The opening Spotlight focuses on Slovenia’s emerging ski industry, and Eastern Europe is one of the few parts of the world where the ski industry is growing. Countries like Bulgaria, Russia and Poland, have joined Slovenia in taking advantage of the increased interest in winter sports following the 2014 Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi. China, too, is rapidly expanding its ski industry (see the Case Study in Chapter 1), with plans to open up 250 new ski centers in Heilongjiang province alone in the next decade. Ski resorts are certainly popping up in some unlikely places. In 2014, the Masikryong Ski Resort in North Korea opened up, to the delight of young dictator Kim Jong Un. The winter wonderland is just one of Mr. Kim’s tourism projects, as he has instructed state companies to boost numbers of foreign tourists from 200,000 a year to 1 million by 2016 (The Economist, 2014). The 1,400-hectare Masikryong resort sits at an altitude of 768m, and is said to have cost the regime $35 million. The resort says it wants to attract 5,000 people daily, which might be a challenge, given that barely a few thousand North Koreans know how to ski. In North America, the industry remains in a phase of maturity, characterized by increased consolidation and diversification. But looking back on the last few decades, there have been some significant changes in the industry in that part of the world. Table 12.1 puts a spotlight on the U.S. winter sport tourism environment in the years 1994 and 2014, showing that while overall skier/rider visits have not changed in 20 years, the composition of those on the slopes has. The number of downhill skiers on the slopes has dropped, while that of snowboarders has more than doubled. More females are participating in both activities, and participants tend to be older than they were 20 years ago. Perhaps of concern is a substantial drop in the number of lessons being taken today compared to 20 years ago, implying there might be fewer beginners taking to the slopes. Certainly, in the U.K. there are concerns that the poor performance of the schools market will have a negative impact on the number of new entrants to the sport.
Changes in Japanese Ski Resorts with the Development of Inbound Tourism: A Case Study of Niseko-Hirafu District, Hokkaido