Australia’s first indoor ski resort, Winter Sports World, will be built in Western Sydney and is scheduled for completion in 2028, backed by China’s Sunac-BonSki, widely regarded as the world’s largest indoor ski operator.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Guangzhou, the AUD 700 million development is planned as a year-round ski and leisure destination, with projections of around 1.5 million domestic visitors annually. The project aims to reposition skiing in Australia as a more accessible, family-oriented leisure activity rather than a short seasonal pursuit.
Over its first decade of operation, the resort is expected to create more than 2,700 jobs and generate approximately AUD 2.5 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits for the local economy.
BonSki currently operates eight large-scale indoor ski resorts across China, including the Shenzhen Huafa Indoor Ski Resort, one of the world’s largest indoor snow facilities, and has more than a dozen additional projectsin planning or development. China’s 2024–2025 Ski Industry White Paper shows the country now dominates the global indoor ski sector, accounting for seven of the world’s ten largest indoor ski resorts by snow-area size as of May 2025.
Photograph: Huafa Group
Under the partnership, BonSki will act as core operating partner for Winter Sports World, overseeing slope operations, snowmaking systems, visitor-experience design and energy-efficiency management. Plans include an Olympic-class ski run, alongside a 4.5-star hotel and hospitality precinct, positioning the resort as a premium, all-weather destination.
Winter Sports World concept art
The project is expected to reshape Australia’s winter sports market, which is currently limited to a June–Septemberseason and concentrated in alpine regions of New South Wales and Victoria. Unlike outdoor resorts such as Perisher and Thredbo, an indoor facility can operate year-round with consistent snow conditions.
By contrast, Penrith, a major population centre in Western Sydney, is about an hour’s drive from central Sydney, compared with more than five hours to Perisher, reducing travel time and broadening access for families and first-time skiers.
Winter Sports World has also committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from commencement, using an all-electric design supported by on-site solar generation, heat-recovery systems and water recycling, in line with Australia’s tightening emissions standards.
The announcement comes as Australia’s leisure sector continues to face pressure. IBISWorld data shows household discretionary spending on leisure and entertainment has softened since the pandemic, with national theme-park industry revenue in 2025 projected at about AUD 2.5 billion. Against this backdrop, Winter Sports World is being positioned as a long-term investment in tourism, employment and economic activity in Western Sydney.
Separately, Sunac-BonSki has entered a strategic partnership with NZSki, which operates The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Mt Hutt, in what industry observers describe as one of the most significant international agreements in New Zealand’s ski sector.