France is No 1 for skiers, says Abta

As the cool nights draw in and business begins to wind down, more and more of us will be turning our attention to winter holidays.

Traditionally, one of the most popular types of holiday has been the skiing trip. This would appear to still be the case, with a report by Crystal Ski Holidays calculating that the ski market grew by three per cent during 2006-07.

Crystal also claimed that France is the number one destination for skiers, with 37.1 per cent of bookings through tour operators being for French destinations. Austrian resorts accounted for 19 per cent of bookings, while Italy and North America claimed 13.8 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively.

These figures have been corroborated by the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), which confirmed that Europe is still the UK's favoured continent for skiing - with France the preferred country.

"Austria used to be the favourite destination but that has changed now," said Frances Tuke, public relations manager at Abta.

"Some time ago, after the French started to build up their resorts, France took over because of the convenience and the sheer scale of the resorts."

Ms Tuke advised holidaymakers planning a skiing break to ensure they have obtained a winter sports add-on to their insurance policy.