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The Luxury Conversation

Skiing is one Western import that has enjoyed strong government support in mainland China.
A learned leisure activity, skiing sits in the cluster of “high-end lifestyle” activities along with yoga, golf, horse riding and the appreciation of cheese.
Like all of those things – and countless other industries – skiing has been transformed in the country from something that was unknown just a decade ago into a booming industry.
Skiing benefits from its association with the patriotic glory of global sporting occasions – in this case the Winter Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing in 2022 – and magnificent declarations involving high population numbers and the unabashed use of metaphors: China’s bidding slogan for the Games was to “put 300 million people on ice and snow”.
While China was far from the top 10 [skiing] markets just five years ago, it is now the eighth biggest in the world with 20 million visits per year
Sebastien Portes, Club Med, Hong Kong and Taiwan
The “300 million people” (presumably all of them willing) ambition was quoted twice further in China’s five-year plan; once within “the National Fitness Program (2011-2015)” and the second as the headline project “Implementation of 300 million people on ice and snow (2018-2022)”.
According to The Beijing News newspaper, the national-level development of the snow and ski industries are part of a grander scheme: making Chinese people healthier.
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While the market is still in its infancy, it is set for dramatic change. Travel Daily website reported that China’s skiing enthusiasts in 2017 accounted for only 1 per cent of the total population, and the frequency per person was 1.08 times.
The relative skiing population in Austria accounts for 36 per cent, with a skiing frequency at 5.9 times per person. In Japan, the skiing population is 9 per cent, with an average skiing frequency at 2.5 times per person.
China’s successful bidding slogan for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games was to 'put 300 million people on ice and snow'
However, with travel, fitness and wellness all rising industries and the Chinese population continuing to grow in terms of wealth and spending power, the avalanche of Chinese skiers will soon hit the market.

A report, “The Future of Chinese Ski Tourism”, written by ski tourism professional Fabio Ries only five years ago, described a non-existent ski culture.
Yet a report by Ctrip and the Chinese Tourism Academy reveals that in the relative blink of an eye, the number of snow tourists has reached 197 million during the 2017-2018 winter season, and the revenue about 330 billion yuan (US$49 billion) – respectively 16 per cent and 22 per cent year-on-year increases.
'The Future of Chinese Ski Tourism' report, written by ski tourism professional Fabio Ries only five years ago, described a non-existent ski culture


Over the past 18 months, China has opened the world’s largest indoor ski resort and begun to develop a resort in Shanghai which will be even bigger still.
The Ctrip report predicts the number of Chinese snow tourists will reach 340 million during the 2021-2022 season, with growth, predictably enough, coming from the post-90 and post-00 generations.
Skiing is firmly in the aspirational checklist and the sport is set to become a readily-available pastime.
As China’s younger generations are keen to explore the fun, selfie-friendly world of snow holidays, how are smart brands adapting to their needs?
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The ‘Ski +’ experience  
While skiing itself has both the seal of official approval and is the anchor to a holiday, Chinese travellers have a long list of other needs (all of which they want to catalogue on their social media).
A holiday among ice and snow means a romantic snowy backdrop, food tourism to socially renowned venues and definitely a visit to a hot spring jacuzzi.
Economic Information Daily has noted the popularity of “snow theme holidays”, as Chinese travellers don’t live on the piste, but prefer packages such as “snow + hot springs”, “snow + folk customs” or “snow + culinary tours” as some of the best-performing options.
According to Ctrip’s 2018 booking data, the most popular ski destinations for Chinese tourists are Japan, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland and the United States.
Chinese travellers have long adored Japan’s refined cuisine, meticulous service, sleek architecture and abundant shopping opportunities ... so clever Japanese resorts know they need to appeal to non-skiers
Japan, with its geographical proximity to China and a “similar but different” cultural charm for Chinese topped the popularity chart with a much higher booking rate than second-placed Switzerland.
Chinese travellers have long adored Japan’s refined cuisine, meticulous service, sleek architecture and abundant shopping opportunities.
Clever resorts in Japan realise that, rather than hype up the quality of the powdery snow or angle of the mountain, they actually need to appeal to non-skiers.

