Australian skiers keen to get on the piste

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Australian skiers are an increasingly common sight at ski rental shops like this one in Hakubamura, Nagano Prefecture.

Attracted by the high quality of the snow, more and more Australian skiers have been visiting the ski slopes of Hakubamura, Nagano Prefecture, and some are even purchasing and operating resort inns in the village.

According to the village's tourism bureau, foreign tourists accounted for 35,000 room rentals last season. Korean visitors constituted half the figure, but Australians--who had rarely visited the area in the past--accounted for 20 percent.

"As a lot of Australians have visited this season, the number of rooms occupied by foreign tourists now stands at more than 40,000," a bureau employee said.

Inspired by Niseko, Hokkaido, which recently has been attracting more Australian skiers, 12 lodging facilities, including the Hakuba Tokyu Hotel, established a group in June 2005 aimed at attracting more foreign skiers to the village.

The group set up a Web site in English about accommodation in the village, which helped raise its profile overseas.

Many Australians ski in Europe or North America, attracted by the high quality of the snow, which is difficult to find in their home country.

Hakubamura and Niseko also have gained popularity thanks to their relatively close proximity to Australia, and a smaller time difference when compared with that of Europe or North America.

"There are a variety of places to ski in Hakubamura, and it's easy to get to Tokyo," a hotel worker in the village said.

According to a real estate company near JR Hakuba Station, eight resort inns have been sold to foreign buyers, including Australians, Americans and Britons, over the past year.

"Although resort inn sales have been suffering, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel," the company president said.

Australian banker Rob Clisdell, 29, bought and renovated a wooden resort inn last year near the Happo-One ski resort with three friends, renaming it "Monkey Rider."