With the vote too close to call, there is a strong possibility Britain, or at least England, will vote to exit the EU. What will the impact be on ski holidays after Brexit?
Well, the likelihood is you will be going to Glencoe next season. A lovely ski area it is true, so not all bad news. However a report in the Telegraph sees the price of ski holidays to traditional favourites like France and Austria cost significantly more. Industry insiders reckon it will add at least 10% to the cost of a ski holiday.
Indeed ABTA sees all holidays becoming more problematic after Brexit in a report they have published.
Holidays to non-EU destinations will also cost more if the pound plummets on Brexit, as is widely expected. This could be good news for Bognor.
However, locked into a spiral of higher interest rates, higher high street prices and negative equity as house prices sink, perhaps most Brits won’t be able to afford holidays anyway. At least there will be plenty of low-paid second jobs to take on as the Poles all return home.
And at least they can hear stories of the charms of the Costa Del Sol from grumbling ex-expats, who have had to come home because they can no longer live freely in the EU.
Assuming you can cough up the additional cost of a ski holiday to Europe, many pundits reckon air travel will not only be more expensive, but will involve more hassles and fewer available flights. An alternative is to take the train – many ski resorts have train services right to the slopes (see snowandrail.com). Ironically, many continental rail operators cross-subsidise their domestic services with the profits from their UK franchises, contributing to providing those much higher quality rail services that all the major ski nations in Europe enjoy.
Oh well I don’t ski and since the import of foreign labour pushing wages down can’t afford holidays abroad and I am sure it won’t bother the rich anyway
VOTE OUT
Fair comment. There is always two sides to every argument. I am listening to both, although the justification for exit seems to be thin, or at least lacks informed opinion. I agree the EU needs reform, but also think the future of the UK will always be intertwined with that of it nearest neighbours and wonder if we will all be worse off with Brexit.
I mostly feature winter sports in Switzerland, a country outside the EU. However I know from experience that Switzerland has found itself forced to follow EU regulation without any influence on the decision-making. Of course the UK may not follow the Swiss route, but that leaves few alternative modes. Norway is even more integrated, Russia not at all.