Ski Vacations In Europe Fall Again

Cut price offers from the ski vacation companies for this year's season in Europe has fallen for the second year running, and any hope that the winter Olympics in Vancouver would produce a late surge of bookings has failed to materialise.

Andorra is typical of many areas that have enjoyed a good number of tourists visiting in previous years, but have had to face up to a sharp decline in the number of people taking ski holidays this past winter.

Andorra is a small country in the Pyrenees, and skiing is a major part of the country's revenue. Andorra ski holidays started in the eighties as cheap alternative to ski holidays in France, but in recent years Andorra has spent millions on improving her infrastructure.

Included in the upgrade of facilities for Andorra has not only been public spending on roads and improved access to the skiing areas, but private capital investment in some very good quality hotels, with many hotels in Andorra now recognised as of a good international standard and achieving 4 or 5 star status.

In recent years Andorra during good economic times has attracted up to 12,000,000 tourists in a year - the peak months being the ski season of December to end March, but increasingly away from ski holidays has drawn hikers and walkers from across Europe during the summer months too.

Andorra hotels even added some attractions included in their prices this year, anticipating a fall in the number of people taking European ski holidays, in the hope they would get a bigger market share.

Despite Germany and some other European countries coming out of the recession recently, key markets for Andorra including the United Kingdom remained in the doldrums economically, and with Sterling performing badly against the Euro there was almost bound to be less British people on the slopes of resorts like Soldeu.

One big hope for the ski holidays industry both in Europe and North America was that the Winter Olympics - held in February in Canada - would give a boost to the end of the season with global television coverage of the ski events, but it failed to happen to any great degree.

And Andorra is staging a music festival in association with Thomas Cook Holidays just a few weeks from now, which will hopefully see not just some skiers opt for Andorra instead of French ski holidays.

Glastonbury it won't be, but with household names expected to perform Andorra might for a week at least be the Ibiza of the Pyrenees and attract some more visitors before the close of the ski season.