Tomamu resort, a popular choice among Chinese travellers in Japan’s Hokkaido region, epitomises the definition of an Asian-friendly snow experience.
Above all, it offers a rich experience for the non-skier demographic, enlarging the target group from skiers to those that just want to relax in a wintry location.
The resort’s package “snow holiday for non-skier ladies” allows female tourists to enjoy snow-themed spa treatments, hot spring sessions, and snow-themed dining that highlight food styled in the form of snowflakes and what have you.
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Tomamu invited Bazaar China to snap popular male actors Hu Ge and Wallace Huo at its resort, winning the hearts of young Chinese women in return.
The legions of fans of Chinese celebrities are eager to follow in the footsteps of their idols: on the e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu/Little Red Book, the forest-themed restaurant where the photo shoot took place trended in user-generated content.

Even further afield, the popular, more luxurious ski resorts focus on their most photogenic aspect as their marketing halo.
Zermatt, in Switzerland, offers international-level skiing facilities alongside “old world” ski culture. Differing from Hokkaido’s mass-market appeal, Zermatt has the travel-insider sheen that’s much coveted by trend-driven Chinese millennials.
Deluxe Western dining, photo-op pool, and a social-friendly post of a Toblerone chocolate next to the Matterhorn make Zermatt a not-to-be-missed experience for affluent millennials
Among the 1,500 plus posts shared on Little Red Book, keywords such as “fairy tale” and “Toblerone chocolate” frequently appear, as many recognise Zermatt’s Matterhorn Mountain as the “chocolate mountain”.
Deluxe Western dining, photo-op pool, and the social-friendly post of a Toblerone chocolate next to the Matterhorn make a trip to Zermatt a not-to-be-missed experience for the affluent millennial group.

