 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thank you.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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e ink is expensive
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Having comprehensively reviewed it I'd say it's a stretch to call it a report more a " what I did on my holidays" ppt by the summer intern.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Is it even worth looking at
Can I guess
Is SH a better source of information
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Switzerland up 18% yoy in the "country mix" solely due to new Eurostar route? Really? v surprised by that given that a sandwich and a coffee in CH still requires you to empty your bank account, and offer the inn keep most of an arm and a leg.
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It does show a small switch from France to Italy and Switzerland which might become interesting.
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Shame they didn't include the statistics about how far in advance people were booking.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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slight increase for scandinavia too.
i want to see plots for the last 10 years for all of those regions.
maybe just people returning to the historically perceived expensive locations, now that the global financial 5h1tstorm is another year behind us?
New eurostar route? must have been heaving with people hanging off the sides like Indian trains if that was a sole or key contributor to significant statistical increase in visitors.
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I wondered if those charts showed skier days, skier trips, skier weeks, or something else entirely. Being Crystal I'd assume they're only plotting 6'ish day long skiing blocks for which a British tour operator could potentially grab some of the action.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Interesting if somewhat brief... the initial graphs seem to suggest that the 'financial 5h1tstorm' is still around with a huge drop off since 2008?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Quote: |
I wondered if those charts showed skier days, skier trips, skier weeks, or something else entirely.
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That is exactly the issue with this report - there is no clarification of what it is actually reporting on, nor how comprehensive and accurate the figures are (the Disclaimer does say that it is not comprehensive).
For example, it appears that the Tour Operators have had a constant 56%-58% share of the market over the last five years, and that Independent holidaymakers constantly account for 29%-31% of the market. My own observation in resort, and the impression that I get from the Snowheads forum, is that DIY has been steadily increasing over the last few years - a combination of financial pressure, people falling out of love with TO offerings and the increasing ease of booking flights/ferries/transfers/hotels etc online. There is nothing in the report to explain how Crystal obtain accurate figures for 'Independent' travellers (e.g. the report does not name Eurostar or ferry companies as a source of data in the same way that it names CAA and airport passenger figures as data sources). Do the Tourist Office figures only come from the usual 20-30 resorts where the TOs have a significant presence, or are other resorts also included (e.g. Wagrain or Maria Alm) where there are British guests but little TO presence?
The punctuation error on page 5 ['Italy 15.7% (15.2%) growth due to excellent snow conditions ...'] - the missing full stop and subsequent capital G (in Growth) could cause misunderstanding. There has not been growth in the Italian market of 15.7% - in fact, approx. 500 fewer people went to Italy in 2013-14 than in the previous year. Italy had a higher market share last year, but the increase of half a percentage point is hardly significant, regardless of the 'excellent snow conditions... combined with good-value packages'. None of the comments on Page 5 substantiate the figures on Page 4 or show any analysis of cause and effect. The reduction in holidays sold could just as easily be due to reduced TO capacity, lower flight availability, increased prices, lower disposable income, issues with taking term-time holidays etc. or just limitations in the way that the data is collected.
Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Wed 10-09-14 18:04; edited 1 time in total
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Just a couple of graphs really........
The point about January though might have had an influence on how Crystal have priced their early offers this year. I am part of a group that regularly travels in Jan, and the deal we have got this year is pretty good, 2 for 1 lift pass and general competitive price - I think we would have struggled to get it cheaper DIY for the same package
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You know it makes sense.
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Quinton. It would be interesting to understand their methodology for TO vs independent travel but may be there has been a pause as the so called low cost airlines have become greedier in their pricing (or loss avoiding). On the routes I have used - Geneva seemed a lot dearer from Bristol last season, EJ dropped their second Salzburg flight and thus the remaining flight became much dearer (and I note that this season Flybe have dropped their Salzburg flight from Exeter-not surprising as it was grossly overpriced). As a pure incidental I went on a package holiday for the first time ever as significantly cheaper than a d-i-y.
The other thing is that the independents may not be flying as much but doing more self drive as with the increase in air fares and the ramping up of ski carriage and baggage costs self drive becomes much more competitive if cash is tight. I am not sure if the statistics would find this as easy to pick up as air traffic data which may well be available to those in the know for eg Saturday flights to Geneva which can 95% be assumed to be ski related.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| chrisb wrote: |
Just a couple of graphs really........
