Executive from Frost & Sullivan: To improve the development level of outdoor ski resorts, it is necessary to focus on user needs and enhance the resort's diversified service capabilities

Currently, the main group participating in skiing in our country are young, highly educated, and high-income consumers from first-tier cities. In terms of gender, there are more men, accounting for about 70%. In terms of age, consumers born in the 1980s and 1990s account for about 80%. Overall, the skiing community has a strong purchasing power, with most having an average monthly daily consumption expenditure (excluding rent and mortgage payments) of over 5,000 yuan.

From the current technical level of skiers, more than half of them are still beginners. The vast majority of users have participated in skiing for no more than 5 years. The planning of ski resorts, especially outdoor ones, is greatly influenced by natural conditions such as snowfall, altitude differences, slope lengths, and so on. The construction planning of ski resorts also takes into account the current user structure, which is mainly composed of beginners. This will to some extent increase the proportion of beginner slopes and entertainment areas.

The term 'jeans skier' originates from the phrase skiing in jeans. In the early days, due to the high cost of professional snow suits, many people chose to ski in jeans. However, jeans do not provide sufficient warmth and waterproofing, and they have certain limitations on the movements that skiers can make, making them unsuitable as skiing equipment. In today's environment, there are now sufficiently inexpensive snow suits available for skiers to choose from. Therefore, 'jeans skier' is now considered a group lacking in skiing knowledge and experience. But 'jeans skier' is also a target demographic in the skiing industry. How to popularize basic skiing knowledge, enhance public awareness of skiing, and transform the enthusiasm of 'jeans skiers' into safe and professional participation actions is an important part of industry development.

The investment and construction of ski resorts mainly involve land costs, design costs, construction and installation costs, equipment and materials costs, operational management costs, etc. These costs vary greatly due to various factors such as geographical location, climatic conditions, and local policies. Generally speaking, the basic investment for an outdoor ski resort covering about 1 million square meters is about 100 to 200 million yuan. For an indoor ski resort covering about 20,000 square meters, the basic investment is about 200 to 300 million yuan.

The return cycle and profit margins vary greatly among projects, making it difficult to obtain universally meaningful data. Whether it is an outdoor or indoor ski resort, facilities such as accommodation, dining, and shopping are usually provided. Therefore, real estate companies have become the main force in investing in and constructing ski resorts domestically. In recent years, the skiing industry has become an important layout for real estate companies in the cultural and tourism sector, with companies like Rongchuang, Vanke, and Wanda being very active players. In addition, local state-owned tourism development companies are also important investors and developers of ski resorts.

Most of our outdoor ski resorts only have the capacity to operate during the snow season, and have not yet formed comprehensive resort areas that offer four seasons of activities similar to those found in France's Chamonix or Canada's Whistler resorts. From the perspective of specific operations, our outdoor ski resorts still rely mainly on direct consumer income such as cable cars, tickets, rental of snow clothing and equipment, and coaching services. Indirect income from catering, accommodation, entertainment, and even tourism real estate is still very limited. At the same time, the more mature business models abroad such as integrated operations by ski alliances, ecological tourism collaborations, and cultural integration are not yet fully developed in China.

In the future, to enhance the development level of outdoor ski resorts in China, it is necessary to continuously improve service quality and user experience around user needs. By integrating resorts, star-rated hotels, dining, tourism, and other projects, the resort's diversified service capabilities can be enhanced. At the same time, by deeply integrating skiing sports with ecological tourism resources and regional characteristic cultures, distinctive business features can be created for ski resorts.

Skiing equipment such as ski suits, ski helmets, ski goggles, ski gloves, ski boots, skis, and skis poles are all essential for skiing. There is no significant difference in the categories of equipment between beginners and advanced levels, but there are differences in product performance, appearance, material, price, and other aspects.

Overall, domestic brands are gradually increasing their market share, especially in the areas of ski clothing and accessories, thanks to their high cost-performance ratio. However, international brands have more advantages in terms of design, product quality, and brand awareness when it comes to hardcore equipment such as skis, bindings, and boots. Domestic brands still have significant room for improvement in these categories.

The equipment at ski resorts mainly includes snow-making equipment, snow compacting equipment, cable car equipment, lighting equipment, ski gear and maintenance equipment, rescue equipment, etc. Among them, snow-making equipment and cable car equipment are relatively critical. Currently, there is no significant difference in product quality and technical level between international and domestic products, especially driven by the Beijing Winter Olympics, which has seen a surge in outstanding domestic enterprises. Taking snow-making machines as an example, in the domestic ski market, domestic and imported products currently occupy about the same market share.

Skiing equipment such as ski suits, helmets, goggles, gloves, boots, skis, and poles are essential for skiing. For beginners, they usually choose to rent the skiing equipment at ski resorts. Focusing on user needs, skiing equipment is developing in directions such as personalization, functionality, and intelligence.

Overall, the high-end and professional skiing market in China is dominated by overseas brands. Domestic brands mainly develop through two models: capital operations such as joint ventures and acquisitions, and by targeting cost-effective products in both capital and industrial sectors.

Skiing training needs to be carried out at ski resorts and requires a large number of professional skiers. The training model is usually one-on-one or small group classes, making it difficult to develop on a large scale. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be an absolute leading brand. However, in terms of training qualified skiers, there is currently no unified certification system in China. Certification systems from regions such as the United States, New Zealand, and Europe are being introduced, leaving a significant room for standardization. At the same time, the training of skiers can create a certain scale effect and long-term career development system, making it more likely that there will be leading brands in coach training.

Currently, it is difficult for ski training institutions to achieve full profitability solely through skiing training services. They need to diversify their operations by launching other training programs and collaborating with ski resorts to enhance the sustainability of their business and avoid the risk of sharp revenue reductions after the ski season ends.