GRENOBLE,FRANCE - Just a few weeks after Sochi, mountain suppliers are ready to reveal their latest products and innovations during Mountain Planet (previously known as SAM, the International Mountain Development Fair) which will be taking place from 23 to 25 April in Grenoble. It was started up in 1974 by several mountain enthusiasts and this year the show will be celebrating its 40th anniversary.
To mark the occasion; the host of the 23rd edition of the Winter Olympics, South Korea, will be the special guest. Having resorts with just a few kilometres of slopes, the "Land of the Morning Calm" has a more fun approach to skiing (with music and at night, etc.) and has a total of 7 million skier-days. Compared with the 57.9 million skier-days clocked by France — making it the world's most popular winter tourist destination — South Korea has room for progress, as does Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Americas. These in particular are the target countries of exhibitors at Mountain Planet.
Mountain equipment, an important French sector
For almost a century, France has been building its expertise in the design, development, operation and promotion of incredible natural sites. Several French companies were major contributors to the preparation of the Sochi Winter Olympics and the development of new resorts around the world (Asia, Caucasus, Latin America etc.) whether in resort development or management. This is the case for Poma and La Compagnie des Alpes as well as design offices such as Géode, Abest ingénierie, Dianeige, Engineerisk and companies such as Etienne Lacroix, Lumiplan, MND Group and Myneige.
At the last "count", the French mountain development sector revealed:
- 300 companies,
- 5,000 people and a turnover in 2011 of 1 billion euros,
- 77% of companies have plans for global development,
- 71% have increased their turnover over the past five years,
- 66% employed new staff in 2013,
- 88% have plans to develop new products or services.
Mountain Planet prides itself on being a place of commerce and will organise a discussion mainly for South Korea but also for the benefit of future nations hosting the Winter Olympics:
"What lessons are to be learnt from the Sochi Winter Olympics that can be useful for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea A second discussion will be on the theme of "What benefits do the Winter Olympics bring to the international winter sports economy ".
An industry that offers alternative modes of transport
Mountain Planet also provides the ideal opportunity to display its international range of ropeways, a gentle mode of transport that is being developed worldwide. This aerial metro has proved successful in Brazil, Columbia, Turkey, Russia and Egypt and will definitely be one of the keys to developing transport in future smart cities. This is an economical transport system that is environmentally friendly, being both energy efficient and requiring little maintenance as well as being astonishingly quiet. With towers placed every 100 to 200 metres, its installation is non-intrusive and inexpensive at between 5 and 7 million euros per kilometre in comparison with the 18.5 million euros needed for a bus route or 25 to 50 million euros for a tramway.
An industry providing employment opportunities
With the mountain development industry representing 5,000 people, 120,000 jobs are dependent on the opening of ski resorts in France. At Mountain Planet, ANEM (the French National Association of Elected Representatives) will be dedicating its convention to basic and further training for mountain trades. Faced with ongoing economic changes, it is time to give a professional edge to both trades and expertise. Mountain trades are also clearly affected.
"Our teams have been working flat out to organise this 21st edition of what was previously the International Mountain Development Fair, now called Mountain Planet. We are delighted to be welcoming South Korea as the guest of honour and hope that our exhibitors will provide them with their expertise and thus contribute to the success of the 2018 Winter Olympics. With just a month to go before the show, we already have over 500 exhibitors and brands booked with many more being finalised. Furthermore, the following delegations have also confirmed their attendance: Andorra, Argentina, Chile, China, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia and Serbia with others still to be confirmed. It brings us great pleasure to be able to give them an especially warm welcome and they will have the opportunity to have business meetings coordinated by our partner Cluster Montagne. The programme of conferences and satellite events promises to make this an interesting and successful edition", says Catherine Calmels, the executive director of Alpexpo who has used every possible opportunity to promote Mountain Planet.