The point about January though might have had an influence on how Crystal have priced their early offers this year. I am part of a group that regularly travels in Jan, and the deal we have got this year is pretty good, 2 for 1 lift pass and general competitive price - I think we would have struggled to get it cheaper DIY for the same package |
I too saw that offer and was REALLY tempted by it................ it even offered some hotel credit as well.
But from the research I did was that if I waited until they stopped all the offers, the actual price of the hotel comes down to compensate.
Now my luck, this year, it won't 
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
New eurostar route? must have been heaving with people hanging off the sides like Indian trains if that was a sole or key contributor to significant statistical increase in visitors.
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The growth in Switzerland, using the numbers in the report, amounts to about an extra 400 people a week over the season. A standard Eurostar seats over 500.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
chrisb wrote:
Just a couple of graphs really........
The point about January though might have had an influence on how Crystal have priced their early offers this year. I am part of a group that regularly travels in Jan, and the deal we have got this year is pretty good, 2 for 1 lift pass and general competitive price - I think we would have struggled to get it cheaper DIY for the same package
I too saw that offer and was REALLY tempted by it................ it even offered some hotel credit as well.
But from the research I did was that if I waited until they stopped all the offers, the actual price of the hotel comes down to compensate.
Now my luck, this year, it won't Sad
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thats interesting, I found exactly the opposite with Crystal for La Plagne in Jan and we have gone DIY for the first time.
I did however find a cracking deal with BA on flights and car hire with 23kg luggage included. That + 8 nights in the same accomodation as Crystal came out as £450 checper for the the two of us. So pretty much a no brainer.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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roguemazza, well done of getting the better deal. Probably easier with two people. There are 19 of us though from regional airports. Hope you have a great trip
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Flights with BA from gatwick to geneva - out on Friday 15th and back on Sat 24th - early flight out at 0630 ish and mid afternoon back (1440), car hire booked as part of package (car hire group A). Winter tyres, chains and second driver included as standard for BA executive club members.
We booked nights at P&V Les Constellations in Belle Plagne, stayed there the last 2 winters and also last summer. Small french rabbit huts for 4, but I find them fine for 2 - bunk beds at the door which are great for storing stuff, 2 long sofa beds in living area, table and chairs, kitchen with hob, microwave, fridge and dishwasher. Bathroom with bath and shower over. Balcony. Andromede building means about 10 steps from ski room to piste, ski in and out.
When we checked Crystal they wanted £630 each for overnight eurostar + 7 nights in the same appartments so £1260 in total. This was a few weeks ago.
We got flight + car hire package for £398 for 2 + £410 for 8 nights with P&V ( they had a sale on). I feel for a high resort like la plagne its worth booking early.
I'm aware we need to pay for petrol, tolls and parking which will up the cost to be truley equal to the crystal deal but we can do a big shop in Moutiers on the Friday afternoon before going up to resort. We also get 8 nights in a bed and not 2 nights on the train!
Looking for a second week and finding some decent BA deals around esp from Gatwick if you are fexible with flight times etc during March - not checked Jan again.
Also for La PLagne, book your lift pass direct and get 10% off before 30th Oct!
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roguemazza, well done of getting the better deal. Probably easier with two people. There are 19 of us though from regional airports. Hope you have a great trip
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Hope you guys have a great trip as well - group of 19 sounds fun and explains why you found such a good deal
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for taking the time to put that lot into words.
I see that crystal do a "half board" option.
Do you know anything about that.
Also, do you know which ski run it is on..................if it is on a black then sadly my wife can't ski in/out
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There are a few different blocks that make up the apartments, they all open out onto blue runs that drop down to Bellecote, some of the blocks higher up have two options to ski through Belle Plagne. They are all pretty easy from the apartments although one of the blues has a wee steep section which makes me think when it's the first run of the week! I can't see run names on the piste map, but if your wife is happy on blues then she should be fine.
Never done the half board option, you could try emailing customer services, they usually seem pretty helpful. I think you can also book the same option direct via pierre & vacances
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| roguemazza wrote: |
| Never done the half board option |
We've never done the SC option...............well I have, with friends, but we just ate **** for a week.
What are the prices for some food out there............not michelin star cuisine, but I don't fancy pizza for 7 nights on the bounce
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