The easing of restrictions on travel mean that the UK’s two largest holiday companies are potentially resuming summer trips to the Alps in August, whilst pushing sales of ski holidays for next winter too.
Inghams say they’re re-starting travel to destinations in Switzerland from 31st July 2021, with Crystal saying their Lakes and Mountains holidays may resume from 15th August, although that’s not yet certain and the company say they are continually reviewing their holiday programme in line with Government updates every three weeks.
Inghams say they are taking people on holiday for the first time since October 2020 and only travelling to destinations when the British government’s Foreign Common Development Office (FCDO) advises it is safe to visit.
“This policy, combined with our covid-19 refund policy and the safety measures we’ve put in place, continues to offer people that extra peace of mind when booking a holiday with us,” said an Inghams spokesperson.
The company says it 7-night holidays in Switzerland for sale this summer from £559pp, based on a week self-catering in the 3-star Solaria Apartments in Davos flying on 18 September 2021 from London Heathrow. Based on 2 adults. Flights from Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London and Manchester are available. For more summer 2021 holidays to France and Switzerland, visit Inghams’ summer deals page.
Switzerland is currently on the FCDO safe list and the country has also removed their arrival quarantine requirement for UK travellers, with double vaccinated travellers also now not required to quarantine on return to the UK when returning from these destinations. Testing is still required when visiting Switzerland but Inghams say they are securing a discounted rate with testing suppliers for their customer’s use.
Both Crystal and Inghams are also pushing ahead with ski holiday sales for next winter with various early booking deals offered by both companies, as well as travel/payment security guarantees.
“We’re well ahead of where we would expect to be at this stage of the year and significantly up vs this time 2019/2020. Many skiers have been denied a season for two years and are desperate to get back to the mountains. We’re seeing strong consumer confidence for this winter from all customer types. That said, there’s still plenty of availability and some great value holidays to be had,” said a spokesperson from Crystal Ski, which currently has a two-for-one deal on lift pass purchases among other deals on offer.
(Image top credit: Inghams / Sergii Mostovyi )
