Winter wonderlands
Traditionally a niche market confined to expat snow fans, winter sports as a travel product is growing in popularity as Kathi Everden reports
now in the desert is no longer the strange phenomenon it once was. There was a covering of the white stuff in the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah a few years ago, and plans for a winter resort there remain active if not actioned as yet.
Without a physical product in the region, it was the launch of the first indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates some five years ago that quietly served to excite interest in the cold stuff, introducing snow, ski and snow boarding to a wider audience.
According to Marco Heinrich, regional manager, destination development, Europe & The Americas, for Emirates Holidays, there has been a noticeable shift from mall to mountain: “We are seeing people start at Ski Dubai; try out winter sports in Lebanon and then go on to the slopes in Europe or the United States.”
In addition, the local slopes have proved useful to provide training for the travel trade: “One of the challenges is trade awareness — here we are training our own staff as well as agents, taking them to Ski Dubai just to touch snow and try out a lift, as well as doing product presentations. And we are also planning a Fam trip for our staff next year too.”
Product knowledge is key in the arena of winter sports — agents have to deal either with keen skiers who are well aware of what they need in a destination, or with novice families perhaps trying out a winter holiday for the first time.
In either case, the trade has to offer more than just a flight and hotel to Austria, France or Switzerland.
And while it remains a small market — well under 5% of the total for Emirates Holidays for instance — it has been noted as a market with potential to expand: “The demand for winter sports is still low out of the region, but it is constantly increasing and we think it will become a major trend, even among locals, in the next few years,” says Klaus Ehrenbrandtner, Middle East director for the Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO).
Potential to snow
Those with experience in catering to winter demand point to several areas of potential, where even the least-experienced agency could move in to the sale of snow and the allure of the winter wonderland.
Emirates Holidays’ Heinrich highlights the trend for local Arab travellers to try out a winter product: “Over the past six years, since we launched our dedicated winter holiday brochure, we have noticed that Arabs are starting to travel to ski destinations — not going so much for the sport, but for the winter city atmosphere.
“Although Arabs only make up 20% of our total winter holiday traffic, this has doubled from 10% over the years — and we are selling in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait now too, as well as the UAE.”
In addition, according to Paul Clabburn, group general manager at Bahrain International Travel Group (BIT), there is a growing market for Arab nationals with top-end luxury budgets: “They like to take over quality chalets in well-known, high profile resorts, mostly in Europe — but occasionally in the US, often by those who have been at university there.”
As well as winter sports, Clabburn identifies a market for cold wintry destinations, where both Arab and expat travellers are looking to discover something very different from their Middle East environment: “There is a market not necessarily interested in winter sports but who do want to vacation in the mountains in the snow.”
Clabburn stresses that it is imperative for agents to have knowledge of the different resorts to be able to sell and turn this dream in to a reality — rather than a nightmare — avoiding the concrete resorts that proliferate in France for example, and selling high-end rustic villages nearby or the quaint resorts of Austria and Switzerland.
A ‘winter experience’
This is a trend that is being promoted by Emirates Holidays, whose latest winter brochure, Ski and Winter Holidays, focuses not just on ski resorts and the winter sports but also on ‘winter experiences’.
“Kitzbühel for instance offers high-level skiing, but there are also resorts which cater for family holidays too,” says Heinrich. “Innsbruck has a gondola to the ski slopes so people can stay in the city but experience the views, the temperature and the snow, as well as the shopping.”
For this market — generally Arabs who stay for longer periods up to two weeks — the need is for family activities as well as familiar accommodation, often experienced during a summer break.
“This trend is helped by more brand hotels going in to the market. In resorts such as Zell Am See or Kitzbühel, Arabs go in the summer and there is a comfort factor in knowing the destination well, and that it caters for a Middle East market,” adds Heinrich.
Pre-Christmas, there are further opportunities to really push the festive markets, as well as the multitude of other winter experiences such as horse-drawn sleigh rides, tobogganing or sledging.
