Published on : Monday, November 12, 2018
Oliveira, founder of research and consultancy company skiChina, grew up skiing in his hometown of Boston and elsewhere in North America. But he would rather spend the winter season in Xinjiang than at other popular ski destinations.
The novelty factor is just part of Xinjiang’s allure. Oliveira keeps returning to the region every year, since he likes its “world-class terrain and snow”. He is organizing a group tour next month, bringing skiers from North America to explore remote areas of Xinjiang.
This region is just one of several Chinese destinations attracting both local and foreign skiers. The China Tourism Academy expects visitor numbers to rise to 340 million in the 2021-22 winter seasons, up from about 170 million in 2016-17. The academy also expects that winter tourism revenues would rise from about 270 billion Yuan ($39 billion) in 2016-17 to 670 billion Yuan in 2021-22.
Gino Andreetta, the CEO of Club Med Greater China, said that hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022 will increase tourist interest in the country. China has now joined Japan, South Korea and Switzerland as a top snow-break destination for Asian travelers.
In 2015, China won the bid to host the Winter Olympics, and Beijing became the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
However, hosting the Winter Games is just the latest initiative to attract winter tourism dollars. Several of the country’s Northern provinces have cold, snowy winters that have been attracting visitors for years, especially those from tropical countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
One of the most popular winter destinations is Heilongjiang province in Northeast China, which is the country’s coldest region, with temperatures dropping as low as -50 C and the winter season lasting eight months.