The dry winter weather that has lowered water in Venice's canals and led to New Years' fireworks bans in many areas is also shaking up travel patterns for winter skiers and resorts.
With little snow in many popular ski areas in France, Austria and Switzerland, the Telegraph (UK) reports that advance bookings are down, and even the volume of online searches for ski-sensitive airports such as Geneva, Lyon and Innsbruck are down by as much as 20%.
On the other hand, they report, the numbers are up for people looking for flights only a week or two away, when they can be more sure of where and when there will be snow. Others report that searches and bookings have risen for resort areas at higher elevations, where the situation is better.
That's for the most committed, of course; many others will have passed on snow for this year and made other winter vacation plans. One chalet rental company's officials pointed out that "Although the snow is not great right now in some resorts, the perceived situation is worse, and that’s what counts when it comes to booking."
More pictures (and area specifics) from the Telegraph...click HERE
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