A growing appreciation for winter sports and a strong desire for holidays in the great outdoors and colder climes have fired up intense interest in winter and ski holidays among Asian travellers, especially those from tropical zones.

Expedia data shows ski holiday bookings last winter season (December 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023) out of Asia have climbed to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels (December 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020). With ski resort bookings showing an average duration of three nights at least, Expedia believes travellers are staying on longer to ski.

Luxury travel specialist, Scott Dunn, told TTG Asia that Asian enquiries and bookings for ski vacations have spiked 250 per cent in the last ski season, compared to the previous season in 2021/2022.

Koo Ying Ying, Europe travel specialist, Scott Dunn, said the intense interest could be due to travel restrictions being lifted, allowing Asians to get back to planning their long-overdue winter fun.

Asians are also drawn to wintry landscapes, like Lapland and Iceland, and the chance to chase down aurora visions.

“Snow has always been a really strong pull factor for guests from Asia, especially (those living in) tropical climate,” said Koo. “Post-pandemic, we also see that more guests are craving fresh air and longing to be in the great outdoors. The snowy mountains are the perfect place for this, and they also present a very different type of landscape compared to what most of us are accustomed to, which is another factor we think has led to this spike (in winter travel demand).”

When asked if Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022 and Pyeongchang 2018 could have fired up Asian interest in ski holidays, Rachael Harding, CEO for East and South Asia & Pacific at Club Med, said any major events on the world stage could influence consumer behaviour. Through the two Winter Olympics, winter sports as well as the host country are cast into the spotlight.

“The fact that Asia had two Winter Olympics in recent years certainly put the region on the map as a winter playground (and inspired people to see Asia as an option) for mountain holidays,” Harding told TTG Asia.

She added that the games had also created a new pool of young atheletes and led to more ski associations opening up in various countries across Asia.

“A big case is the formation of the Ski and Snowboard Association of Thailand in 2016. Thailand is now our most aggressive market to rebound,” she said.

That said, Club Med mountain resorts have seen “this consistent trend for quite some time”, where ski business now contributes a third of total business compared to just 10 per cent in 2015.

Demand is growing year on year and “completely outstripping the capacity that we have”, remarked Harding.

Scott Dunn expects strong bookings to continue into the 2023/2024 season. “We’ve just opened bookings for the next ski season and there is already a healthy level of interest and bookings, especially from big families and groups of friends,” shared Koo.

She believes that customers are moving fast to secure availability and rates “because key dates – such as the Lunar New Year, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and Easter – get booked up very quickly”.

Not only is ski travel demand returning fast, Koo said traveller profiles are also getting younger.

“Traditionally, we often see families with older children, between 12 and 19 years old. Now, we see a trend of younger families with children aged four to 10 exploring ski holidays,” she said.

Asians are open to snowy adventures all over the world. Expedia noted that Niigata, Japan; Zermatt, Switzerland; Banff, Canada; and Haute-Savoie, France are top ski destinations among Asian travellers. Among Scott Dunn’s customers, France and Italy are hot favourites, while Canada and Switzerland are gaining popularity. New Zealand makes a fine choice too, according to Koo, as it has a great ski season between June and September.

Slopes and more
With seven ski mountain resorts in Asia and 13 elsewhere in the world plus three more set to open, Club Med has established itself firmly in the space of winter vacations. However, Harding said the mountains are not just for winter sports enthusiasts.

“The mountains are a beautiful place to escape the city. There is fresh air and the resorts offer a holistic wellness experience. We have a lot of activities that don’t involve skiing and they lean into our different target audiences,” she said.

At Club Med Val d’Isère, the company’s first Exclusive Collection mountain resort in the heart of the French Alps, guests not into snow sports can spend their winter vacation learning how tomme de Savoie and Avalin cheese are made, exploring the old village of Val d’Isère, reclaiming their health at the yoga studio and gym, wining and dining through multiple F&B outlets on property, and joining in artistic events.

