Tourists taking ski holidays for the 2009/10 season is almost certainly going to be less than last year, and resorts are adding attractions, offering cut price ski passes, and doing what they can to get a share of what could be a declining market.

 

Andorra is typical of many areas that have enjoyed a good number of tourists visiting in previous years, but now must face up to a sharp decline in the number of people taking ski holidays this winter.

 

Andorra is a small country in the Pyrenees, and skiing is a major part of the country’s revenue. Andorra ski holidays started in the eighties as cheap alternative to ski holidays in France, but in recent years Andorra has spent millions on improving her infrastructure.

 

Included in the upgrade of facilities for Andorra has not only been public spending on roads and improved access to the skiing areas, but private capital investment in some very good quality hotels, with many hotels in Andorra now recognised as of a good international standard and achieving 4 or 5 star status.

 

In recent years Andorra during good economic times has attracted up to 12,000,000 tourists in a year – the peak months being the ski season of December to end March, but increasingly away from ski holidays has drawn hikers and walkers from across Europe during the summer months too.

 

But now Andorra needs to have added attractions during the 2010 ski holidays season to make sure an anticipated drop in visitor numbers isn’t as bad as some fear.

 

Despite Germany and some other European countries coming out of the recession recently, key markets for Andorra including the United Kingdom remain in the doldrums economically, and with Sterling performing badly against the Euro there’s bound to be less British people on the slopes of resorts like Soldeu for 2009/10.

 

One big hope of the ski holidays industry both in Europe and North America is that the Winter Olympics – due to be held in February in Canada – will give a boost to the end of the season with global television coverage of the ski events.

 

And Andorra is staging a music festival in association with Thomas Cook Holidays just a few weeks after the close of the Winter Olympics, which will hopefully see not just some skiers opt for Andorra instead of French ski holidays, but an audience of first time skiers inspired bt the Olympics who might be drawn naturally to a music festival as well.

 

Glastonbury it won’t be, but with household names expected to perform Andorra might for a week at least be the Ibiza of the Pyrenees!

 

More information and travel articles about Andorra are at yourandorra.com and the latest Andorra property for sale is at propertyandorra.com

Tags: andorra, Canada, festival, Glastonbury, holidays, Ibiza, music, olympics, Pyrenees, ski, travel, vacations

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