French ski resorts have seen the number of visitors drop by 4% last winter according to the French Ski Area association: Domaines skiables de France (DSF). The DSF represents 238 ski resorts.
The biggest drop came outside of the main holiday periods with number during the Christmas and the French school holidays between mid-February to mid-March where numbers were similar to last year. However the average, except in the Vosges which lacked snow cover, were similar to the average over the last 4 years. So are the Brits boycotting France due to the dispute over ski guiding? It seems the reason is much simpler, the weather. January and the end of the season saw a lot of poor weather which put off last minute bookings and day trippers. Easter was also late with many ski resorts already closed by the holiday period. Schools in the Alps had a particularly late Easter holiday. Winter was also late to arrive with substantial snow only falling early in January, although high altitude areas were able to operate with snow making. Winter temperatures were +3C above average but their was a lot of precipitation with good snow cover above 1500 meters, where most of the bigger resorts have their ski runs.
France is now worried about losing its number 1 spot which it gained in 2012 and retained in 2013 with 57.9 skier days. There are calls to arrange school holidays to better suit ski resorts; thought to be worth 3%.