No Show Of Ski Tourists After No 2007 Snow

European country Andorra was looking forward to a good 2007 season after spending tens of millions of Euros on new and improved facilities for skiiers , hoping to increase the near ten million tourists that have been visiting in previous years.

But the one thing the country really needs to entice ski tourists hdidn't arrive - snow.

Over the last decade Andorra has been blessed with an abundance of snow, making for perfect ski conditions. But while the snow has started falling as early as the last week of October in previous years, none fell until too late for the 2007 ski holiday season.

'The snow making machines worked overtime from the beginning of the season', comment local travel guide YourAndorra.com, continuing 'They allowed a depth of around 20cm of snow for popular Andorra ski resorts like Soldeu, but while it's an effective substitute for many skiiers it's still not the real thing. It allowed skiing in Andorra for people who booked their holidays early, but last minute bookings were well down as people read the ski reports and headed elsewhere.'

Press reports in the UK, Andorra's top market, have indicated that some tour operators cut their prices, some by nearly 50 per cent, to entice the skiiers back to the Principality.

'It really is the market for later in the year from November that's in danger of being hit', say YourAndorra, 'If they see now there isn't much snow in Andorra this will influence their booking even though it could be a different story altogether when they get to go on their ski holiday'.

The ski tourist is also an important factor for the real estate agents in Andorra, with a percentage wanting to buy a holiday home after a visit.

'So far there has been little change in the demand', claim Tribune Properties who specialise in Andorra property for sale 'A lot of the buyers at the moment are those who visited last year, but it might have some impact from mid October onwards 2007'.

Andorra Property

Buying a property in Andorra is often seen as a route to residency, which entitles people to live in Andorra and benefit from her tax haven status.

To obtain residency in Andorra, applications need to be submitted in Catalan. A notarised copy of the applicants passport, birth certificate and a certificate of good conduct from the home country are submitted at the same time. Residency normally takes between three and six months to be approved.

Once residency is granted, residents are supposed to spend six months a year in Andorra, but this isn't policed.

One of the drawbacks for those looking to become a resident in a tax haven when considering Andorra has been that the country has no airport of its own, and is unlikely to have ine future given that it is located in the Pyrenees. The nearest airports are Barcelona and Toulouse.

Recent improvements in the road from Barcelona to Andorra though have cut the travelling time by some thirty minutes to two hours fifteen minutes.

'Given the tax advantages Andorra has', note YourAndorra, 'A two and a quarter hour trip to the nearest international airport could be viewed as a small price to pay for those who will be saving substantial amounts of money in tax. Especially when you consider that their properties could be rising in value quite significantly in the years to come, and for those who like skiing it's a holiday and tax paradise in one!'

For more details about Andorra, including cheap hotels in Barcelona and Crystal ski holidays visit YourAndorra.com