For two years, ski enthusiasts have often seen news that a certain ski resort in a certain place in Japan has closed down or closed. The culprit of this bleak situation is the three "mountains" that have been unbearable for Japan's skiing industry. What are they?
The answer is COVID-19, snowfall decreases and ski population shrinks .
First, let’s talk about new crown epidemic .
Recently, Japanese media reported that due to the impact of the epidemic, 30 ski resorts in the country have either suspended business or closed down in just two years.
During the 2021-2022 snow season, considering that the snowfall is higher than in previous years, the days at Japanese ski resorts should have been better. Indeed, some ski resorts are filled with customers from time to time. However, this is just an "individual case".
In general, affected by "important measures aimed at preventing the spread of the epidemic", many ski resorts in the country racked their brains to open the door to welcome guests, but in the end they were still in a dilemma and were unable to extricate themselves.
Take Niigata Prefecture , which is popular among foreign snow friends, as an example. Due to the impact of the epidemic, five ski resorts in the prefecture have announced the suspension of business during the 2021-2022 snow season, and Gohimachi Ski Resort located in Minamiunuma City is one of them.
Since last snow season, the turnover of this ski resort has declined sharply. Faced with the entangled epidemic, no one knows what will happen in the future.
This disheartened ski resort finally announced its closure. At the same time, the ski resort owner said "It's too difficult"!
Secondly, let’s talk about snowfall reduction .
In Japan, although under the same blue sky, some areas are covered with snow, while some areas are “watching the snow and want to pass through”. The result followed was that some ski resorts no longer looked like ski resorts because of the lack of snow.
Take the ski resort of Nagano Prefecture as an example. The area has multiple ski resorts that held the 1998 Winter Olympics ski competition. In the past few years, the snowfall here has decreased significantly. Many ski resorts have to be equipped with artificial snow-making and artificial snowfall equipment to prepare for the lack of snow at all times.
In fact, for ski resorts in areas with less snowfall, there seems to be no choice but to maintain operations through artificial snow .
, , Karuizawa , is located near Tokyo. There is a snow resort. During the snow season, snow continues to be made every night. There are 7 snowmakers and 195 snowfall machines to ensure sufficient snowfall in the snow. Obviously, this is not a small expense.
Make snow means burning money, and not making it means no one visits.
Finally, let’s talk about ski population shrinking .
According to data released in January, Japan's ski population hit a peak of 18 million in 1998, but it plummeted to 4.3 million in 2020. The rapid decrease in skiing people directly affects the passenger flow of the ski resort.
For example, at the Dynaland ski resort located in Gifu Prefecture, the passenger flow in the snow season 20 years ago was as high as 350,000, but now it is only 190,000.
survey found that Japanese government personnel and industry insiders generally believe that the sharp shrinkage of skiing population is mainly attributed to the aging population and the lack of birth, and the decline in skiing population has exacerbated the operating difficulties of many ski resorts.
✓
Some experts once warned that given the number of primary school students in Japan is decreasing year by year and fewer and fewer children are skiing. If this continues, there may be no ski tourists in 20 or 30 years, and the ski resort will naturally be unable to operate.
In addition to domestic reasons, the large reduction in international tourists is also an important reason for the continued decline in Japan's skiing population. Affected by the travel ban caused by the epidemic, fewer and fewer foreign tourists visiting Japanese ski resorts.
You should know that local tourists usually choose to ski on weekends or holidays, while foreign tourists often stay for a long time, which is the real "financial owner" of many ski resorts.
However, the epidemic is lingering, and many foreign tourists and Japanese ski resorts can only look at each other in pairs.
For a long time, skiing has not only been an important part of Japanese culture, but also a magnet that attracts countless tourists to come from all corners of the world.Nowadays, Japan's ski resorts are struggling with the triple torture of the new crown epidemic, reduced snowfall and shrinking ski population. Unfortunately, the hard days seem to have just begun!
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