The Vale Niseko taking shape in a lush green Niseko.

Worker prepare to pour concrete on the final floor of The Vale Niseko.

Our architects vision of The Vale Niseko above and it taking shape in reality below.

This graph belies the Niseko future, just look at the growth from Asia; it now is greater than Oceania and if early indications within our bookings are extrapolated across Niseko that blue line will climb higher. That said the Australian market is coming back on line as the AUD/JPY moves back towards 80.

Niseko’s rise to become Asia’s #1 winter resort has been featured in newspapers and magazines all over the world.

(Extract from “Niseko Alpine Review - July 09″ - to subscribe for your latest edition click here)

Niseko                - 11%
All Hokkaido       - 10%
Hakuba               - 7%
Nagano               - 3%
Kansai                - 3%
Tochigi                -11%

Niseko’s 11% drop off was largely due to the decline in overnight visitors as day skier numbers were stable with single day pass sales 98% of the previous year’s levels.

However the decline can be explained further in demographic changes in the market. Last year marked the beginning of a new era in the Niseko market with many non-skiing winter guests.

Large Asian families coming on holiday often included many relative who did not ski. We expect this trend to continue as those who have no interest in skiing come to Niseko for the luxury accommodation, food, onsen and scenery.

Almost 7million ski lifts were taken in Niseko last season; 18% more than the combined total of the other 15 largest ski resorts in Hokkaido (excluding Niseko).

According to Masamichi Togashi, our domestic marketing manager and long term resident of Niseko, the mountain is still operating well under capacity based upon the number of skiers which visited Niseko in the past.

Niseko’s skier numbers have risen considerably over the last 5 years, however Togashi claims approximately 3 times the number of skiers enjoyed Niseko’s powder in 1990 during the Japanese bubble era ski boom.

Sources:
Hokkaido Cableway Association
Tokyu Resort Services

(Extract from “Niseko Alpine Review - July 09″ - to subscribe for your latest edition click here)

AUSTRALIA: - 37%

• The Australian market suffered more than most last year due to a dramatic shift in the exchange rate between the AU dollar and the yen
• Pull back only reverted to 06/07 numbers.

ASIA:  + 7.9%

• Diverse geographic, socio economic and cultural catchment.
• Robust long term growth via direct and agency based bookings.

HONG KONG: + 18.5%

• Surging growth in visitation (reflected by HK dominated winter sales enquiry).
• Word of mouth continues to promote the advantages a nearby Asian resort such as Niseko has over its North American rivals (food, onsens, safety, travel time, time difference etc).

SINGAPORE: - 8%

• This was a surprise to most of us (certainly not reflected in NISADE’s guest figures).
• To put this drop in perspective, more than 3 times the number of Singaporeans visited Niseko in 2008/09 than did in 2006/07.

KOREA: - 42%
TAIWAN: - 24%

• The domestic ski industry in Korea, feeling the pinch of the economic crisis offered hugely discounted rates in an effort to persuade Korean skiers to holiday domestically.
• Like the Australian market trend, these are dramatic falls which were preceded by even more dramatic increases the year before.

MALAYSIA: + 497.5%
THAILAND: + 149%
RUSSIA: + 236%

• These new markets in Niseko began to show their potential of becoming major players over the next 5-10 years.

NORTH AMERICA: + 59%
EUROPE: - 2%

• While still at a very low base, there were promising figures within these markets.

CANADA: + 481%
FRANCE: + 325%
GERMANY: + 200%

• Growth until this point has been almost entirely through word of mouth.
• We project a continued steep increase in skiers from these large, mature ski markets as skiers look for a richer cultural experience on ski holiday.
• Also on-ground operators have not yet even begun to proactively market their accommodation offerings through European / American based travel agents.

(Extract from “Niseko Alpine Review - July 09″ - to subscribe for your latest edition click here)

Our construction team during their early morning assembly meeting. Up to 60 construction workers can be found on site at any one time, not counting the many more in the construction offices.

A sneak preview inside The Vale Niseko. The fitout is already well underway in the resort rooms and is spreading through the rest of the building fast.