WHITE HOT BOOM

Luxury brands zoom in on winter wear as snowsports surge in popularity

- Aaron Kok

A moment of calm envelops you, as it always does at the top of the hill. After all, you are thousands of kilometers away from your work e-mail and the terrain around you is a blanket of white.

Your goggles catch the gleaming sun rays and you push yourself off the top of the slope, and just like that, calm turns into adrenaline as you navigate the mountainside with your skis and plenty of verve.

For a group of tourists each year, this is the feeling that they chase. Whether they are snowboarding, skiing or snowshoeing, it is the act of getting physical amid a wintery landscape that calls them back. And according to strategists and industry observers, it is also a group that is growing faster and bigger every year.

"Since the pandemic, there has been a remarkable surge in the number of people signing up for ski holidays," says Mr Wong Yew Hoong, director of local tour operator EU Holidays.

He also notes a broader shift in travel preferences towards skiing and snowboarding abroad, particularly after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.