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The Race for Half-Term Skiing is Heating Up ...

Henry
8 hours ago
4 min read

With ski holidays being released earlier than ever before, new industry data confirms that sooner is better than later to book a halt-term ski trip ...

As I write this in late May 2026, VIP Ski, the luxury ski chalet operator running a number of exclusive sites in France, has announced the release of its slate of ski holidays.

So far, nothing new in that. The Ski Club of Great Britain is busy putting together its Which Recommend Freshtracks holiday programme for next season, and plenty of skiers already have next February half-term and Christmas bookings in the calendar.

But there’s a catch; VIP have opened bookings for 2027/28, not 2026/27, I.E. taking bookings for when the slopes open in 19-months’ time, rather than this coming winter (which have been on sale for some time already..

This isn’t a surprise; earlier booking trends amongst certain age groups, short “attention spans” when thinking about ski trips, and a decline in the variation of booking destinations and patterns have all influenced this decision. And it’s a huge part as to why the competition for peak week skiing - such as half-term or winter break - is now hotter than ever.

People are Spending Less Time Between Thinking About Ski Trips and Booking Them ...

This is a new data set from MTN versus previous years, when there wasn’t this level of granularity available. We have long known that between 40 and 50% of the UK ski market books more than six months in advance (42%, up from 40% last year), although this is both reflective of the market’s composition and a split between different age demographics (more on that later).

What we have learned from this year’s data is that a vast majority of people take between one and three weeks from first thinking about skiing and getting round to booking that holiday. I love this data set, because it reinforces something I have long held to be true; British people love skiing, but don’t have the bandwidth or the interest to care about it other than when they are actually skiing, or a few weeks either side of their holiday.

This provides tour operators and destinations very little time to get their products in front of the UK audience…

People are returning to the same, snow sure destiantions.

… which brings me on to my next point.

A combination of people booking further in advance than ever before – and therefore being unable to follow good snow conditions – and not necessarily having the bandwith to try things new and daring means people are default to what they have done before.

Other bits of data from MTN’s research all back this up; the snow surety of a resort is still the number one choice in selecting a resort (because of this inability to follow good snow); 75% people book the same “type” of holiday each year (tour op vs. independent); and, quite simply, c.65% of skiers ski with family, limiting when they can travel.

People are booking the same holidays to the same type of destinations year on year.

People are Booking Ski Trips Sooner …

As a result of the above, people have been booking their ski trips sooner and sooner. This is particularly true of families; tied to school holiday weeks, and therefore without flexibility to follow the snow, there is a growing tendency to book the same holidays, at the same time each year, to the same, snowsure destinations. As a result, booking more than six months in advance, and returning to the same “types” of holidays (all-inclusive tour operator vs. independent arrangements) is becoming more and more popular.

By booking earlier, families can secure the best possible rates for what are the busiest and most expensive weeks of the season. And with ski holoidays becoming more and more expensive - and price sensitivity remaining as high as ever before – this need to secure the best possible value for your money is as prescient as ever before.

To prove this point, the reverse is also true; this trend is very age dependent and almost exclusively tied to older skiers. When looking at younger skiers, the reverse is true, with a majority of people booking six weeks or less out from their ski trip. This gives them the flexibility to follow the good snow, but also for everyone in the group chat to pull their acts together and RSVP!

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, AirBnB bookings have grown steadily in popularity, this trend in “non-traditional” accommodation booking almost certainly reflecting this trend in younger people moving away from the tour operator model that drives and encourages early bookings.

Final Thoughts

I’ve broken down several batches of consumer research data over the past few years, and the same trends keep cropping up year after year. Price, snow quality and resort size are all key drivers in decision making on when and where to go.

This new data adds some brilliant granularity to the equation, and drives home the challenge facing VIP Ski and UK skiers; booking your hard-sought after half-term ski trip is becoming more and more competitive, as people drift towards the same metrics year after year.

Mix together the reduced mental availability of skiers – both destinations-wise and when booking – and tour ops are faced with an easy choice; build your holidays to snow-sure destinations even way in advance, and they will come …