One of Britain’s largest tour operators, Mark Warner has requested their holidaymakers to pay more for their ski break this winter, despite having already booked.
Up to £50 per head has been added to pre-booked holidays with the tour operator.
Mark Warner has a clause which allows it to add up to 10 per cent to the holiday price without having to offer any refunds.
David Hopkins, Managing Director wrote to his clients that, it will be necessary and unavoidable for them, for the first time in many years, to invoke the surcharge clause contained within their contractual terms and conditions.
The slide of sterling since the Brexit result is the likely cause, with the pound now worth €1.19 compared to €1.31 in May.
The company is just the latest in a growing list of operators to ask customers for more money since the referendum on EU membership.
One of the company’s customers has learned her £869 per head family holiday to a chalet hotel in Meribel in mid-January will be hit with the surcharge. The same holiday is currently advertised for £859 per head for new customers.
According to experts, other ski companies will likely enforce the surcharge too.
Association of British Travel Agents, whose members must seek its permission before activating the clause, keeps a record of companies currently surcharging. Since the referendum, the list’s membership has risen from none to seven, four of which sell winter holidays, and all are linked to currency. Mark Warner does not appear on the list as it is not a member of Abta.
Noel Josephides, chairman of Abta said that, he would expect more ski firms to follow suit, because margins are slim.
More Britons have been encouraged to take “staycations” instead of spending Christmas abroad.
The latest research by Visit Britain, the UK’s official tourist organisation, suggests incoming flights are up 10 per cent compared with last Christmas.
Meanwhile accommodation bookings are up by nearly 20 per cent year-on-year.
