Paradise — Mauritius style

Just back from action packed 68 hours in Mauritius – hurrying around fabulous developments and brainstorming real estate on this beautiful island with a team of experts from Mauritius, South Africa, France and the UK.  We visited one of our newest sites as soon as we arrived – perched above the untouched village of Chamouny on Mont Blanc.   (Who says Erna Low only deals with ski holidays and ski property?) 

Coincidence as it happens!  Our developers, Steve and John, managed to find a ‘mountain’ on Mauritius for our beautiful gem of a development – Emerald Heights - though no ski slopes – even though rumour has it that a ski lift may be built to get up it!   The resort site is now under construction.  Our first phase of 29 units – from one bedroom apartments to 5 bedroom villas all overlook the panoramic ocean. 

Before I left, I sat on a pick-up truck, imagining the finished resort, and looked out to sea – on my left stretched out in front of me was a storm at sea, in the middle a perfect rainbow, and on my right blazing sun. Where else but a tropical island!

Joanna

Planetskieu interviews Joanna on 2009-2010 ski season

Joanna talks with  PlanetSkiEu’s James Cove about the upcoming ski season!  

To see the full story and other ski news, videos, blogs and pictures take a look at www.planetski.eu.

Ski Costs to Soar??? Bunk off school??? Is that what I said???

After reading the Sunday Times travel section this morning, I imagined for a moment having to wear large hats and dark sunglasses into my sons’ school plays and assemblies for years to come !   Thank goodness their headmaster has a sense of humour (I hope!).  It did make me think though that I better clarify the avalanche of great press we’ve received this week.

Earlier this year, Erna Low Ski undertook a series of studies to understand why our clients changed their holiday habits last season. We wanted to know why we had lost and why we had gained bookers, and how tour operators and skiers might behave next winter in light of the current economy.

The facts and insights from those studies were so compelling in terms of market trends and consumer behaviour that we shared the results with journalists around the country last week in our The Credit Crunch Report 2009.

Key to that report are two trends:

1) The growing number of people waiting to book, in the hope of cost-saving last-minute deals
2) Tour operators’ more cautious approach to guaranteeing beds during the 2009-2010 ski season which will reduce capacity all around.

In view of how many tour operators had to slash prices in order to fill beds last year, exercising caution this year is simply good business sense. But the reality is that ski-lovers who wait until the last minute expecting a deal like they had last season might find that there’s no deal at all to be had! And that’s what we wanted to share with consumers, not as a hyped-up fear tactic but to give consumers insight on what’s likely to happen so they can make the best choices possible for themselves, their families and their friends.

And what I was also trying to get across in our report is that back-end bookers very often get back-end product. It might sometimes be a bit cheaper, but you have far less choice than the front-end early bookers. What you usually get are left-overs that front-end skiers don’t want. Often last minute ‘deals’ are just a way of major package operators off-loading weak stock of flights and beds. It’s just basic demand and supply – there will be monumental growth in demand for a fixed supply of beds so that package operators and resorts will milk this for all it is worth. In difficult economic times this is their single chance to mint money! We at Erna Low advocate that, if you are tied to school holidays, you can get the best deals by self-drive and choosing one of our huge variety of apartments – whilst at the same time avoiding the humiliation of airports and price-gouging .

What you won’t have seen in all these reports are the many options available for skiers who have to watch their budgets. Included in the Credit Crunch report is sensible advice on how to get you skiing this winter without breaking the bank.

We’ve also pulled together our top five credit crunch beating ski holidays and have created a Ski Calculator to help you decide whether booking early or waiting until the last minute is a good idea for you this season.

And as for bunking off school? Well, it’s certainly true that UK and EU half terms are coinciding this year which will make it tougher to secure the accommodations you want in your favourite resorts. But do check with your headmaster or mistress first – somehow I can’t imagine getting away with it just because Erna Low told you to!

Joanna Yellowlees-Bound – CEO Erna Low

Here’s a few of the latest headlines:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/snowandski/5450953/Cost-of-skiing-holidays-expected-to-soar.html
http://www.travelshorthand.com/taking-the-kids-skiing/
http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1136681.php?mpnlog=1
http://www.snowmenu.com/ski-holiday-prices-could-raise-by-more-than-20/

Will this recession finally kill the ski industry?

The answer is ‘No’ according to Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, CEO, Erna Low. Read on for the press release on our findings on why we do not think this is the end of ski holidays.

Will this recession finally kill the ski industry?

Erna Low says: No!

• How Erna Low fared last winter season
• Results of surveys on client base – why we lost and why we gained
• Study of notable trends
• Forecast for next season

With the recession deepening and a big question mark looming over how tour operators will fare next winter, Erna Low has conducted several studies on why our clients changed their holiday habits. Where did we lose bookers? Where did we gain?  Will skiers ski next winter in the light of economic uncertainty? The results are released today in the Erna Low Credit Crunch Report.

The International Passenger Survey predicts that 2009 is likely too see the biggest negative growth for a considerable time and only the second fall in overseas holidays in over a decade (after 2008). However, from the recent studies conducted, Erna Low is confident that skiers will still find a way to keep skiing for years to come.

Notable changes in habit include: choosing less expensive departure dates; opting for self catering packages rather than a catered chalet holiday; a preference to self drive; heading for less expensive resorts with good quality accommodation. Due to Erna Low’s extensive portfolio of accommodation in over 80 resorts worldwide, we are well equipped to offer clients great alternatives when economising on their ski holiday.

Key highlights of our ‘08/09 season survey showed that while Erna Low interestingly lost marginally more clients than were gained, the value of the holiday booked increased, providing a more profitable yield.  With 45% of lost bookers blaming the financial situation for not taking a ski holiday, nearly a quarter of new bookers opted for Erna Low purely for price and excellent value of product. Several responses to our survey stated a move away from the more expensive package operators to Erna Low as a means to keep quality skiing in the recession.

‘The current economic climate did change our plans and we took a self catering rather than hotel option – surprisingly we did find that self drive was very convenient, especially with a family.  It was also a last minute decision encouraged by great snow conditions which meant we felt that the deals available were not too expensive,’ says one happy client who almost decided against taking a ski holiday last season.

Looking at the winter season ahead, Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, CEO of Erna Low states: “Skiers have enjoyed excellent prices this season and have scooped up some considerable bargains but next year is going to be different, and skiers need to be aware of this. Last year the major tour operators and chalet companies did not see the crunch coming, and were badly burnt. They took large bed guarantees and they had to sell, come what may. The only way to do this was to slash their prices. Next season will be very different – greater caution amongst operators and far fewer bed guarantees will result in reduced capacity all round. But this isn’t death to the next ski season – it’s a simple case of good housekeeping to ensure survival.”  

Erna Low has many great tips to help skiers, their friends and families to ski this winter – without breaking the bank! Full results and money saving tips for savvy skiers can be found in the Credit Crunch Report as a download from the press centre on our brand new ski holiday website www.ernalow.co.uk/press-centre .