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China has been gearing up in a big way to host to 2022 Winter Olympics, and the country’s ski industry had hoped to use the years before the lighting of the torch to get new skiers on the country’s slopes and generate public interest in alpine and snowboarding thrills. Travel, hotel, ski gear, ski apparel, real estate, and food and beverage businesses are among those looking to benefit. Those hopes have been largely wiped out for this year by the coronavirus outbreak. Short-term ski industry losses amid the coronavirus outbreak could exceed eight billion yuan, or $1.1 billion, government-published China Daily said this week. The number of people who will go skiing in China this season is forecast to fall by 47% to around 11 million, according to an industry report, the newspaper said. The number of ski areas this year is now expected to drop to 720 from 770 last year. |
