Snowboarders and skiers enjoy a run at the Shanghai L+SNOW Indoor Skiing Theme Resort, one of the world’s largest indoor ski resorts. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
China’s booming ski industry chalked up another year of growth in the latest season, helped by an increase in ski visits as well as the opening of new indoor and outdoor ski resorts, an annual industry survey reported recently.
The number of ski visits at domestic ski resorts climbed by nearly 13% in the year ending April 30 to 26 million, according to the China Ski Industry White Paper. The increase was led by visits at indoor ski resorts, which grew by 15% to 5.6 million – or more than a fifth of the country’s total.
The overall number of China ski resorts open to the public increased by 4% from a year earlier to 748, including 22 new ones and seven previously closed facilities that reopened, the report said. Growth in the number of new indoor resorts had the biggest percentage increase, with six opening in the last year, bringing the country’s total to 66 — more than double the 31 indoor resorts that China had in 2020.
“Indoor ski resorts are experiencing a comprehensive and unstoppable surge, becoming a key player in the Chinese ski market,” wrote report author Benny Wu. China today accounts for seven of the world’s largest indoor ski resorts – only SnowWorld Landgraaf in the Netherlands, Alpincenter Hamburg-Wittenberg in Germany and Ski Dubai in the UAE made the global top 10 from outside of China, according to the report. Shenzhen, China’s southern tech hub located north of Hong Kong, has ambitious plans to become home to the world’s largest indoor ski facility with the opening of the massive Qianhai Snow World before the end of this year.
Winter sports received a government policy boost following China’s successful 2015 bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. China won a country record 15 medals in the games; the government plans to grow China’s “ice and snow economy” to more than $208 billion by 2030, with particular focuses on winter sports, tourism and equipment manufacturing, according to the government-published China Daily.
Among Chinese companies eyeing winter sports growth has been sportswear maker Anta Sports, chaired by billionaire Ding Shizhong. An Anta-led group purchased Europe-based Amer Sports in 2019, gaining ownership of some of the world’s most popular ski brands including Arc’teryx, Salomon and Atomic. Amer’s shares have as much as tripled since it listed on the Nasdaq at $13 per share last year. Other investors in Amer include China’s FountainVest Partners and Canadian billionaire Chip Wilson, the founder of fashion brand lululemon. Among U.S. firms with a large China ski industry presence, Vermont-based snowboard maker Burton is the No. 1 snowboard brand in the country, the China Ski Industry White Paper said.
Heilongjiang, Xinjiang and Hebei topped provinces with the most ski resorts; Jilin, Hebei and Xinjiang led the ranks in number of ski visits. “Ultimately, the majority of the ski market will be concentrated in major destination skiing areas such as Jilin Province, Altay in Xinjiang, and Chongli in Hebei,” Wu wrote.
Relatively snow-poor Zhejiang had nine indoor resorts in the latest year, tops among China’s provinces, followed by Hunan and Jiangsu. Shanghai L+SNOW and Harbin BONSKI tied for China’s largest indoor resorts – as well as the world’s – last year with a 65,000 square meters of snow area.
China’s growth in indoor ski resorts is in line with an overall increase in their business globally. Globally, the indoor slope market will grow from $10.3 billion in 2024 to $22.3 billion by 2034, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 8%, according to a report by Business Research Insights.
After Burton, Salomon and Nitro were the top three snowboard brands in China last year; Atomic, Head and Fischer topped traditional downhill ski brands, the China Ski Industry White Paper said.
China’s growing interest in winter sports has opened new space its sports and tourism exchanges with countries where skiing is popular. Chen Li, the consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in New York, said in a post in July after a visit to Vermont: “Since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, winter sports have exploded in China. China’s already reached its goal of getting 300 million people involved. I would love to see more Vermont resorts bring their managerial expertise to and tap into the Chinese market, and I can’t wait for more Chinese skiers to discover and fall in love with Vermont’s trails—and probably its hot cocoa too.”