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

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”.

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.

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.