Chief executive Joe Ponte said customers with March bookings were free to rebook for a later date, push their booking back to the 2021/22 ski season, or opt for a full refund.

It comes after the group announced in November it was suspending its winter 2020/21 chalet programme. This was subsequently followed by updates on its January and February departures.

"Since travel restrictions are set to remain while countries continue to manage the spread of Covid-19 and the rollout of vaccines, we have this week sadly suspended our Inghams, Ski Total and Flexiski holidays until 2 April 2021," said Ponte.

"We absolutely want to help skiers return to the mountains as soon as it is safe to do so, but as the Covid-19 crisis continues to worsen, we are facing the reality that it is sadly looking less and less likely."

Ponte, though, said that with many skiers still keen to hit the slopes this winter, the group wouldn’t throw in the towel on the winter 2020/21 season just yet.

"While we think there is still a possibility that ski holidays could go ahead this season, we will continue to monitor the ever-changing situation closely and keep our customers informed of any updates regarding the remainder of this winter as soon as we can," he said.

"For those customers concerned about their bookings for April, they can feel confident that we will continue to look to do the right thing by them. We have already delayed taking final balance payments until four weeks prior to departure. [And] they are also able to move their holiday to next winter with zero amendment fee if they wish."

Ponte added that thanks to the group’s "in safe hands" Covid guarantee, it was seeing "strong booking numbers" for its winter 2021/22 programme.

"The combined Hotelplan UK brands are already over 45% sold for next winter, well ahead of the same period last year, so people should think about their plans for the next winter now to avoid disappointment," said Ponte.