As well as speaking to Chinese travellers who are considering a snow holiday for the first time, customers need the same quality of communications when they are actually there.
There are resorts overseas that are already strong with WeChat mini-program use, such as Banff and Lake Louise – not only does this mean that they can give Chinese guidance on the resort, nearby tourism and ski safety, but the power of WeChat social customer relationship management means that a mini-program can integrate things such a loyalty programmes and social sharing functions.
Club Med: Leading ski industry strategy in China  
Club Med is one brand that’s wise to the impending ski boom, building new resorts and teaming up with renowned French ski school Ecole du ski Francais (ESF) at its resorts in China.
You can’t expect that the Chinese ski traveller will immediately go to the resorts in Europe with the highest quality facilities
Sebastien Portes
We spoke to Sebastien Portes, general manager Hong Kong & Taiwan and strategic director Mountain Asia at Club Med, to learn more about Club Med’s China strategy.
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How has your China strategy developed in recent years?  
While China was far from the top 10 market just five years ago, it is now the eighth biggest in the world with 20 million visits per year.
It is rising due to different factors; of course mainly government support and massive investment in the infrastructure and promotion – they are even promoting skiing in schools.
Yet while the short-term growth will boom, the question is what will happen after the 2022 Olympics. What we are doing now is to reinforce the foundations of skiing in China – ensuring quality infrastructure so that the customer will come back. We need to ensure qualitative growth.
Currently there are around 750 ski resorts in China, 95 per cent of which are small venues, close to big cities where visitors go for to to three hours only. If the quality of the venue – the facilities and everything – is not good, and the ski instruction is not good, they are very unlikely to return. More than half of the ski instructors in such places don’t even have the right certification and barely any real ski experience.
Skiing is one Western import that has enjoyed strong government support in China
Therefore, Club Med is focusing on our mission to improve this entire experience.
We have partnered with the biggest ski school in the world, the French ski school ESF, starting with ski venues in Beijing and Chongqing, where there are properties closer to urban or residential areas.
We work as consultants for the existing ski schools on these small domains to raise the level of instruction and train with French teaching methods. This goes far beyond our core business but it’s what we believe will improve the first ski experience and create loyalty.
For the customer that wants to travel in mainland China for a skiing holiday – the 2-3 per cent, more affluent segment of the population – we are developing new properties: Club Med Yabuli opened in 2011, Cub Med Beidahu opened in 2017 and we will open Club Med Thaiwoo in 2021.
Our instructors are trained by ESF and the holiday experience is also more diversified – not only skiing but also sledges, snow walks, and a variety of different snow activities suitable for a four- to five-night stay.
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For the real niche – existing ski lovers in China – we think their passion will be reinforced by a long-haul business.
We are developing the flow from China to Europe – 20 ski resorts in the French, Italian and Swiss Alps. The quality of everything is really, really top-notch and we can develop a true “addiction” to skiing. This prepares us for the future of the market as a five-plus year plan – and then on from Europe to Canada and Northern America.
How do the requirements for Chinese guests compare with those for other guests?  
There are a lot of adaptations needed. Usually in Club Med, the stays are fixed at seven nights long. This gives them six full days of skiing.
The whole season has been structured in this way before, but this is not suitable for a Chinese guest as they like to visit new places, go shopping in Paris or Milan and so on – and so we created special short stays for the Chinese traveller.
In three of the resorts in the Alps we have three- or four-nights' stay options to give more flexibility and a “lighter” programme to the Chinese travellers who want city stays and so on in Europe.
Within the properties, of course we have many Chinese hotel staff in key areas – reception and so on, but also Chinese chefs to make sure that the Chinese food options – at all times of the day – are authentic.
We also ensure that Chinese staff are in the kids club so that they can take care of the children in Mandarin. That’s the HR pillar.
In terms of services and amenities, we also fully customise the amenities in the rooms. Also, the resort apps are integrated within WeChat so that Chinese guests can navigate the resort information, schedule activities and so on, all in WeChat as they prefer.
How are luxury brands appealing to Chinese millennials?
What have been some of the most successful messages or communications that have hit the right target consumer?  
The starting point is to use the ski schools to speak to the beginner. Then, there is a strategy for us to capture the flow of Chinese skiers at different levels. You can’t expect that the Chinese ski traveller will immediately go to the resorts in Europe with the highest quality facilities.
It is more realistic that the more accessible ski properties near Chinese cities – where we have the French training school collaboration – will prompt visits within China, which will then cause visits to the resorts nearby – South Korea and Japan.
We already have two in Northern Japan and are planning to open in South Korea after a couple of years. After their Asian visit, the ski lovers will then look into Europe and Northern America.
This strategy ensures that we are providing a foundation for ski lovers and looking beyond 2022 to build a qualitative infrastructure and industry. This is crucial to do in China, as the Western demographics are skiing less and less over time, so the Chinese market is key to supporting the ski industry globally.
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This article originally appeared on  The Luxury Conversation .


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Club Med is developing the flow from China to Europe, with 20 ski resorts in the French, Italian and Swiss Alps. Photo: wh-china.com

The snow-themed dining menu offered in a “snow holiday for non-skiers” package. Photo credit: Hoshinu Resorts official website.

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GIORGIO ARMANI, Crinoline cape embroidered with point d'espriteffect crystals; top embroidered all over with sequins; Royal blue silk satin pants; Stylist’s own ski goggles; ROSSIGNOL skis; SALOMON ski shoes | FOR STYLE USE ONLY

VIKTOR & ROLF, Tulle multi-layered rainbow coloured puffed-bow sleeve a-line dress with ruffle detailing on the hemline; PEAULUXE Earmuffs; ROSSIGNOL skis; ATOMIC Ski poles | FOR STYLE USE ONLY

GAULTIER PARIS, Scales of pleated mousseline ribbons on couture jumpsuit with shark shoulders; Stylist’s own ski goggles; ROSSIGNOL skis; SALOMON ski shoes | FOR STYLE USE ONLY

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The sport, unknown in nation a decade ago, is being embraced by young people ahead of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics


The sport – unknown in the nation a decade ago – is being embraced by young people ahead of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics


Chinese millennials love to ski — how are the smart brands adapting to this boom?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The sport, unknown in nation a decade ago, is being embraced by young people ahead of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

The sport, unknown in nation a decade ago, is being embraced by young people ahead of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics