Mark Kristofic | The Boom of Winter Sports in China

<p><strong>Topics Discussed and Key Points:</strong></p><p>●      Factors that developed Mark’s interest in doing business with China</p><p>●      Building relationships with Xinhua News Agency and Tencent</p><p>●      The demographics of the ski industry in China and why locals prefer to ski abroad</p><p>●      Promoting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and local winter sports in general</p><p>●      Ski locations in China</p><p>●      The economic drivers behind the development of ski hills</p><p>●      Why many resorts in China have not been able to develop year-round destinations</p><p>●      What about ski TV appeals to Chinese audiences</p><p>●      The difference between programming for a Chinese audience and a Canadian audience</p><p>●      Emerging winter sports in China</p><p>●      What the future holds for ski TV in China</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Episode Summary:</strong></p><p>Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Mark Kristofic, Managing Partner at S-Media, a television, print and digital production company that provides advertising, marketing, and production in Canada and China. S-Media also owns Snowsports Media, which includes a ski travel show featuring different destinations around the world. Mark is also partnered with the nonprofit events management company, World Snowsports Events Group.</p><p>Because skiing worldwide had been relatively flat in terms of growth, Mark identified China as an emerging sports market. His interest in expanding into the market only grew with the announcement of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where sports would be a state-sponsored initiative.</p><p>In October 2017, S-Media began talks with Xinhua News Agency. They had their first meeting in Beijing that December and, only a month later in January 2018, began filming around China, their partnership official.</p><p>Asked how S-Media was able to build a relationship with Xinhua, Mark says that there were two keys to their success. For one, “they actually wanted the Western validation