Per reporter: Dong Xingsheng Wen Menghua
This winter, skiing has become a sport for all.
In the circle of friends, there are often people who post small videos of skiing, even if they fall "on all fours", they are still happy. Near the end of the year, many enterprises even engaged in team building in the ski resort, although the movements and postures are not professional, but the atmosphere is happy, and the purpose of team building has been successfully achieved.
On the other hand, on the ice rinks of big cities, more and more children and teenagers wear valuable equipment and undergo rigorous and professional ice hockey and figure skating training.
Although the popularity of ice and snow sports is far less than that of football, basketball, table tennis and other ball sports, ice and snow sports, which were once regarded as "niche" sports, are also moving towards popularization and popularization.
Figure skaters played the Kashchahai Ice Rink
The reasons behind the prosperity of ice and snow sports are not only the factors of increasing per capita consumption power, but also the promotion of national policies and the help of capital. The "Daily Economic News" reporter learned from the interview that at present, capital has targeted "ice and snow" related industries, and even the education and training industry has also entered the skiing game to find new vitality.
According to incomplete statistics, since January 2021, ski startups such as Aoxue Culture, SNOW51, Extreme Road, Gobei, and GOSKI have obtained tens of millions of yuan in financing, involving a total of nearly 300 million yuan in financing.
Sought after by young people, enthusiastic about consumers, optimistic about capital... With the east wind of the Winter Olympics, the ice and snow economy is expected to slide out of the trillion yuan track.
phenomenon:
More than 300 million people participated
Becoming the "standard" of young people's trend
Every winter, Aba Prefecture in Sichuan Province, where the average temperature is around minus 7 degrees Celsius, welcomes many ski enthusiasts, and Li Nuan, who has just taken a holiday, is one of them.
This is the third year that Li Nuan has fallen in love with skiing. In an interview with every reporter, the Sichuan girl was on her way to the ski resort with her friends.
"I'm in Wenchuan now, I'll go to the snow field tomorrow." She drives to ski every year, this time choosing the Taiziling Ski Resort in jiuding mountain scenic area in Mao County, Aba Prefecture.
Image source: Courtesy of the interviewee
In addition to the famous Xiling Snow Mountain, several major snow resorts in Aba Prefecture have also become another choice for ski lovers in Sichuan.
Li Nuan told every reporter: "Usually skiing comes to Aba Prefecture, there are several snow fields here, we generally choose The Prince Ridge Ski Resort, where the high-level roads are very long." I have also been to Partridge Mountain Ski Resort and Xiling Snow Mountain Ski Resort before. ”
Young people represented by the post-90s generation are increasingly regarding skiing, skating and other sports as the "standard" of winter entertainment. In the past, the traditional impression was that mainly northerners loved skiing more, but now, with the popularization and normalization of skiing, southerners have become more and more in love with skiing.
According to the "Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Sports Heritage Report (2022)" released by the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, from the successful bid for the Winter Olympic Games to October 2021, the number of residents across the country who have participated in ice and snow sports is 346 million, and the participation rate of ice and snow sports is 24.56%.
More and more people are skiing, especially among young people, and many ski enthusiasts are well aware of this change. On the Little Red Book platform, "Ice and Snow Boom" was named the key word for lifestyle trends in 2021.
Wang Bo has been exposed to skiing since 2013, when he was still a college student, because he was a native of the north, so he naturally came into contact with skiing. In recent years, he has felt that more and more people around him are skiing. Living in Beijing, he often drives with friends to Beijing Nanshan Ski Resort, Huaibei Ski Resort or Hebei Chongli Ski Resort. "In recent years, the number of people at Chongli Ski Resort has doubled every year."
In his view, skiing is not just a sport, snowboarding is actually a trend plaything, unlike double boarding, from skateboarding to snowboarding, it is a coherent culture. And Li Nuan, at the beginning wanted to try to learn to ski, but also "think others skate very cool", after falling in love with skiing, she also met a lot of snow friends.
The cost of a ski is mainly on transportation, food, accommodation and skiing experience. Among them, many ski enthusiasts said that transportation, food and accommodation are relatively conventional, and they will pay more attention to the skiing experience. "The cost of skiing is actually quite high, especially in Beijing, where the cost of transportation for one person is particularly high." Wang Bo said.
