Austrian winter sports firms optimistic about the Chinese market

Austrian enterprises expressed positive expectations for their development in the Chinese market during the World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo 2023 held from Sept 15 to 17 in Beijing.

Eight well-known Austrian firms including Axess, Doppelmayr Seilbahnen and Head Sport in the winter sports field took part in this year's expo, with their products and services covering alpine technology, outdoor and ski equipment, piste management technology and public media communication.

"The Chinese market is developing very fast, so for us, it is important to be here in the early stage. We expect the market will be very important in the future. we need a strong business market here in China," said Mündler Maximilian, master of science at Arena, a company specializing in ski slope management during the expo, adding that they expected the ski resorts in China will be highly interested in optimizing their business with Arena's products and services that could help to save energy, water and cost.

"Along with the development of the skiing industry in China, the ski resorts and skiers began to generate demand for ski and snowboard tuning. We always believed in the Chinese market, so we started our business in China just at the right time," said Lorenzo Tertan, head of Sales Export, Wintersteiger Sports, a firm in the market of equipment for snowboard care and snowshoe adjustment.

Wintersteiger reached a very good market share in the past 13 years in China, according to Lorenzo Tertan.

He said in the past years, the development of the Chinese skiing industry had been accelerated by the Winter Olympic Games 2022. The potential in the Chinese market is huge as the number of skiers and the number of people beginning to ski grows very fast.

He said globalization is a big topic for Wintersteiger, especially as the company has an export ratio of 90 percent and ships goods in more than 130 countries. China plays an important role in developing the company's globalization strategy, which it sees huge potential and together wants to work closely with one another.

World Winter Sports (Beijing) Expo is now one of the largest and most authoritative expos in the world winter sports industry. It has been held in Beijing annually since 2016. The expo has not only developed into the largest exposition of the global ice and snow industry but also an innovative one combining winter sports and industrial development in the history of the Olympic Winter Games.