Erna Low (28 July 1909 – 12 February 2002) was a British/Austrian Jewish businesswoman who settled in England and is best known for her work in the ski travel industry.
She became the Austrian javelin champion[3] before moving to England in 1931, with ten borrowed pounds in her pocket, to research a PhD thesis on Lord de Tabley, a Victorian poet and botanist.
[4][5][6][7] During her studies, Low traced the grandchildren of de Tabley and was invited to stay at the family home in Knutsford, Cheshire.
[11] The outbreak of World War II made ski trips to Austria impossible, so Low planned alternative visits to Switzerland.
For much of the war she worked for the BBC in Worcestershire where she would monitor German broadcasts for the Intelligence Service,[12] but she disliked this role and chose to become a lecturer in the Army Education Corps.
Low recognised that families were separated by war service and offered the opportunity for people to meet one another at Christmas.
She became the official representative in the UK of resorts at La Plagne, Les Arcs and Flaine, while she was decorated for her services to tourism by France, Italy and Austria.
[27] Low continued to work in the 1990s and gained membership of the Chartered Institute of Marketing for her feasibility study on Strathpeffer.
She was also the vice-president of both the Kensington Chamber of Commerce and Women of the Year Association, and won a 'Women Mean Business' award at the age of 83.
“Just as Erna favoured me to take over her life’s work, I am now delighted to pass on the mantle to the next generation, and who better than an innovative and thriving ski company such as NUCO Travel, which I have known since its inception and where I am a minority shareholder.