On the other hand, in recent years, more and more newly developed scenic spots have also launched ski projects. Not long ago, Shaanxi girl Li Mengqi went to a newly developed scenic spot in Langao County, Ankang City, to experience a skiing. Because it is a newly opened ski project, the fee is relatively low, "50 yuan an hour".
According to the observation of the "Daily Economic News" reporter, the current charging standards of ski resorts across the country are not the same. For example, the ticket for Sichuan Taiziling Ski Resort is 288 yuan / day, and the ticket for Hebei Chongli Genting Ski Resort (with its own board) is 570 yuan / day. In addition to snow tickets, ski teaching is also the most likely place for many beginners to "burn money". It is reported that a senior coach in Chengdu Ski Resort is 400 yuan / hour; some senior coaches in first-tier cities are as high as 1,000 yuan / hour.
mode:
The number of domestic ski resorts exceeds 800
A new form of business travel integration has been written
According to data from the State General Administration of Sport, as of the beginning of 2021, there are 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts in the country, covering 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, an increase of 41% over 2015. According to the "2020 China Ski Industry White Paper", there are 36 indoor ski resorts in mainland China in 2020, the number of which is the first in the world, and Harbin Sunac Snow World, with a snow area of 65,000 square meters, ranks first in the world's indoor ski resorts.
As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics approach, ski resorts large and small have ushered in the peak consumption season.
Wan Zhiheng, general manager of Chengdu Sunac Snow World, told reporters that since its opening in June 2020, Chengdu Sunac Snow World's passenger flow and operating income have continued to grow. "This year, our total passenger flow has increased significantly compared with last year, with a maximum passenger flow of 6,500 to 7,000 passengers in a single day." According to Wan Zhiheng, as the Countdown to the Winter Olympics enters, the enthusiasm of tourists for skiing has also increased significantly, "just past New Year's Day, the passenger flow in the snow world has increased significantly."
Li Xiao, director of operations of Xiling Snow Mountain Scenic Area, said that due to the epidemic and other reasons, the total number of tourists in Xiling Snow Mountain has not shown an increasing trend, but the number of ski enthusiasts and enthusiasts continues to grow. "The more obvious feeling is that the number of tourists who used to go to the high-end road is still relatively rare, and the number of people has gradually increased in the past two years." To this end, Xiling Snow Mountain has specially opened a snow trail to create a more professional snowboard park.
Image source: Xiling Snow Mountain official website
"Previously, more than 95% of beginner experiencers would choose skis, and only about 5% would ski, but now 20% will choose snowboarding. Among ski enthusiasts and members, more than 80% choose snowboarding. Li Xiao said.
Another noticeable change, both indoor and outdoor ski resorts, is that more and more teenagers are undergoing systematic ski training.
"In the past off-season, we had more than 90 ski instructors, but now it has increased to nearly 200." Wan Zhiheng said that behind this is that more and more young customers are willing to systematically learn to ski, participate in ski winter camps, youth skiing advanced courses and so on. Not only that, Chengdu Sunac Snow World has carried out in-depth cooperation with 10 well-known universities such as Chengdu University, 17 primary and secondary schools, helping schools to set up campus ski competition teams, provide special course training, and create campus events.
Image source: Chengdu Sunac Snow World official WeChat
"We have also noticed that more and more children are participating in skiing projects, and many parents are willing to let their children participate in ski winter camps to expose their children to ice and snow sports from an early age." Li Xiao said.
Not only that, skiing has also become an important form of promoting the integration of culture, commerce and tourism in various places. Taking Xiling Snow Mountain as an example, during the Spring Festival, in addition to the regular performances of live interaction with tourists, the scenic spot continues to launch night tour Xiling service, "night skiing", "night ice and snow project", "light show" and "supporting night commercial service", and the scenic spot delays the operation time, allowing tourists to experience night play immersively.
consume:
The annual cost of the trainees is not less than 100,000
It is moving from the niche to the masses
According to statistics from the State General Administration of Sport, as of the beginning of 2021, there were 654 standard ice rinks in the country, more than 3 times more than in 2015. Such a huge increase is naturally related to the low base.
