According to la Depeches du Midi ski resorts are off to a good start this Christmas

Holidays: It is a strong start

Despite the crisis, the French do not want to miss thier winter ski holiday.

If you believe the latest news coming from the Rhone-Alps and the Pyrenees Tourism Confederation, the rate of bookings for the Christmas period, the week of New Year’s Day and early January 2010 were up significantly compared to 2008 for skiing. Tour operators had registered a drop of -7% on their turnover and late bookings - a new trend - worrying professionals. (see our Front Page article on this subject http://pistehors.com/news/ski/comments/0968-perfect-storm-for-ski-resorts/)

The first indicator, accomodation reservation rates are up 10% compared to last year. “The winter looks very good, after two seasons of great skiing the New Year should set records,” according to Pierre-Olivier Toumieux head of Lagrange tourism. Bookings have accelerated over the last 5 weeks.

Reservations are above 70%, with the exception of the Jura, some Pyrenean such as Peyragudes resorts have 100% occupancy. Ski resorts are reporting identical occupancy rates to last year except for the north-alpine resorts. Open since December 5, the Pyrenees ski resorts have had a good start thanks to the Spanish clients. The snow quality and sun have brought in Spanish and local skiers according Confédération pyrénéenne de tourisme (CPT). However there is a drop in visits from British and Russians.b

Bookings are between 50% and 100% for Christmas and between 80% and 100% for the week of New Year. However there is a big increase in last minute bookings so the areas are expecting to do better than last season. Even January has booking between 40-90%

Unfortunately they don’t tell us how the Northern Alps are doing.