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Hotelplan UK Suspends All Ski Holidays Until February

The company runs Inghams, Ski Total and Flexiski. It has already axed the entire season for its other brand, Esprit Ski.

“Following the disappointing news that many ski resorts will not be opening their lifts until late January, alongside a number of airlines now cancelling their January flights, we have this week suspended all Inghams, Ski Total and Flexiski ski holidays until after 30 January 2021,” said the CEO, Joe Ponte.

“Once again, we are extremely disappointed for our customers, but we continue to work towards delivering the ski holiday experiences they hope for when the time is right.”

People who have booked will be offered an alternative holiday at a later date, or a refund if they want one.

It comes as no great surprise and other UK operators have cancelled holidays or are expected to follow suit.

The UK’s largest ski tour operator, Crystal Ski Holidays, has also cancelled some of its holidays in January.

“We’re currently experiencing a high volume of calls. If your holiday has been cancelled, please bear with us – we’re proactively contacting all affected customers as quickly as we can,” says a statement on the Crystal web site.

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“Right now, we do not have a clear picture of when the ski resorts are going to be open and every country seems to have a different view, so we continue to monitor the situation closely.

“We will continue to look at the most appropriate ways of delivering the holidays people want at each destination, considering how we can ensure everyone is kept as safe as possible, and informing our customers of any developments as soon as we can.

“While many resorts have not been able to open their lifts in January, we remain hopeful that we will be able to deliver the ski holidays people want in February 2021, and we understand people are eager to get back on the slopes.”

The company is owned by a major Swiss company, Hotelplan, and has stressed its long-term future is secure.

Inghams 2020/21 campaign

Inghams In Safe Hands campaign

France and Italy are closing their ski resorts until January.

Austrian ones will open the slopes on 24th December, but hotels, shops, restaurants and bars will closed.

Switzerland remains the only main alpine country with ski lifts open to the general public.

With quarantine measures in place the resorts are effectively open for locals only.