Easier vacations
Recognising that winter holidays are a little more complex to plan, Expedia has in recent years been working with ski resorts to provide packages and deals for customers, all to make ski holidays more accessible for international travellers. Ski packages may include room nights, breakfast, barbecue, ski lift and gear rental, shared an Expedia spokesperson.

Scott Dunn’s travel specialists are trained to guide customers on their ski needs and propose the best destination and property based on their preferences. For adventurous guests, these travel specialists may even suggest heli-skiing and glacier hiking. The agency also boasts its own ski concierge team that will help customers secure lessons, passes, restaurant bookings, and transfers once the holiday booking is confirmed.

“We are also able to plan flight routings and itinerary suggestions to visit nearby European cities before or after a ski trip,” said Koo, adding that pre-departure calls and briefings are provided to ensure guests are well-prepared for their winter break.

For families, Scott Dunn offers two Explorers Kids Clubs in the French Alps – one in Val d’Isere and the other in Courchevel. In Val d’Isere, for example, families can engage a nanny to pick the children up from the hotel in the morning, and help them with ski passes, lessons, attire and equipment.
“This equals less fuss, and allows parents to enjoy themselves on the slopes knowing that their kids are well taken care of,” said Koo.
Scott Dunn Explorers Kids Club also curates other activities, besides winter sports, to keep little ones engaged for days.

Limited seats and high airfares have slowed travel recovery across Asia, with experts predicting traffic volumes will only return to pre-pandemic levels by 2024 as airlines increase frequency and routes.

According to figures from the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, international traffic in Asia-Pacific sat at 52 per cent of 2019 levels in January 2023, with Asia recovering much slower than other regions, due to travel restrictions remaining in place much longer.

The figures revealed that South-east Asia’s recovery in particular have tracked below the global average, with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand lagging, while the Philippines and Vietnam were above average. Vietnam now sits well above pre-Covid-19 levels.

The Asian Development Bank reports that domestic traffic in South-east Asia could reach 100 per cent of 2019 levels by the end of 2023, while international traffic is predicted to hit 90 per cent. In 2Q2023, international seat capacity for South-east Asia hit about 76 per cent recovery, with the full reopening of China expected to aid recovery throughout the rest of the year.

“Airlines have been steadily restoring flights in the South-east Asia-China market since January 2023, when quarantine restrictions in China were lifted, but flights are often added to the schedules with very short notice,” the report noted.

It added that by the end of 3Q2023, the South-east Asia-China market could reach 70 to 80 per cent, contingent on airlines securing approvals for additional flights. However, securing approval from Chinese authorities for additional flights has so far been a “slow and gradual process”.

Mayur Patel, head of Asia at OAG Aviation, said that while current schedules show a 98 per cent recovery to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, a full recovery in global capacity is not expected before March 2024.

He added: “As consumers continue to search for fresh experiences, pent-up demand will carry on driving traffic to regional Asia-Pacific destinations over the next 12 months.”

Patel said the reopening of China’s borders and the anticipated travel boom will play a major role in the region’s full flight recovery.

“Most regional travel associations and carriers are predicting traffic volumes to return closer to pre-pandemic levels, despite economic and geopolitical headwinds, by 2024,” he noted. “As for the broader recovery, this will be dependent on how the outbound market from China recovers in the near term.”

He said some of the bottlenecks lie in getting slots for foreign carriers approved by China. For example, capacity recovery has been distorted with Chinese carriers having a larger capacity share.

Pointing to Singapore as an example, Patel said overall capacity for June 2023 compared with the same period in 2019 has shown overall recovery of 54 per cent. However, the two large Chinese carriers, Air China and China Southern, have reinstated 81 per cent and 75 per cent of capacity respectively, while Singapore Airlines Group has only been able to reinstate 58 per cent of its capacity between Singapore and China.

“The Chinese regulators have been somewhat restrictive with the granting of slot allocations to airlines, especially to foreign carriers, which can be attributed to a phased approach for outbound travel that has been slower than anticipated by the market,” he told TTG Asia.

