Managing director Chris Logan said the operator had seen “continued growth” year-on-year, despite some believing the market was retracting.
He forecast the operator would sell around 200,000 packages this winter, 20% more than it did in 2019. “We’re bigger than pre-Covid – we will grow by 10% this year,” he said.
“We’re really pleased with how things have gone in the past couple of years. We have added resort after resort. We had 100 only three years ago – it’s 150 now.”
Last year, one of Crystal’s rivals Inghams said the ski industry faced a “disaster” over the next few decades due to climate change.
Logan said: “We have to acknowledge in the long term, climate change will have an impact. Medium term – in the next five to 10 years – I think we will see variable snow conditions.
"Resorts are investing heavily in making sure they are snow sure with snow-making facilities, so medium term I think the ski industry will be largely unaffected. We are the only ones to offer a snow promise.”
Crystal is also expanding in the Nordic region, which has reliable snow. New this season is a Manchester-Oslo charter following a successful Gatwick flight to the Norwegian capital last year. Crystal now features seven resorts there, with the addition of Gausta this season. “It is absolutely snow-sure,” Logan said.
Norway’s popularity has led to the inclusion of three resorts in Sweden for 2025/26 with the option of sled transfers from Scandinavian Mountains airport, which is served by a Gatwick charter.
Crystal also plans to offer clients many more non-fly options. “There’s a huge, huge market of people who drive, predominantly to the French Alps," he added. "In the past, we did a lot on Eurostar, but that was to Bourg-St-Maurice [the gateway to many Alpine resorts] and we don’t have that at the moment.”
Eurostar stopped its direct London to Bourg-St-Maurice ski train during the pandemic, but does offer services serving the Alps via a change at Lille.
