As the ski season wraps up, Max Ski – the leading independent educational travel provider – has announced its most successful season to date.
Max Ski is a family-run, Leeds-based business with over 30 years’ experience designing and delivering bespoke ski trips, providing unique experiences to Europe, North America, and Canada.
In a tough market hit by the cost-of-living crisis, mounting school pressures, and rising fees, Max Ski is bucking the trend, thriving because of its people-first approach. This challenging market means that schools are demanding exceptional educational experiences, better value and enrichment for their students.
A record number of schools have just returned from the latest trip to Italy, and the team is already planning for new and innovative ways to continue its onward trajectory of success.
Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, Max Ski provided more experiences for young people with a 20 per cent growth in the number of trips it delivered this season. This is a particularly impressive figure given that specialist industry body School Travel Forum’s last research reported a drop of 30 per cent in trips abroad against the previous period.
Committed to making the school trip experience more meaningful, Max Ski has piloted new initiatives this season, with experiences to help young people build resilience, self-belief, and a sense of belonging, at a time when experts agree that adolescents are facing growing mental health struggles.
Students were offered the opportunity to attend powerful live talks on mental health, sparking conversations, helping students open up, and challenging the stigma. The provider also launched a new Taskmaster-inspired evening activity, which became an instant hit, bringing students and teachers together in hilarious head-to-head challenges.
Max Ski has recently bolstered its roster of quality accredited accommodation to provide greater choice. Adding new resorts and hotels to its network this year, including: the Explorer Hotel Bad Kleinkirchheimin in Austria and Armon Greenblu Hotel & Wellness in Italy. Each was chosen for its atmosphere, location, and ability to create unforgettable school trips.
Tom Bedford CEO, Max Ski said: “This winter was our biggest ever, with more trips, more destinations, and creating more impact on young people. In a tough market, innovation and creativity is essential, which is why we continue to look at pushing the boundaries of conventional expectations.
“We believe travel can have a huge impact, sparking ambition, building confidence, and opening young people’s eyes to the world and their place in it. We have lots of plans for further innovation to build learning experiences outside the classroom to make each and every trip much more meaningful for young people.”
Other firsts for the firm this year include corporate social responsibility initiatives, Max Ski joins One for the City, a Leeds-based charity inviting businesses to pledge one per cent of their revenue to local causes. It’s a movement that supports an inclusive economy, positive change, and meaningful impact.
It has also partnered with climate action platform Ecologi and is planting a tree for every single traveller through the partnership. Team members are also training with the Carbon Literacy Project to deepen its understanding of climate responsibility in travel.
In addition, its Compliance Director, Sarah Jane Corani, is taking a role with the leading body School Travel Forum, as part of its commitment to help shaping the future of educational travel.
Outside of the ski arena, there has been a growing demand by Max Ski’s customers who want to apply its tailored approach to a broader range of subjects and destinations. The team is already developing cultural tours to South Korea, Performing Arts trips to New York, and has delivered competitive sporting adventures such as Netball in Barbados and Rugby in Italy.
