New UHRP Report: Global Winter Sports and Leisure Brands Expanding in Uyghur Region Amid Atrocity Crimes

For immediate release
February 26, 2026, 9:00 a.m. EST
Contact: Peter Irwin (+1-646-906-7722)

A new report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) finds that more than 40 globally recognized winter sports, apparel, hospitality, and infrastructure companies have expanded operations in the Uyghur Region since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, embedding themselves in a state-led tourism strategy unfolding amid documented crimes against humanity.

“Companies cannot claim neutrality while embedding themselves in state-led development projects designed to project normalcy to the world,” said Peter Irwin, UHRP Associate Director for Research and Advocacy and author of the report. “The expansion of winter and leisure tourism in the Uyghur Region is unfolding alongside mass surveillance, cultural erasure, and credible findings of atrocity crimes.”

The report, Whitewashing Winter Tourism: Global Sports and Leisure Industry Risks in the Uyghur Region, documents how international brands have opened retail stores at ski resorts, sponsored winter sports competitions and events, filmed tourism promotional videos, and supplied lifts, gondolas, and snowmaking systems across the region, contributing to state efforts to normalize repression through leisure and consumption.

Global ski and snowboard equipment companies like Burton, Volcom, and Fischer have expanded retail operations at ski areas; apparel brands like Columbia Sportswear, Helly Hansen, and Patagonia have sponsored tourism promotion events; Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) has filmed a series of promotional tourism videos; and international hotel chains—including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and TUI—have opened chalet-style hotels adjacent to ski areas.

Since 2021, UN experts, an independent tribunal, and leading human rights organizations have concluded that Chinese government policies targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples may constitute crimes against humanity and, in some cases, genocide.

Regional planning documents explicitly prioritize tourism as a strategy to “revitalize Xinjiang,” including the rapid development of winter sports and the promotion of “ethnic” and cultural branding. The regional implementation strategy for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) specifically notes that the government will “Accelerate the development of winter tourism,” and “Cultivate new business models such as […] ice and snow tourism.”

Some of the brands identified publicly endorse the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, however meaningful human rights due diligence is effectively impossible in the Uyghur Region due to pervasive surveillance and restrictions on independent access.

“When workers and residents cannot speak freely, claims of responsible engagement ring hollow,” Irwin said. “The global winter sports and leisure industry must decide whether it will profit from repression or uphold the human rights standards it claims to support.”

The report calls on companies to end sponsorships and partnerships with regional tourism bureaus, publicly disclose all operations in the region, and reassess commercial activities in light of credible findings of crimes against humanity and genocide.