French Enterprises Optimistic About China's Ice and Snow Industry Prospects——"China's Ski Market is Gradually Forming a Development Model with Its Own Characteristics"

The booming Chinese ice and snow industry has brought development opportunities to French companies like Boma and Lucino. The picture shows the Chamonix Snowfield near Grenoble, a hub city for France’s mountain sports industry, equipped with Boma gondola cabins and also an important product testing site for Lucino. Photo by Shang Kaiyuan.

At the foot of the Alps in France, headquarters of the Lucino Group, each snowboard is made through more than 50 precise processes. Recently, at the Milan Winter Olympics, many top athletes used equipment sourced from here. In recent years, as China’s ice and snow market has risen to become the world’s most dynamic growth pole, Lucino has continuously discovered new opportunities from the thriving Chinese ice and snow industry.

Nearly 20 years ago, Lucino established ties with China, beginning to sell snow equipment products there. In 2019, Lucino officially opened specialty stores in Shanghai and Beijing, accelerating its entry into the Chinese market. “Lucino establishing an overseas branch in China is of great significance to the group’s globalization strategy,” said Simon Pompilio, head of Lucino China.

“Major international events are a driving force for popularizing winter sports,” said Gabriel Otier, Chief Marketing Officer of Lucino Group. China successfully hosted the Beijing Winter Olympics, prompting Lucino and the entire industry to systematically adjust resource allocation toward China—expanding local teams, increasing cooperation with athletes, clubs, and ski resorts, and actively participating in building China’s winter sports ecosystem.

“China’s winter sports market is currently one of the fastest-growing markets worldwide in terms of participant numbers,” Otier said. “In China, winter sports are seen as an emerging healthy lifestyle closely related to outdoor activities and social experiences. This will also be the long-term driving force for the sustained development of winter sports in China.”

China not only provides a vast market for French winter sports companies but also empowers the local industry through manufacturing and experience. About half of Lucino’s soft goods, such as ski clothing and backpacks, are supplied by Chinese manufacturing systems. Antoine Rigo, manager of a French ski equipment store, said that about 80% of the products in his store are “Made in China,” including helmets, gloves, ski suits, backpacks, goggles, and ski poles. “Chinese manufacturing can now meet the demands of all product tiers,” Rigo said.

Boma Group, a global cable car manufacturer, has been operating in China for about 40 years. Its main business has long been cable cars for tourist attractions, but in recent years, its snowfield infrastructure business in China has grown rapidly. In Chongli District, Zhangjiakou, Boma has participated in building cable cars for several ski resorts, some of which were used in the Beijing Winter Olympics for competitions and training. “The most recent snowfield project we participated in is at Xiling Snow Mountain in Chengdu, Sichuan. China’s ski infrastructure has overall entered a stage of maturity,” said Edward Duvillier, Boma’s International Business Director.

Duvillier pointed out that compared to traditional European mountain resorts, Chinese ski resorts emphasize “comprehensive vacation” and “integrated experience,” with hotels, dining, and commercial facilities highly integrated into a closed or semi-closed operational system, especially suitable for the cold winter climate in northern China. Additionally, night skiing has become an important part of many resorts, with extended operating hours; the concept of year-round operation is also accelerating, with resorts like Taiwu and Fulong in Zhangjiakou remaining open in summer to develop mountain tourism and leisure projects. They leverage the convenience of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway to attract visitors from surrounding cities, effectively enhancing the resorts’ year-round operational capacity and economic sustainability. “The Chinese ski market is gradually forming a development model with its own characteristics,” Duvillier said. This demonstrates continuous innovation in China’s winter sports development path and will also create new market opportunities for French winter sports companies. (Shang Kaiyuan)

People’s Daily