“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
Peter Drucker, American management consultant, educator & author
Every few years the world reminds us how quickly conditions can change.
A global pandemic; supply chain disruption; unexpected shifts in travel patterns.
The current situation unfolding in the Middle East is another reminder that the global system is interconnected.
For investors and long-term asset developers, moments like this prompt an important question:
What makes an investment resilient when the world becomes unpredictable?
The answer lies in fundamentals: demand, location and access.
These are questions I have spent more than a decade considering while developing Australia’s first indoor snow resort.
Projects like Winter Sports World sit at the intersection of tourism, leisure infrastructure and the rapidly expanding global experience economy.
From the very beginning, one principle guided the project:
The business case must stand on its own domestic demand.
Winter Sports World does not rely on international tourism to be a viable business case.
Nor does it rely on volatile exchange rates or the assumption that overseas visitors will always arrive in the same numbers every year.
International visitors will absolutely come – Sydney remains one of the world’s great global destinations, but they are not required for the project to succeed.
That distinction matters more than ever.
Investing in stability
Winter Sports World managing director Peter Magnisalis. Photo: David Hill, Deep Hill Media
Periods of geopolitical uncertainty often cause hesitation in capital markets.
They also sharpen investor thinking as capital begins to look for stable jurisdictions, transparent regulatory systems and long-term assets anchored in real demand.
At times of global volatility, investors historically seek safe-harbour destinations for capital, places where governance is predictable, property rights are clear and economic institutions are strong.
Australia consistently ranks among the world’s most secure and predictable investment environments – strong institutions, clear property rights and stable governance.
And when that stability combines with a project designed around domestic demand first, the investment case becomes even more robust.
Strength of the home market
Australia has a ready-made market of visitors keen to come to Winter Sports World. CGI render
Australia has something many markets envy: a large, affluent and highly mobile domestic population.
Australians travel frequently within their own country, spend heavily on leisure experiences and are accustomed to travelling for recreation.
When Winter Sports World commissioned independent primary research by Stollznow Research, the findings confirmed a much stronger snow sports culture than many assume.
The research found:
• Around 61% of Australians have participated in skiing or snowboarding
• More than one-third of Australians express interest in trying snow sports
• Strong family participation and repeat visitation behaviour among existing snow participants
Most importantly, the research revealed that interest extends well beyond traditional skiers and snowboarders.
Families and first-time experience-seekers showed strong interest in an accessible snow attraction close to home.
This matters because indoor snow resorts globally operate as experience destinations.
They broaden the market.
Our research did not include professional athletes, schools, community groups or corporates markets.
What has been missing in Australia is a permanent, accessible alpine environment within reach of a major city.
That is the gap Winter Sports World fills.
Location. Location. Location.
Photo: Western Sydney International Airport
Another fundamental principle in resilient asset development is simple: Place attractions where people already are.
Winter Sports World will be located in one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.
Western Sydney is within an hour’s drive of a 5 million-strong resident population.
This proximity to population is one of the strongest demand drivers identified in the Stollznow research.
Importantly, the research modelling was deliberately conservative.
It did not factor in the Western Sydney International Airport, due to open just 15 minutes away in seven months’ time.
Even without that expected future uplift, the domestic demand case already stands firmly on its own.
That balance creates stability.
Infrastructure for any climate
Winter Sports World is plugging a gap in the market: Australia lacks a facility that provides perfect snow, perfect snow conditions and perfect -4°C snow weather 365 days a year.
Another factor shaping Winter Sports World is that our natural snow season in Australia is short, increasingly unpredictable and future climate change impact compressing the current 100-110 days per year to as low as 55 days by 2050.
Outdoor resorts face the same climate pressures affecting alpine regions around the world.
Indoor snow resorts solve this challenge by creating reliable, year-round alpine environments independent of weather patterns or seasonal variability.
This model is already proven globally, with indoor snow resorts operating successfully in China, India, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
Winter Sports World has taken more than a decade to plan, approve and structure.
That time has been spent carefully assembling the elements that create long-term resilience:
• Full planning approval and secured land
• Conservative demand modelling
• Independent primary market research
• Partnerships with world-leading operators such as Bonski
• A location within one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions
The result is not simply a tourism attraction.
It is a piece of generational leisure infrastructure.
A destination designed to serve Australians first – and welcome the world second.
Because the strongest tourism assets are not those that rely on perfect global conditions.
They are the ones built on enduring local demand and stable foundations.
Increasingly, these are the projects being recognised by investors not simply as attractions, but as long-term infrastructure within the global experience economy.
It’s why sophisticated global investors are increasingly recognising experience-led infrastructure as a long-term asset class.