The prospect of the U.K’s exit from the E.U and its likely effect on Mountain Heaven and the British ski industry in general.
We the Brits stand on the brink of a once in a generation decision about our membership of the E.U. The issue has split political parties & the general population but fewer industries.
In recent months Mountain Heaven have looked at the prospect of facing a so called ‘Brexit’, as have many businesses trading in and around Europe. We’ve been talking to our friends and colleagues throughout the industry and have noted the recent report from ABTA entitled, ‘What Brexit might mean for U.K Travel’.
We feel we must speak out and offer our conclusion to our customers & online audience in general.
We have concluded that the cost of skiing in Europe will rise significantly if we leave and that Brexit is not at all good for British Skiing.
MD of tour operator Le Ski was quoted as saying
And in speaking to our own M.D at Mountain Heaven, Nick Williams
How skiing in Europe will get more costly, there will be several key changes that will drive this rise in price
Exchange rate – You are likely to get fewer Euros for your pounds if we leave the E.U. This would affect all the costs where pounds become Euros. Whether directly, like your lift pass costing more pounds, or indirectly, like the cost of your holiday going up because your food is bought in Euros.
Imports of goods – The E.U has made it easy for U.K ski companies to move goods out to their chalets without tariffs and charges. Mountain Heaven run vans of supplies like HP Sauce, Marmite & tea bags every year which will likely attract charges without the E.U agreements in place.
Cost of employing chalet hosts – The costs of employing staff in the E.U will rise for all kinds of reasons. Including rising costs to insure them and the possibility of new visa or work permit arrangements from the host country.
Now despite our conclusion we are not saying that we feel the E.U is a flawless institution offering us only benefits and no drawbacks. We understand many of the arguments for leaving, we simply hope those that want us to leave take the travel industry into account.
Infographic
ABTA the U.K’s largest travel association released a press campaign in February highlighting the benefits of our E.U membership on travel within the E.U. The handy infographic below sums this up well.
Your analysis may be correct, indeed to question otherwise might be folly. However, one has to remember some very important facts about the British and holidays, especially skiing. Look at the origins of skiing in France in particular and you might be surprised to see that it was the British who got the French skiing industry going. I am sure that if the rest of Europe were to impose additional costs on British families wishing to travel on holiday, we would vote with our feet, taking our cash and business to other places, like Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Iceland. You name it, the business opportunities for those in the ski industry are not exclusively tied to us being part of Europe. I am sure the French in particular would feel the pain of far fewer Brits holidaying in France, than we would going elsewhere.
“The Ski Holiday will not exist as we know it”
Get a grip.
Project Fear.
So how will it change in Canada, US, Norway, Switzerland, ?? And why would the French let a uk decision wreck their ski industry?
We manage to ski in Switzerland and Norway currently, neither country are in the EU. So Brexit will have no affect on those ski holidays.
If the UK economy grows following Brexit and the EU economy declines without Britain then holidays in Europe will only get cheaper, particularly the services bought in those countries like ski pass, meals, transfers and lessons.
Love skiing, love Europe & France. Been a keen European all my life. Agree with all the financiel arguments regarding leaving the EU. Don’t like most of the Brexit politicians. But, to us it is a one issue argument. If we have uncontrolled immigration England will no longer be our country! Doesn’t matter how well it does . Will just have to accept the extra costs. There is also the problem that if the Euro or employment collapses in Europe, as it seems to be doing, a successfull Britain, remaining in the EU would be absolutely swamped. Increased housing and numbers of cars are already having a very negative effect on our lives. Sorry to put another point of view. Sadly a wonderful project has gone wrong and many ordinary Europeans are feeling the same. It is a real shame some of the EU leaders are not listening to their electorate and making necessary changes. Allow us to control our borders and I one of the the most Pro Europeans you could find. Its all such a shame.
See you on the slopes at Christmas.
John & Peggy