ESCAPE FROM THE ALPS
When extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures
The Ski Club of Great Britain successfully repatriates all Members stranded in the Alps and North America during Covid-19 crisis.
It was a weekend like no other in the Alps: on 14 and 15 March 2020, over 30,000 British skiers had to repatriated almost as soon as they had stepped foot in the mountains. Italian ski resorts had closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic on 9 March yet those in Austria, Switzerland and France appeared open for business, making no official announcements about their closure until Friday 13 at the earliest. Little could those optimistic British skiers who boarded flights to Geneva that weekend know, that they would be spending no more than a few hours in resort before being having to travel straight back home...
Working as part of the Ski Club Holidays team, sales executives Emma McQueen and Julia Jones had already successfully repatriated Members from three trips in Italy, rapidly coordinating with hotels, transfer companies and airlines to make new travel arrangements, and contacted Members booked on trips to the country to cancel their holidays.
Facing the unprecedented chaos that Covid-19 unleashed on the world’s travel industry, McQueen and Jones were also fielding countless queries from Members concerned about forthcoming Freshtracks and Mountain Tracks holidays. “The toughest part for me,” explains Jones, “was when Italy closed but the other Alpine nations hadn’t announced their decisions yet. We were doing our very best to reassure and safeguard our Members but it was basically impossible to inform them about what to do about their future bookings.”
Once the closure of the remaining key Alpine resorts was confirmed, McQueen and Jones were able to swing into repatriation and refund mode. “We had just enough time to forewarn Members travelling to Austria and Switzerland not to fly and we were lucky that we only had one group in France,” McQueen explains. “The announcement was made 1.5 hours after they arrived in Flaine that the country’s resorts were closing the very next morning. Fortunately, the chalet staff were brilliant and helped us to arrange return flights and transfers so our guests were basically back home 24 hours after leaving.”
Members weren’t only at risk of being trapped in the Alps – eight Members were enjoying a trip in Canada when North America went into lockdown. Having enjoyed three days in Marmot Basin, the group had just arrived in Banff when it became clear they had to leave the country. Despite having booked their flights independently from the Ski Club, McQueen and Jones were able to liaise with Air Canada on behalf of the group, helping to issue them with new flights home.
“They didn’t get to ski in Banff but they still sent us biscuits to say thank you!”