Keeping payments on-piste for Ski Famille

Launched over 30 years ago, Ski Famille is a multi-award-winning pioneer of family-focused ski holidays. The only operator providing in-chalet childcare, Ski Famille believes that skiing with children can be an enjoyable experience for everyone, with no need to compromise on the resort quality or accommodation. It’s a compelling proposition, but one that was becoming restricted by limited payment options. Ecommpay has changed all that.

The Ski Famille approach

Helping parents enjoy their time on the slopes while their children are safely cared for in their own chalet, Ski Famille delivers a unique and complete holiday package. Ski Famille packages include flights, transfers and catered accommodation, plus in-chalet childcare for those who require it, whether for the day while parents ski or an hour or two of babysitting in the evening. And activities for children are tailored to the family’s requirements, including ski-ing lessons, tobogganing, outdoor play and snow activities, arts and crafts and much more. Ski Famille’s professional carers are qualified nannies, teachers and nurses, all supported by experienced assistants and all recruited by Ski Famille in the UK.

The problem with Travel

However, with many payment providers placing travel businesses in the ‘high risk’ category thanks to external factors such as financial crises, COVID-19 and Icelandic volcanoes, Ski Famille, despite its continued success, faced limited options when it came to offering payment choices to its customers, potentially compromising a seamless booking experience. And with onerous conditions imposed by its existing provider, despite this success, Ski Famille needed to find a new provider – fast.

Ski Famille needed a partner who understood the travel sector, could help the business modernise its payments function, and would help futureproof the business. Highly recommended by booking system supplier, TAS Solutions, Ecommpay met the brief and integrated with the Ski Famille’s existing booking system quickly and seamlessly.

With robust data analytics and a highly skilled team, Ecommpay prides itself on looking at every business as an individual, assessing its credentials and making an informed decision based on the business and its history.

The Ecommpay difference

Partnering with Ecommpay has allowed Ski Famille to integrate modern payment solutions within its existing booking path.

Onboarding and integration were fast and seamless, and Ski Famille didn’t have to make significant changes
Implementation took place quickly, enabling Ski Famille to exit from its other payment partners without incurring additional costs
Just two hours of testing and training was required before the merchant went live

It was an enormous relief to be introduced to Ecommpay; they brought a number of benefits that none of our previous suppliers had offered, and will allow us to keep up with payment trends in the future as they evolve, enabling us to offer the best payment journey possible to our guests. Right from the start we knew that Ecommpay was the right fit for us.

The onboarding experience was smooth, efficient and easy throughout. From agreeing pricing to ‘go live’ took just three weeks. And it didn’t require a high level of technical expertise, which illustrates just how easy Ecommpay made the process.

We have a dedicated account manager and a truly personalised service, so we always know who to contact with any queries and we get immediate responses. The visibility of transactions and statements we receive is much better than we've had before. Plus, we can now offer our guests the kind of payment products, including Google and Apple pay, that will help us evolve and grow in the future. We look forward to adding more products through Ecommpay in the future as our partnership evolves.

Michelle Bristow

Managing Director, Ski Famille