The impact to ski and snowboard holidaymakers is actually probably going to be minimal, certainly in the short-term. Prices may rise as we will discuss further below, but generally it is anticipated that the affects on the consumer will not be too significant in the immediate future, although it may be more challenging further down the line.

Will I Now Need A Visa To Travel

Firstly, we are and we will still be an EU member for the next two years or more. Therefore travelling to Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland is not expected to change for skiers and snowboarders until at least December 2019. On exit, UK passport holders will no longer be part of the EU and therefore may not benefit from the same freedom of movement that exists today. This said, non-EU residents have been travelling to the European Alps relatively freely for several decades. Whilst noting some countries residents are required to arrange Visa’s prior to entry, this unlikely to apply to British Passport holders where it is anticipated that border agreements will be negotiated similar to countries such as Norway. In the latter case a passport is suffice when they enter France, Austria and Italy. 

What about Ski Insurance And Medical Cover

Travelling to Europe with a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) covers most healthcare treatments, but this may change. It of course is not expected to change until we at least exit (forecast 2019 at the earliest – so no real changes expected until then). The above noted, because health cover varies in EU states, and being for example air lifted off the slopes generally isn’t covered by your EHIC, even now, ski insurance is and always has been advisable and will of course continue to be so.

One would hope going forward that a similar arrangement (EHIC) will be negotiated (i.e. The NHS pays Austrian, French or Italian providers and vice versa for their citizens care). But if no similar EHIC agreement is agreed, premiums may rise a little. 

Pricing 

The travel sector was of course badly hit after the economic downturn of 2008, the ski industry no different to other holiday sectors. Slowly and steadily it has been clawing itself back. UK ski business have of course not been exempt from the pain, only recently in many cases returning to more sustainable levels. Despite this recovery, margins remain typically low still today.

Currency Exchange Movements

With many UK ski businesses charging their holidays in pounds, but a large element of their costs being in Euros, any currency fluctuations have either a negative or a positive effect. Economist have suggested the pound may fall in the event of a Brexit vote (i.e. less Euros for your Pound), although the Leave campaign believes it could have the opposite effect. In the worse case scenario, that of the pound falling, we think it will be difficult to absorb the currency effects with out either reducing services or passing them back on to the customer. Holiday prices may therefore rise in line or close to any currency fall.

A lower pound also affects the Euros or Swiss Francs in your pocket, and therefore costs in resort may rise a little too. So lets hope the Leave campaign are right and we can have more, rather than less, in our pockets!

Economic Impact and Supply and Demand

Passing costs on may not of course be straight forward as we have suggested above however. Pricing is of course influenced by supply and demand characteristics too. Whether the economic downturn as a result of Brexit will be as great, or greater than the Remain camp has led us to believe is of course a highly debated subject. But if we assume that at least in the short-term that the UK will fall back into a recession, then this is likely to create a fall in sales (demand) which will create over-supply. Over-supply will undoubtably create a fall in prices which some will argue will be good for consumers. We agree, where margins are high, but where margins are low, such a situation can cause a number of difficulties. If prices fall alongside a falling currency, something will surely have to give. In the first instance it will probably be service, but this can only be reduced to a point, and the likely reality thereafter would be some UK ski companies going out of business, particularly in the highly price competitive sectors.

Would such a consolidation be good? Some may argue it would as there is already over-capacity, but it depends on scale. A small scale culling would probably (except for the failing companies themselves) help operators achieve price equilibrium (a fair price), but a more wholesale change we would suggest won’t be, particularly for the consumer. In the latter scenario the consumer would experience far less choice and if supply decreases significantly (business fail or stop trading in significant numbers), prices would rise as demand exceeds capacity, in simple terms ski holidays may cost a lot more.

It is all very complicated and uncertain, and our advice to all ski and snowboard chalet holidaymakers is to use your credit card when booking, and make sure it covers you against the rare failing businesses that may, on a very limited scale, arise. And better still, also make sure you book with a reputable operator (contact Chalet Ski Holidays for more information).

The End of British Chalet Girls and Boys

Finally, is Brexit the end of the traditional British Chalet girl and boys that British ski holiday makers so love? At this stage it is hard to be sure. Certainly going forward, when British workers are outside the EU, then seeking to work inside it (as would be the cases in Austria, France, and Italy) it is likely to prove far more difficult, including of course the Alps. 

Currently a number of cross border agreements operate outside of the EU for workers under 30, but there is no guarantee this will be the case for the UK. Whatever happens, we can probably reasonably presume that the hurdles will be greater and this will raise costs (and probably prices due to administrative costs) and may create a scarcity of such workers (raising costs again and prices as operators compete for low levels of available workers). Should agreements not be reached, recruitment for UK catered chalet ski holidays are expected to be significant impacted in some form, and such may even spell the end of the catered ski holiday except for the most luxurious of the luxury ski holidays where specialist recruitment could still be affordable and offered.

Where Next

All in all, uncertain times, but no need to panic – next years ski holidays are still going ahead! It is expected to take at least two or three years to negotiate an exit, possibly longer, so for now there is not a great amount that we can, or need to do. Just watch this space of course here at Chalet Ski Holidays where we will keep you informed on future developments.