Wu Bo can’t wait to hit the slopes in Davos in Switzerland in the next week. The destination holds a special winter allure for the keen skier and manager of a property company in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. “The scenery is fantastic, the weather is not too cold for skiers, the ski facilities are well managed, it’s easy to get to the resorts, and more importantly, it has the best ski trails and you never have to worry about snow conditions.” He will head to Davos with 13 other skiing enthusiasts from the Chinese city for a 10-day trip that will cost him about 15,000 yuan (US$2,350), including flights and accommodation. Wu often travels to resorts within China and overseas to indulge his passion, whether it’s at Yabuli in Heilongjiang or on New Zealand’s South Island. Each overseas trip cost at least 10,000 yuan, he said, but the foreign resorts were more challenging and had deeper and softer snow compared to the crowded Chinese facilities, which rely on artificial coverage. Skiing is still new to many in China but it is gaining momentum, especially with Beijing’s winning bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. READ MORE: Beijing keeps Winter Games champagne on ice Chinese sports officials have vowed to get some 300 million people onto the snow and ice in the next few years, even though the country has just 10 million or so active skiers, according to the Chinese Ski Association. But easier access to visas means more tourists, especially younger, better educated, more independent and wealthier Chinese, are looking for fun on foreign trails. That surge in interest is creating opportunities for Li Longlong, a ski instructor from Hebei. Li has signed up for a year as a Chinese-speaking ski instructor in Verbier, a top “off-piste” resort in the Swiss Alps. The 28-year-old coach is part of a joint effort by the Swiss National Tourist Office and local ski resorts to have coaches from China and Putonghua-speaking Swiss instructors and volunteers help Chinese tourists at ski resorts in Davos, St Moritz, Engelberg-Titlis and Verbier. Despite its high prices and the global economic slowdown, Switzerland is one of the top sporting destinations for Chinese tourists. READ MORE: Club Med aims to ride China’s holiday wave with big plans to expand resorts That boom in Chinese travellers was very surprising, said Li. “When I was in Verbier in 2013, I saw hardly any tourists from China,” he said. “But my ski classes for Lunar New Year are almost booked out by Chinese skiers.” Swiss National Tourist Office chief executive Juerg Schmid forecast that the number of Chinese tourists to Switzerland would grow by 30 per cent this year, despite fears about public security in Europe after last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris. “Switzerland is a very safe place ... not involved in any international conflicts,” Schmid said. “There were some cancellations with tour packages combined with France, but for those travelling only to Switzerland, they are not cancelling.” My ski classes for Lunar New Year are almost booked out by Chinese skiers Ski instructor Li Longlong But if going offshore is not an option, a number of new luxury ski resorts have sprung up in China, even in warm areas. Beijing Olympjoy Ice & Snow Tourism Investment had four ice and snow parks under construction and two more were planned, Bao Ankang, the company’s deputy general manager, said. Work is under way at a 30-hectare site in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, and a smaller one in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, two warmer areas with no tradition of winter sport. “Urbanisation has brought great change in many ways, including how people spend their money,” Bao said. “People are starting to be able to afford skiing.”