Ski season will see exodus to Bulgaria as 40% saving tempt 'skint skiers'

New research from leading travel insurance provider InsureandGo (www.insureandgo.com) reveals that skiers and snowboarders can save around 40 per cent on their ski holidays by heading to Bulgaria’s top resort rather than a typical resort in the French Alps this winter. As the Metro Ski and Snowboard Show at London’s Olympia turns our attention to the forthcoming ski season, InsureandGo, which is appearing at the show, is predicting a big increase in Eastern European winter holidays this season.

InsureandGo compared the cost of flights, mid-range three star hotel accommodation and six day lift passes in resorts across Europe and North America over the Christmas to New Year week. It estimates that skiers would spend around £819 on the major elements of a ski holiday in a top Bulgarian resort, compared to £1,366 in a typical French Alpine resort, £1,162 in Austria or £1,045 in Italy.

Despite being the most expensive destination to get to, the US works out slightly cheaper than France in total due to having by far the cheapest hotel accommodation of all the countries surveyed, and a more favourable exchange rate. Countries in the Eurozone have the most expensive hotel accommodation, though they are generally cheaper to fly to.

Perry Wilson, founder of InsureandGo, commented: “Christmas falls conveniently on a Friday this year, so many British skiers and boarders will be looking to get away on Boxing Day for a week on the slopes without losing too many days holiday. Despite signs of economic recovery people are still feeling the pinch, so we predict that many skiers and snowboarders will be taking advantage of the significant savings they can make by going to a country like Bulgaria.

“While people should look to cut as many costs as they can on their ski holiday, we would urge them not to cut back on winter sports travel insurance, as this will be a false economy if they have an accident or lose some luggage along the way. No-one in their right mind wants to start the New Year with a huge medical bill.”

The Metro Ski and Snowboard Show, the world’s largest consumer winter sports show, takes place from October 21st-25th at London Olympia, and features over 270 exhibitors and 40,000 visitors.  InsureandGo’s stand features winter sports themed arcade games and a competition to win five hundred pounds worth of winter sports clothing.

InsureandGo’s annual policies include winter sports cover automatically so they’re the perfect solution for those off to the slopes and also planning a break abroad in the summer.  Kids under 18 are included free. InsureandGo’s winter sports policies cover off-piste skiing and snowboarding automatically as well as activities including tobogganing, snow mobiling and ice-skating.

Standard (Silver) Prices

Europe, including 17 days winter sports
Annual, one adult up to three under 18s = £38
Annual, two adults up to six under 18s = £68

Worldwide including US/CAN and 17 days winter sports
Annual, one adult up to three under 18s = £54
Annual, two adults up to six under 18s = £84

-Ends-

Notes to editors

(1)Information from www.traveladvisor.co.uk and www.hotels.co.uk between 16/10/09 and 19/10/09, analsying a random sample of hotels from a variety of resorts in each country for the period 26/12/09 to 02/01/10.

(2)Flight costs from www.easyjet.co.uk and www.justtheflight.co.uk on 19/10/09, for the period 26/12/09 and 02/01/10 and analysed by InsureandGo

(3)Lift pass prices from resort tourist sites and www.ifyouski.com and analysed by InsureandGo