Taking to the slopes
But, while the market for snow is widening, the scope to sell to keen skiers — who tend to repeat the experience on an annual basis — is more problematic.
BIT’s Clabburn acknowledges that seasoned winter sport aficionados generally know where they want to go and often rely on the trade only for flight bookings: “They may use an agent to book a package, having specified where they want to go, but a level of knowledge of the product is still necessary.”
“Generally, winter sports vacations are semi-specialised products and awareness among the trade is fairly thin on the ground — although Emirates Holidays has sought to overcome some of these issues with a brochure that offers both the consumer and the trade a point of reference from which to start their enquiries.”
Heinrich points out that experienced skiers might not use an agent for information, rather for travel bookings: “But we have business from expats from outside Europe who might not be familiar with the ski resorts.”
With more than 80% of bookings currently for Austria and Switzerland, Heinrich adds that there is huge potential to offer up something new – perhaps the US or Canada, or a short break to Lebanon.
“Business to the US in general is up because of the new flights, added frequencies and better connectivity — and as for ski, there are many advantages such as good quality snow, lower tree line, less crowded slopes and shorter lines at the ski lifts, with an authentic atmosphere in the resorts.”
For a party wanting the ultimate in good snow and good times, Clabburn recommends Lake Tahoe in California: “The season lasts until May, there are countless areas of groomed piste and virgin terrain in resorts such as Heavenly, Squaw Valley and Soda Springs and the night-time entertainment is world class.”
Locally, the short hop to Lebanon means those wishing to test out the slopes can trial it on a day excursion from Beirut: “Lebanon is a perfect destination to try out skiing, being a short haul destination,” explains Heinrich. “But the product is very different there with small resorts. The trend we have seen is for travellers to base themselves in Beirut so they can travel out to the slopes to ski during the day and then party in the city at night.”
BIT has launched packages to Lebanon in the past two years, and Clabburn says these are proving popular: “Faraya Mzaar has enough ski areas to keep most avid skiers occupied for three to four days, and we are seeing clients combine ski with Beirut and also visits to Baalbek and the Neckar valley.”
Websites such as SkiLeb.com have helped to boost the sector, helping to consolidate ski and accommodation information in one site - with the recent introduction of the Mzaarville family chalets and the Auberge Suisse budget hotel widening the options beyond the reknowned InterContinental Mzaar.
In addition, the destination makes a good introduction to skiing for school and other groups — another area of potential identified by Lebanese inbound operators: “We are seeing group bookings from the GCC, as well as an interest in the incentive packages we offer, and even team building opportunities,” says Joseph Kanakry of Vent Nouveau.
According to Mohsin Z Kidwai, general manager, retail for Orient Travels, there is a limited market for student travel: “We have done some packages, mainly in Switzerland and Austria, which were tailor-made for several higher colleges here and this is a good start in what is a limited market currently.”
Emirates Holidays too has noted this trend: “We are getting interest from groups and schools, and in fact there are ski clubs in Dubai who organise trips,” says Heinrich. “FITs will opt for the smaller hotels we feature in our brochure, but groups need alternative facilities and so we can look for bigger resorts for them — it is definitely a growth sector we are looking at.”
With the interest in ski and winter breaks growing in the local market, product knowledge will be essential for any agent looking to break into the market. This must go well beyond a flight timetable to middle Europe, and encompass elements such as when the season starts, the quality and quantity of snow, the variety of slopes and gradation of difficulty, altitude of the resort, après ski and resort facilities, as well as ski passes, rental equipment, airport-resort transfers and insurance.
Overall, the consensus is that travel for winter breaks, whether for skiing and adventure or more sedate experiences, is set to take off, confirms Heinrich. “We have always recorded an annual increase of between 10 and 20% since we launched. This year, we expect much more as more and more people become curious about winter snow and the opportunities.”