Patel added that other regulators across the region are also imposing restrictions. For example, the Indonesia regulator is imposing restrictions on Singapore Airlines’ flights from Singapore to Jakarta.

“This can be seen from schedules filing for which this city pair has only recovered two-thirds of the frequency from 2019 levels. In comparison, Singapore to Bali has recovered fully,” he added.

On a brighter note, recent schedule announcements made by airlines operating in this region continue to show confidence, with new and additional services planned besides reinstating former ones.

Emirates unveiled plans to deploy a fleet of 85 A380s, taking the total to 95 by the end of next March.

Adnan Kazim, chief commercial officer at Emirates, said the airline operates about 3,080 departure flights a week globally and is currently exploring adding more capacity to markets, including China.

Furthermore, additional flights to New Zealand’s Christchurch and Auckland as well as Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne will take off on July 15, as well as Singapore on June 1, strengthening operations in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing competition and driving down fares.

Low cost carrier AirAsia is also pinning hopes on China pushing its rebound. In addition to the carrier flying to nine destinations in China, it recently unveiled new services from Kuala Lumpur to Quanzhou, Guilin and Chengdu, beefing up weekly flights between the two nations to more than 129.

Benyamin Ismail, AirAsia X Malaysia CEO, said: “As China is rapidly bouncing back, we expect to launch even more flights to the country, as well as increase frequency on the most popular and profitable routes within our network in the short- to medium-term.”

Earlier in February, when the airline announced its resumption of China services, Benyamin said that its services to the country had seen “tremendous success”, with over 1.8 million guests carried to and from China in 2019 alone.

As travel appetite ramps up, Hong Kong Airlines is stepping up operations, with new services between Hong Kong and China’s Beijing, as well as Hong Kong and Japan’s Fukuoka, besides reinstating services to Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport and Shanghai’s Hongqiao International Airport.

New entrant, Thailand-based full-service Really Cool Airlines, said in May that it plans to commence flying in 1Q2024. Its initial routes are likely to include Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with European routes to be added in 2025.

Patel said factors that would drive full recovery in the region included developing a dual-brand strategy to increase low-cost offerings while simultaneously tapping into the luxury market. For example, through the pairing of Cathay Pacific and HK Express, Qantas and Jetstar, and Singapore Airlines and Scoot.

He predicted a “significant” increase in demand for Bali, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

“This surge in traffic can be attributed to a growing trend among travellers seeking out more personalised experiences and to explore new, previously unexplored destinations.”

But he cautioned that the road to full recovery is not paved with roses, as airlines have to navigate major challenges such as shortages of staff, spare parts, and engineers, as well as the high cost of oil.

“With the price per barrel unlikely to fall in 2023, air fares will remain high, at least through the summer season,” he remarked.

The business events community’s quest to establish meaningful legacies for the host destination can find fulfilment in Australia, where convention bureaus and industry suppliers are doing even more today to provide beneficial engagements with the land’s original owners.

Recently, the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) made its Gadigal Dreaming – The Sacred Country of the Gadigal People augmented reality experience content available to event planners hosting at the venue.

The content comprises eight scenes covering gathering, fishing, corroboree, crafting, tracks, hunting, camp life and cosmology legends of Sydney’s original custodians. The augmented reality experience can be conveyed through the audience’s own devices through QR codes.

Gadigal Dreaming, created by Bilbie XR Labs – an award-winning First Nations digital storytelling enterprise and the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, with the support of Investment New South Wales, was first launched in September 2022 to bring the stories of the Gadigal People to members of the public passing through the Darling Harbour precinct.

Using art and media to “amplify First Nations voices, share the experiences of the world’s oldest living culture and preserve the history of the land on which our venue stands” is just one of the many ways ICC Sydney is using its “sphere of influence” to support Aboriginal community development and the Australian government’s Close the Gap mission, said Samantha Glass, director of corporate affairs, communication and sustainability at ICC Sydney.

The Close the Gap campaign, backed by Australia’s peak indigenous and non-indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations, aims to close the health and life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-indigenous Australians within a generation.

