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Inghams tells customers the popular chalet holiday is safe
Ski operator Inghams says it remains commited to offering chalets and chalet hotels in Austria despite a significant increase to its staffing costs due to the country enforcing its minimum wage on all overseas businesses.
Inghams is the largest UK operator offering chalet-based holidays in Austrian ski resorts, with a total of 4,000 beds, and group head of purchasing Harvey Gahl admitted the new laws had added to its wage bill.
However, he said the chalet and chalet hotel style holidays are very popular with British skiers, so the company will still offer the same number of properties in Austria next winter and the new labour laws won’t hinder its expansion in the country.
Speaking at the International Ski Travel Market in Davos this week, Ghal said: “We decided that we would like to continue with our business model. We have extra costs, but we don’t want to sacrific all the hard work we have put in.”
From this year, Inghams, along with all other UK operators, will have to pay chalet staff and resort reps the Austrian minimum wage and they will no longer be able to offer perks such as accommodation, meals and lift passes in lieu of wages.
He said Inghams was trying to recover some of its extra costs by renegotiating prices with its suppliers in Austria, including property owners, who, he said, understood the need to work with UK operators.
Customers would not face much higher prices this winter, he said, partly because of the rising strength of the pound against the euro.
“Every resort and every property is different, there might be some price increases going forward, but I don’t think they will make people say that they won’t go to Austria as a result,” said Gahl.
He said Inghams wasn’t planning to cut back on staff or on any of its services as a result of the new labour laws, which will also force tour operators to pay tax on staff salaries in Austria for the first time.
Gähl said he is planning to add two new resorts for next winter, which will be available to book online within the next few weeks and they will feature in the main ski brochure, to be launched in June.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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