Montgenevre is an excellent destination for a family ski holiday in 2012

The resort is on the French/Italian border and offers holidaymakers the opportunity to ski in 2 countries. Montgeneve lays claim to being the first ski resort in France and hosted the first international ski competition in 1907 whilst more recent competitive skiing in the area was the 2006 Winter Olympics. The facilities in the resort are excellent and the skiing offers a wide range of runs to suit skiers of all ability. The village height is 1860m and this ensures that it has an enviable snow record. It is part of the famous Milky Way which also includes the Italian resorts of Sestriere, Claviere and Sauze D’oulx. In aggregate, the ski area has 400km of pistes which should keep most “distance hungry” skiers satisfied. The resort has a warm convivial atmosphere which has benefitted from the re-routing of the main road so that only local traffic now comes into Montgenevre – the lorries and through traffic travel underground in the tunnel and are not seen or heard!
Parents benefit from an excellent range of child care options with child care available for children from 6 months to 6 years.



The large area devoted to the children will bring a satisfied smile to the parents as they head away up the mountain knowing the children will have great fun.
Montgenevre has a range of bars and restaurants but this is not party town – this is a family ski resort where the afternoon will be spent enjoying the Monty Express toboggan run or sledging on the slopes that run back in front of the resort centre.


Why take the family to Montgenevre?

• Short transfers from Turin
• Many accommodations just moments from the slopes
• Recognised as the best value ski resort in the French Alps
• Awarded the prestigious “Famille plus Montagne” in recognition of its family credentials
• Excellent snow record allowing early December and late April skiing – great for the budget too

Getting to Montgenevre

Montgenevre is easy to get to by plane train or car and packages are available from a range of tour operators including Zenith Holidays.
Access details:
Travel by train: SNCF to Briancon (12km) or TGV to Oulx (20km)
Travel by plane : Turin 107km (1¼ hrs), Chambery 155km (1½ hrs), Grenoble 222km (2 hrs)

For more information on the resort or to enquire, do email doingmore@ZenithHolidays.co.uk

Blog article written by Stuart McLeod, Zenith Holidays

Low cost airline EasyJet flies into Salzburg

EasyJet has just announced that they will begin operating a new route to Salzburg this winter from London Luton. The inaugural flight to Salzburg will depart on Saturday 17 December and will fly twice weekly, with fares starting from £27.99 (one way including taxes).

From Thursday 16 June more than 9,000 seats will be on sale on easyJet’s 33rd route from Luton Airport.

Salzburg is a popular European destinations for alpine skiers.

EasyJet is quoted as saying “Salzburg is an attractive destination which will appeal to many holiday makers. From its musical heritage and stunning architecture through to its ski offering I’m sure it will tick many boxes for the discerning traveller.”

The new Salzburg route increases the choice of ski destinations including; Geneva and Grenoble.

ski resorts near Salzburg Airport by J2Ski.com

A round up of the skiing industry - 2011

A summary of the 2011 International report on mountain tourism

The world ski market of Alpine Skiing is enjoyed in some 80 countries internationally. There maybe many more snow fields around the world but just counting ski resorts with at least 5 ski lifts, there are currently around 2,000 ski resorts.

The numbers skiing have remained stable over the last ten years, estimated at around 400 million skiers visits around the world. The Alps are still the leading international destination, attracting 45% of skier visits. North America is the second most popular attracting 23% and until recently Asia-Pacific attracted similar numbers but has recently seen a decline in skiing in Japan which has not been replaced with the increasing levels of skiing in South Korea or China. It is predicted however, that India and Pakistan may in the longer term, contribute to rising numbers in this region. Finally, the "Non-Alpine" skiing resorts in Northern, Southern and Western Europe (classed as Western Europe) attract about 11% of the market, albeit spread across a lot of smaller resorts.

The report also estimates the total number of skiers in the world by their country of origin which makes interesting predictions for the future growth of the industry. The total number of Alpine skiers in the world is estimated, according to visitor levels in different countries and how often their citizens practise skiing, at an increased figure in 2011 of 110 million Alpine skiers. Eastern European and Asia-Pacific account for 33% of the world's skiers but they only attract 21% of the world skier visits to their resorts, suggesting potential growth in the further. Skiing in China and similar countries are predicted to have increased skiers visits over the next decade with numbers in 2020 reaching the same level as their own numbers of skiers i.e.; 33%.

So assuming that this growth over the next decade in Asia-Pacific does not affect the visits to Western Europe, total international skier visits could potentially rise from 400 million to 410 million between now and 2020.

Onto general observations now. The USA, Japan and France offer the greatest number of actual ski resorts (with at least 5 ski lifts), with 200 areas identified. Germany has a significant number of basic skiing areas, the majority are very small and are not considered to be ski resorts according to the above definition. Only Austria and France are home to more than 10 resorts that attract over one million skiers visits per season. France, Austria and USA have the most ski lifts, each with around 3,000 and they are also the most visited countries attracting more than 50 million skier visits. USA being the most but followed very closely by the other two, who could very soon equal it.

Austria, Norway and Switzerland have the highest levels of their own population skiing, with at least 25% skiing. USA, Germany and France account for the greatest number, with each country having approx. 12 million of their population skiing, largely due to their larger sizes. The majority of skiers in most countries are, in fact, not foreign as foreign visitors only contribute marginally to skiing visitor numbers. The exceptions are Andorra, Austria and Switzerland where international skiers account for between 50-95% of skiers visits.





Reference: Laurent Vanat: 2011 International report on mountain tourism