Coronavirus: Holidays cancelled as France closes all ski resorts months ago
Holidays cancelled as France shuts all ski resorts months early. Ski resorts in France have announced that they will close for the rest of the winter, after the French government announced new measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country. ‘Holiday-makers and professionals, we’re all passionate about skiing and must face up to the seriousness of the situation.’
The announcement came as yet another blow to France’s tourism industry, after it became the latest country to go into lockdown. ‘The ski season ends today,’ Domaines Skiables de France, which group’s the country’s resort operators, said on Twitter. The government said all shops, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and entertainment sites would close from Saturday night.
Most resorts usually close in April or early May and the shutdown comes just three weeks before the French and British school holidays – one of the busiest periods of the season.
The number of infections in France soared past 4,000 yesterday and the death toll climbed to 91. The announcement came as Director of the French health authority Jérome Salomon, confirmed that Europe is ‘the epicentre of the epidemic’.
‘Markets and food shops, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, newspaper and tobacco stores will remain open,’ the prime minister said. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe later announced that France’s shutdown will include all non -essential businesses and although public transport will remain open, he encouraged residents to limit their use, telling them not to travel between towns unless it is necessary.
The decision leaves British skiers and snowboarders stranded in closed resorts in the French Alps awaiting travel home, and many more with their travel plans in tatters. Holidays will have been booked to run well into April, when the season would typically end.
‘Places of worships will remain open, but religious ceremonies and gatherings will be postponed.’
He asked citizens to work from home and to only go outside to buy essential supplies, take light exercise, and vote in this weekend’s local elections.
Ski operators have warned those due to travel on Sunday not to travel to the airport.
The measures in France sees the European ski season all-but end. Last week saw the closure of resorts in Italy, which is now in lockdown, as well as Austria, where a cluster of cases forced resorts such as Ischgl and St Anton into quarantine, and Switzerland, which also closes resorts today. Resorts in Andorra and Norway are also shut....
The prime minister also acknowledged social meetings are at the heart of the country’s culture and that French people find the concept of social distancing repugnant, ‘because we are a people that likes to gather, a joyful people, a people that likes to live together… Maybe even more when fear starts to spread.’
He added: ‘We have seen too many people in cafes and restaurants.
In usual times, this would make me happy. Because this is the France we all love. ‘But for a few weeks, this is not what we should be doing’.
Holidays cancelled as France shuts all ski resorts months early. Ski resorts in France have announced that they will close for the rest of the winter, after the French government announced new measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country. ‘Holiday-makers and professionals, we’re all passionate about skiing and must face up to the seriousness of the situation.’
The announcement came as yet another blow to France’s tourism industry, after it became the latest country to go into lockdown. ‘The ski season ends today,’ Domaines Skiables de France, which group’s the country’s resort operators, said on Twitter. The government said all shops, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and entertainment sites would close from Saturday night.
Most resorts usually close in April or early May and the shutdown comes just three weeks before the French and British school holidays – one of the busiest periods of the season.
The number of infections in France soared past 4,000 yesterday and the death toll climbed to 91. The announcement came as Director of the French health authority Jérome Salomon, confirmed that Europe is ‘the epicentre of the epidemic’.
‘Markets and food shops, pharmacies, gas stations, banks, newspaper and tobacco stores will remain open,’ the prime minister said. Prime Minister Édouard Philippe later announced that France’s shutdown will include all non -essential businesses and although public transport will remain open, he encouraged residents to limit their use, telling them not to travel between towns unless it is necessary.
The decision leaves British skiers and snowboarders stranded in closed resorts in the French Alps awaiting travel home, and many more with their travel plans in tatters. Holidays will have been booked to run well into April, when the season would typically end.
‘Places of worships will remain open, but religious ceremonies and gatherings will be postponed.’
He asked citizens to work from home and to only go outside to buy essential supplies, take light exercise, and vote in this weekend’s local elections.
Ski operators have warned those due to travel on Sunday not to travel to the airport.
The measures in France sees the European ski season all-but end. Last week saw the closure of resorts in Italy, which is now in lockdown, as well as Austria, where a cluster of cases forced resorts such as Ischgl and St Anton into quarantine, and Switzerland, which also closes resorts today. Resorts in Andorra and Norway are also shut....
The prime minister also acknowledged social meetings are at the heart of the country’s culture and that French people find the concept of social distancing repugnant, ‘because we are a people that likes to gather, a joyful people, a people that likes to live together… Maybe even more when fear starts to spread.’
He added: ‘We have seen too many people in cafes and restaurants.
In usual times, this would make me happy. Because this is the France we all love. ‘But for a few weeks, this is not what we should be doing’.
