China’s ski business continues to outstrip the rest of the world in terms of growth in business and the indoor ski market continues to be much bigger here than in other nations.

Last year saw the country become the first to reach a total of 50 centres operating and the team behind China’s White Book of Ski areas, which records the country’s key ski data, calculated that around 18% of all Chinese skiing took place indoors.

Now new figures have been published by the General Administration of Sport of China finding that revenue from related sports and other activities reaching 6.46 billion yuan ($898 million) last year, up 543% year-on-year as the country comes out of covid restrictions.

“This snow season has seen a 5 to 10 percent increase in both visitors and revenue compared to the previous year,” said CEO of Nanshan Ski Resort near Beijing, Hu Wei, adding, “This was fuelled by the enduring excitement over snow, a precious resource in a country where many people reside in the southern part that does not receive much snowfall.”

The General Administration of Sport of China’s report said that indoor ski centres account for 7.17% of all operational ski centres in the country, contributing significantly to the total skier visits.