According to the government’s 2020 Closing the Gap report, 2018 data showed gaps in education (82 per cent school attendance by Aboriginal people vs 93 per cent by non-Aboriginal people) and employment (40 per cent vs 75 per cent), as well as resulting life expectancy (8.6 years for men and 7.8 years for women).

Glass believes that ICC Sydney, with 1.5 million people passing through its doors each year and many millions more passing through Darling Harbour where the venue is located, has “a massive opportunity to make a difference” through its messages, activities and business practices.

The venue’s own reconciliation journey includes a First Nations procurement strategy, where its teams actively seek out opportunities to provide business to First Nations organisations. There are now 15 First Nations suppliers in ICC Sydney’s supply chain, and numbers are growing monthly, according to Glass. For financial year 2021/2022, ICC Sydney has spent at least A$408,000 (US$274,679) with First Nations suppliers.

It also participates in employment programmes with education partners like Eora College, NSW TAFE, KARI Foundation, Shared Knowledge to attract new, diverse talents; and hosts business events for KARI Foundation with the aim of connecting Sydney’s business community partners with First Nations-owned businesses to result in opportunities for collaboration.

“Business investments in Aboriginal services support children in their transition from primary school to high school with the equipment they need, create career opportunities for the children when they graduate, and facilitate a programme where First Nations people who are senior executives come together to undertake leadership training,” Glass detailed.

Glass noted that clients have been very supportive of ICC Sydney’s First Nations reconciliation efforts. Of the 65 per cent of international events in 2022 that activated the venue’s Legacy Program (which supports sustainability, local innovators, creative industries and more), 90 per cent chose to establish a connection with First Nations culture through performances, food, artwork or gifts.

Event planners looking to do even more to support First Nations development can draw inspiration from convention bureaus.

Business Events Sydney (BE Sydney) has compiled a wide range of experiences that allow event delegates to immerse in First Nations culture and perspectives.
Such experiences include a Welcome to Country ritual by a local custodian of the land on which the group meets; climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge with an Indigenous guide to see the city through a lens that is thousands of years old; joining a guided Aboriginal Bush Tucker tour in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney; and taking on a MasterChef-inspired Indigenous cooking challenge.

BE Sydney stated: “Sharing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, history, customs and knowledge raises awareness and understanding of the rich cultures and traditions that have existed in Sydney and Australia for millennia safeguards their continuation for future generations. Connecting the ancient with the modern, sharing First Nations cultures is a deeply moving experience for delegates visiting Sydney.”

Over in the Northern Territories (NT), where Aboriginal history is especially significant, making culture an integral component of any business event staged in the destination is both common sense and common practice at NT Business Events.

Director Rebecca McCaig told TTGmice: “New products and experiences for business events continue to be developed in the NT, with many associated with Aboriginal culture. Where possible, cultural experiences in the NT can be engaging, which can contribute to greater awareness.”

Enlightening cultural exchanges can come in the form of a Saltwater Ceremony in the Darwin Waterfront Precinct Lagoon, where delegates will step into the ankle-deep water and be invited by an Aboriginal Elder to connect with the local Larrakia community, who are known as saltwater people.

Delegates may also partake in a hands-on dot-painting art class where an Aboriginal artist will not just impart knowledge about the art form, but also the community’s traditions and culture.

“There are now many ways to engage with Aboriginal culture, with authentic experiences delivering valuable insights for the international business events sector. While some groups might wish to visit an NT gallery to look at award-winning artwork, other delegates might prefer to create an artwork of their own and in doing so, gain a deeper understanding of the stories behind the intricate designs and motivations of Aboriginal artists,” said McCaig.

She observes that the “global marketplace increasingly expects business events activities to also add value to the host destination and where possible, leave a legacy”.

She pointed to The Youth Mill in Darwin as an avenue for establishing meaningful legacies. The Youth Mill supports young people in creative environments and encourages the preservation of culture and identity. It is often engaged to provide a performance or Welcome to Country ritual for a conference, with benefits going back into the community to develop educational programmes for disadvantaged youths.