10 years. It’s been quite a journey!
Back in 2016, when Snowcompare was founded, I certainly didn’t imagine that a decade later we’d be celebrating 10 years of helping thousands of skiers and snowboarders get from the airport to the mountains.
There have been plenty of ups and downs along the way — and that’s where I’ll stop with the puns sorry..
As Snowcompare reaches its tenth birthday, I thought it was a good time to look back at where it all started, the biggest challenge we faced, what we’ve achieved since, and where we’re hoping to go next.
Where it all began
Snowcompare started with a fairly simple observation.
Having previously set up Snowbus and spent several seasons working in ski resorts including Alpe d’Huez and Tignes, I’d seen first-hand how important reliable airport transfers were to a ski holiday.
While Snowbus,co.uk had been moderately successful in operating a low-cost shared-transfer model it was becoming increasingly difficult to organise the logistics side of things while working with notoriously unpredictable mountain roads. It seemed as though more and more groups were looking for private transfers that were both reliable and reasonably priced, but they weren’t as readily available as was needed.
Equally, drivers and private operators in France were struggling to connect with UK tourists.
There were plenty of excellent local taxi and transfer companies in the Alps who knew their regions inside out and provided fantastic service, but who didn’t necessarily have the time or knowledge to find customers from the UK and beyond.
Snowcompare was created to bring these two sides together and the idea was simple. To give customers an easy way to compare private ski transfers from trusted local companies, while giving those companies a way to reach more customers without heavy investment on their side.
Ten years later, that basic principle is still at the heart of what we do.
Then came COVID…
Of course, no story about the last ten years would be complete without mentioning the biggest hurdle we faced.
Just as Snowcompare was beginning to establish itself and grow, all international travel was stopped.
For a business built around getting people from airports to ski resorts, travel bans were about as serious a problem as you could imagine and there was a very real point during the pandemic when Snowcompare could have disappeared altogether.
We effectively lost the whole winter season to covid. Ski resorts were closed, international travel was heavily restricted, and there was simply no knowing when things would return to normal, but we made the decision to hang on.
It wasn’t necessarily an easy decision, but we believed there was still a future for Snowcompare if we could get through the other side. Eventually, European ski resorts began reopening, and it marked the beginning of a new chapter for us.
Snowbus and the old shared-transfer business didn’t return, but Snowcompare did. And, in hindsight, surviving that period turned out to be one of the most important moments in the company’s history.
The comeback
Perhaps the biggest milestone of the last ten years wasn’t when we launched.
It wasn’t hitting our first big booking target or adding another destination.
It was what happened after covid.
When ski travel returned, we saw something we couldn’t have predicted with any certainty during those difficult months: demand came back in a big way. Booking numbers increased dramatically as skiers who had missed their holidays came back, and suddenly the business we’d fought so hard to keep alive was growing faster than ever.
In the seasons since, we’ve been able to help thousands of skiers and snowboarders arrange their journeys to the mountains and for a business that came so close to closing during covid, those numbers mean a lot.
They represent far more than bookings on a spreadsheet. They represent families arriving at their first ski holiday, groups of friends heading back to a favourite resort, couples escaping to the mountains, and skiers getting that first glimpse of the Alps through a transfer van window.
And we’re incredibly grateful that so many of those people have chosen Snowcompare.
It’s always been about the partners
One of the things I’ve become increasingly convinced of over the last ten years is that a comparison website is only as good as the companies behind it.
We don’t operate the vehicles ourselves. We work with local transfer companies who know their roads, airports and resorts better than anyone.
Finding the right partners — reliable, professional, properly licensed companies that genuinely care about their customers — has therefore been one of the most important parts of building Snowcompare.
It’s also why our plans for the next ten years aren’t simply about being everywhere.
They’re about being really good in the places where we operate.
The next 10 years
So, what does the next decade look like?
France will remain a major focus for us.
We’ve built some fantastic relationships in the French Alps, and we want to consolidate that offering by continuing to work with the best partners in each region and ensuring that our customers have access to excellent local transfer services.
At the same time, we’re looking to expand what Snowcompare offers in Italy, Switzerland and Austria.
There are some incredible ski destinations across these countries, and we want to make it easier for our customers to compare and book reliable transfers there too.
But Snowcompare isn’t the only project we’re working on.
From snow to sunshine
Over the coming years, we’re also looking to grow our sister website, Suncompare.com.
The idea behind Suncompare is similar to Snowcompare, but with a summer twist.
During July and August, the mountains don’t disappear — they simply look a little different.
The French Alps and other mountain regions become destinations for hiking, cycling, sightseeing, outdoor adventures and summer holidays. And, of course, the South of France becomes an incredibly popular destination in its own right.
We’re planning to develop Suncompare’s private transfer offering across the mountains and the South of France, giving travellers an easy way to arrange reliable transfers during the summer months.
In other words, we’re hoping to spend the next ten years helping people get to the mountains whether they’re covered in snow or sunshine.
A personal thank you
Looking back at the last ten years, I’m incredibly proud of how far Snowcompare has come.
What started as an idea to solve a problem in the ski-transfer market has survived some pretty extraordinary circumstances and grown into a business that now helps thousands of people every year.
But businesses aren’t built by websites alone.
They’re built by people.
So I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our transfer partners who have supported us over the years, to everyone who has worked with us, and most importantly, to every customer who has trusted Snowcompare with an important part of their holiday.
Your feedback, recommendations and repeat bookings have helped us get to where we are today.
And while ten years is certainly something worth celebrating, we’re not finished yet.
There are more resorts to discover, more great partners to work with, more skiers to help and, hopefully, plenty more snowy adventures ahead.
Here’s to the first 10 years of Snowcompare — and to the next 10.
Dave
Founder & Managing Director
Snowcompare
