The economic crisis is not affecting the Croatian love of skiing holidays.
It seems that in early 2016 numerous Croatian citizens will fill up their cars and cross the western Croatian border, towards one of many European ski resorts, reports Index.hr on October 21, 2015.
“The sale of skiing travel packages has started earlier this year. Compared to previous years, now as much as 50% of our clients choose one of the first-minute offers. By the end of the season, we expect sales to grow by 30%”, said representatives of the Atlas Travel Agency. The agency has significantly expanded its offer compared to previous years, which is another sign that winter holidays are increasingly popular among Croatians.
Most people choose one of the first-minute deals, because they offer savings of up to 30 percent and often include a number of benefits, such as free ski passes. A larger number of interested clients compared to last year has been recorded at the Uniline agency as well, whose representatives acknowledge that they have already exceeded their expectations.
The most popular time slot is the first week of the new year, from January 2 to January 9. As far as destinations are concerned, the most sought after ski resorts are those in Italy, France and Austria. “The most popular ski resorts we offer are Passo Tonale, Marilleva and Val Gardena in Italy, Tignes in France, and Kronplatz and Nassfeld in Austria”, Uniline agency reported.
Of course, all of this costs money, but the agencies are ready to accommodate. Most of them offer payment by credit card, including in several instalments. However, there are a lot of people who pay cash, especially since some agencies offer discounts for such customers.
However, the Best Travel Agency claims that it is not quite true that in recent years the number of travellers has increased. “Every year, there are news about the increased number of sales of ski packages. That is true, but the total number of passengers is just 50 percent compared to 2007. The reason is that in the meantime many agencies have ceased to exist, and they used to sell a lot of ski travel packages”, the agency reported, adding that trips to Austria are less popular then the rest. The reason is the fact that for the price of a six-day ski pass in Austria, you can get transportation, lodging and ski pass for a holiday in France.
