Successful 10th Show For Alpitec China

Alpitec China celebrated its tenth edition from the 24th to the 27th of January. Together with ISPO Beijing, the leading multi-segment sports exhibition in Asia, Alpitec China offers an overview of the sector, including useful background information and expertise. Over 30,000 visitors came to the China National Convention Center in Beijing. The Asia Pacific Snow Conference and the very first APSC Technical Workshop proved a major success with a total of over 600 participants.

79 exhibitors and exhibiting brands from 11 countries showcase the complete range of mountain and winter technologies on 4,500 square meters. Compared to last year, the exhibition area increased by over 60%. Fiera Bolzano first took the plunge into China with Alpitec in 2009: visionary Erwin Stricker had already identified it as a future market back then. Ten years later, Alpitec is the leading platform for mountain and winter technologies in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Years of work in China are paying off now in particular, with not just one but two Winter Olympics coming up on the Asian continent. We feel that Alpitec China has establishing itself as the place to be for the sector, and see the immense potential of the Chinese winter sports industry. A major increase in exhibition space and satisfied exhibitors confirm this,” says Armin Hilpold, President of Fiera Bolzano. “This would not be possible without a strong partner, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Messe München for the valuable cooperation,” adds Hilpold.

Alpitec China and ISPO Beijing are providing a 360-degree overview of the entire winter sports sector. Klaus Dittrich, Chairman & CEO Messe München, explains, “Alpitec China allows us to extend the portfolio of ISPO Beijing, including infrastructure topics such as ski lifts and snow parks. Thanks to the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 in Beijing the passion for winter sports in China is growing. Of course, the international trade show for mountain and winter technologies benefits from this popularity, as well as the whole winter sports industry. Fiera Bolzano is an important and reliable partner for us. Together we can strengthen the winter sports industry in China. I would like to thank the organizer of Fiera Bolzano for the excellent cooperation in the past ten years.”

The Chinese skiing industry in figures

In the run-up to these major sporting events, winter sports are highly popular in China, and the government is supporting them as a priority. However, the double-digit growth rates from the previous years have not quite been maintained. This is revealed in the “White Book 2017” by Benny Wu, CEO of Beijing Carving Ski Sports Development Corp., the only collection of data that analyses and describes the skiing industry in China.

57 new resorts opened from 2016 to 2017, equivalent to a growth of 8.82%. In total, there are 703 ski resorts, registering 17.5 million visits (+15.89%) in 2017. For comparison: In the same period, the corresponding figure in Switzerland was approx. 23 million. Of the 703 existing resorts in China, 145 are equipped with one or more chairlifts. While that represents an increase of 16%, it is still low compared to European standards.

The Asia Pacific Snow Conference and the first APSC Technical Workshop provide insights

More and more decision makers and operators of ski resorts are realizing that the focus must be on quality, especially in light of these figures and just four years before Beijing 2022. They are taking advantage of the high quality information program offered by Alpitec China: The annual Asia Pacific Snow Conference was fully booked once again and the response to the first APSC Technical Workshop was very good with 150 participants. The workshop aimed to give an insight into the technical aspects of detachable ropeways and automatic snowmaking systems, with expertise from the exhibitors.

In the upcoming years, safety standards will be one of the key factors for ski resorts. China is the largest market for beginners and only when people feel safe, they have a good experience and will come back to ski again. In his speech at the APSC, Richard Wyne from Polar Solutions highlighted the importance of a professional ski patrol, a manual for emergency situations, a high level of competence and training and of course the ski school. The instructors need to teach the culture of skiing.

Alpitec China is the meeting point for a growing market

China continues to have an incredible development potential: following Laurent Vanat’s “2017 International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism“, the total number of skiers worldwide is currently estimated to be around 130 million, this is less than 2% of the world population. China could almost double this figure with its 120 million potential skiers.

Alpitec China provides an important gateway to China’s growing winter sports market and more and more companies seize this opportunity. Ryley Thiessen, President of Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners Ltd. from Canada, explains why Alpitec China is the leading trade show in the sector, “I love the layout, I really think that Alpitec China has raised the bar this year. The quality is amazing. The first two days were a little slow but it was still a good networking time for everybody. Friday was insanely successful for us. We had three or four existing clients that are coming back to work on more projects. We sat down together and we developed plans here at the show, saving probably three or four weeks of travelling and emails. Coming here is so efficient for a company like us when you travel internationally. We also met two or three new clients and maybe in a few months we have a new project. So we are very happy.”

John Calverley, Area Sales Manager at Prinoth, says, “Alpitec China is a great chance to meet new customers and hear about new projects that are coming in the next few years. It is good to see that there are not just projects for the next couple of years but also for 5, 10, 20 years in the future. As a company like the HTI Group where we want to be involved in the lifts, piste vehicles and the snowmaking, it is particularly important for us to get this kind of contacts which you don’t always find by simply going around and visiting.”

In order to be able to better respond to the increasing demands of a booming market, Alpitec China and ISPO Beijing move to the bigger New China International Exhibition Center in 2019, where China’s winter sports industry will meet again form the 16th to the 19th of January.