Kitzbühel has announced plans to work in co-operation with one of China’s leading ski resorts, Lake Songhua in the northerly province of Jilin.
A delegation from the Vanke company which run the resort were in the famous Austrian resort recently and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for closer cooperation.
The cooperation includes Chinese resort staff getting to observe resort operations at Kitzbühel in order to learn from them, whilst Kitzbühel’s senior staff hope to gain a deeper insight into the practices and the travel behaviour of Chinese travellers.
A visitor to Songhua Lake – which has eight lifts, around 30km of runs and just over 500m of skiable vertical praised the resort in a TripAdvisor review after his visit in January. However he said differences to ski areas he had visited in Europe, North America and Asia included many guests being heavy smokers, including in gondola cabins, a higher percentage of dangerous unskilled skiers on the slopes and serious air pollution.
“I am very pleased with the signing of this memorandum and I am convinced that the mutual exchange can be mutually beneficial here,” explained Signe Reisch, President of Kitzbühel Tourism, who added, “China has recorded the world’s largest increase in tourism and the Chinese love to travel. We offer different long stay packages of five to seven days, including skiing in winter and golf and culture during the summer.”
Tirol is reported to be second to Vienna as the most popular holiday destination for the Chinese in Austria and in recent years, the number of nights Chinese guests and Kitzbuehel – both in summer and in winter – has increased steadily, the resort says.
