what it is like to be near the worst affected areas in Europe.

Britons who have been to northern Italy – the area with most of the country’s ski resorts – have been warned to keep themselves isolated if they show any symptoms of the virus. Some schools where pupils have returned from ski trips are closed, and now the virus has spread to other alpine countries.