Winter Olympics propel the development of China’s ice and snow industry

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Unprecedented enthusiasm for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics has triggered the rapid development of China’s ice and snow industry. This was reported by Xinhua News Agency.

The strong demand for winter sports has created increasing market opportunities, and a complete industrial chain of ice and snow is being established in the country.

More than 346 million Chinese have participated in winter sports activities since Beijing’s successful bid in 2015, with a participation rate of 24.56 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The figure indicates that the country has already achieved its goal of engaging 300 million people in winter sports.

An explosive development of winter sports infrastructure has been observed in China in recent years. The country now has 654 standard ice rinks, an increase of 317% compared to 2015, and the number of ski resorts has increased from 568 in 2015 to 803 currently.

With the appearance of ice and snow-covered venues, the benefits of cold weather are no longer reserved for those living in the northern snowy regions, which were once the main winter sports destinations in China.

Of the 10 cities where off-season skiing was most popular last summer, nine are in southern China, according to a report by online travel service provider Fliggy.

“The emergence of indoor venues all over the country, especially in the south, has made it easier for people to participate in ice and snow sports and allow them to enjoy ice and snow in every season”, – said Feng Xianqiao, general secretary of a district ski association in Chongqing, southwest China.

Ice and snow sports in China have achieved rapid development, narrowing the gap between China and countries in Europe and America where winter sports have a long history, said Wang Bing, director of a sports development research institute based in Beijing.

“China’s winter economy will enter a 10-year golden period from 2022, driven by economic development, consumption upgrades and Winter Olympics dividends”, – said Ding Changfeng, a senior executive at Chinese property developer Vanke.

Ding sees skiing as “one of the most popular new sports” in the middle of the “rapid growth of sports consumption in China”, and expects the country’s number of ski trips to rank first in Asia this year and become the first in the world by 2032, reaching 60 million.

“Skiing has a strong ability to boost related industries, especially tourism, and is a new growth pole in the sports industry”, – said Wang Yuxiong, director of the Sports Economics Research Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

Travel related to ice and snow tourism increased from 170 million during the 2016-2017 period to 254 million during the 2020-2021 period, and is expected to reach 305 million during the ice and snow tourism season. snow 2021-2022, according to a published report. by China Tourism Academy (CTA) and Mafengwo, a travel service and social networking platform.

Inspired by the upcoming Winter Olympics, about 70% of survey respondents expressed a desire to do more ice-snow travel, and industry revenue is expected to reach 323.3 billion yen (about 50 .7 billion) during the period 2021-2022.

Ice and snow tourism will become a major driver of China’s winter tourism and ice and snow economy, with total revenue expected to exceed 1.1 trillion yen by 2025, according to the CTA.

Chinese tourist consumption has grown across the country, whether drawn to the high-quality resorts in the northeast, the Olympic venues in the north, or the combined experience of snow and hot springs in the south. .

“A new pattern in China’s ice and snow economy has been formed, with the northeast region, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Xinjiang as its three pillars, as well as the emerging belts of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau as well as the central and western regions of the country. said Dai Bin, head of the CTA.

Industry data shows that younger generations and parents with young children are the main consumers of ice and snow tourism. According to a 2021 report on China’s ice and snow tourism consumption, many are looking for higher value-added products, preferring vacation packages with high-quality facilities such as restaurants, hotels, shopping malls and children’s parks.

At Thaiwoo Ski Resort in Chongli District of Zhangjiakou City, one of China’s largest ski resorts, businessmen are racking their brains to introduce consumers to innovative services and products.

“Thanks to the Winter Olympics, we can communicate and cooperate with renowned international companies and service providers, including leading international hotel brands”, – said Li Yongtai, executive vice president of Thaiwoo.

In ice-snow equipment, global brands are focusing on abundant opportunities in China, while several domestic brands have started cooperating with overseas manufacturers.

With the aim of improving the ice-snow industrial chain, China has issued a series of policies to promote the construction of tourist bases and sports centers, the emergence of highly skilled enterprises and innovations in the manufacture of equipment.

“The Beijing Winter Olympics will lead China to cultivate a complete ice and snow industry chain”, – said Zhang Xiandong, the China sales representative of Italian online winter travel agency Snowit.

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