Travel & Holiday

 Austria’s main ski area has answered the 10 most asked questions about what next winter my look like.

It is a confusing picture, but testing & reduction in quarantine times are essential if there is to be a ski season this winter for us Brits.

It has announced compulsory testing for anyone travelling from the UK and a number of other countries. Those that test positive will need to go into quarantine. UPDATED

It is the single biggest restriction on the ski industry for next winter after Covid-19 itself. If current quarantine measures are in place it will decimate the winter for many UK skiers and snowboarders. It seems changes are coming but not soon enough for many.

They are the last major ski countries that do not have travel restrictions for people returning to the UK, but their Covid-19 cases are rising. Travel remains possible with all the skiing nations in Europe, but arrival/departure quarantine rules are growing.

The government is expected to start a trial project at Heathrow and it could then be rolled out to other airports. Testing is seen as key to getting people flying again and booking ski holidays.

Quarantine is now needed from Poland and Turkey. All the countries in the Pyrenees, North America and many in the Alps are currently under the restrictions. There are though some options. Fancy skiing in Cyprus?

Getting the right insurance cover for your ski holidays is something most of us take seriously.  It’s never been more important than now.

This week Switzerland has introduced a mandatory 10-day quarantine for people coming from the UK.  There are other restrictions in place to visit other ski countries. Many hope they will be eased, but there are concerns it will go the other way with tighter rules as winter approaches.

The body representing the French mountain resorts, France Montagnes, has published details of the Covid-19 rules for next winter.  Some things will be the same with others very different.

Apres ski groups have been banned in the ski resorts in Austria next winter. Ski resorts will open but with Covid-19 restrictions in place.

It is, to say the least, a very confusing picture for next winter with so many unknowns in booking a ski holiday. The UK’s largest operator is on hand to try to help answer your FAQs.

While the UK’s biggest ski tour operator Crystal Ski Holidays has axed its entire chalet programme, the luxury brand Consensio will continue to sell chalet holidays to the French Alps this winter.

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 long-standing ski specialists and tailor-made tour operator have self-drive, self-catered holidays to the Alps and eco-friendly trips among their offerings for the coming season in its new online brochure.

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

The ski specialists are taking bookings for the 2020/21 season with the help of a new interactive brochure.

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 UK ski and snowboard operator has launched a new campaign as it tries to reassure people they will be “In Safe Hands”.  It follows an announcement of job cuts due to covid-19 and significant worries about next winter.

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.

Here at PlanetSKI we are already looking forward to next season despite what is currently happening in the world of travel. 

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.