Compared with snow sports, the popularity of ice sports is far behind. One of the reasons for this is that ice sports such as ice hockey, ice dancing, and figure skating require both more professional technology and higher costs.
Before December 2019, there were only non-standard ice rinks scattered in shopping malls and only for leisure and entertainment. In December of that year, the Sichuan Jiazhong Ice Sports Center, wholly owned by Sichuan Jiazhong Sports culture management co., Ltd., was completed in Chengdu, which is the only indoor ice hockey hall in southwest China that meets the standards of the International Ice Federation and can provide long-term training and competition services.
Wang Jiong, manager of the Sichuan Canada-China Sports Comprehensive Department, told reporters that the total investment of the center is 20 million yuan, and the ice surface area of the competition venue is 1830 square meters, which meets the training of ice hockey, figure skating, short track speed skating and curling and the requirements of international competitions. Since its completion, the center has begun to undertake training for professional teams such as the Sichuan Provincial Figure Skating Team and the Youth Women's Ice Hockey Team.
Not only that, the Canada-China Ice Hockey Sports Center has also hatched a club called "Oriental Beast", which mainly carries out youth training in ice hockey and figure skating. Wang Jiong introduced that over the past two years, more and more teenagers are keen on ice sports.
"At present, there are more than 200 ice hockey students and more than 150 figure skating students who train for a long time according to the club's training rhythm." Wang Jiong said.
But compared to ball and skiing, ice sports are significantly less involved. Therefore, industry insiders also define ice sports such as ice hockey and figure skating as "niche" sports. One of the reasons that hinders the popularity of ice sports is the high cost of the sport.
"Ice hockey training has requirements for training frequency, no less than three individual trainings per week, team training is not less than once, and the corresponding cost is higher than other sports." Wang Jiong introduced that according to the minimum requirements, a student spends no less than 100,000 yuan a year.
Coupled with the skates, ice knives, protective gear, etc. required for ice hockey, as well as the travel expenses of frequent foreign competitions, it is even more difficult for ordinary families to bear.
However, with the hosting of the Winter Olympics and the country's active promotion of ice and snow sports into schools, ice sports are moving from a niche to the public. Some ice sports practitioners introduced, taking ice hockey training as an example, "In 2009, there were only 40 children in Beijing who systematically conducted ice hockey training. 12 years later, there are nearly 10,000 registered players in Beijing Ice Hockey."
In Chengdu, the Canada-China Ice Sports Center has also entered a number of schools to conduct primary training for primary and secondary school physical education teachers, and in the form of ice sports summer camps, let more teenagers understand and like ice hockey. "In 2021 alone, our public welfare activities reached nearly 4,000 people."
In Wang Jiong's view, with the promotion of government departments and the participation of industry enterprises, ice sports will surely become a more popular sport.
Operations:
Skiing alone is hard to make money
Market balance and four-season operations are key
Although riding on the "east wind" of the Winter Olympics, the ice and snow "track" is expected to become the next new outlet, but "ski profitability" is still the voice of many industry people. Due to the large investment of large ski resorts, high operating costs, long return cycle and other factors, the entire ski resort industry was in a state of low profit.
According to data from the Head Leopard Research Institute, the profit margin of domestic ski resorts is about 15%. It is reported that before hebei Chongli Wanlong Ski Resort, one of the leading enterprises in the domestic snow field, achieved profitability in 2015, its founder Luo Li has repeatedly admitted that Wanlong Ski Resort has been losing money for 17 years.
"I don't think a single ski resort itself will necessarily make a lot of money, the ski resort is not just a (simple) 'ski resort', but must be a cultural tourism project, driving the overall ecology to form a cultural system, so as to revitalize the business model." Zhang Yi, CEO of Ai Media Consulting, said.
A ski industry insider revealed that at present, there are about 800 ski resorts in China, only half of which have cable cars and magic carpet lifting capacity devices; of which only half are overhead cable cars, that is, about 200. "There are more than two ski resorts with overhead lifts, which is about 80, and there are only 28 ski resorts with more than 4 overhead lifts." As can be seen from the data, although the ski industry looks thriving, the speed of large-scale development is not fast.
At present, a considerable number of large ski resorts in China adopt the real estate model to support the operation of cultural tourism projects. "A large cultural tourism project hardware investment may be more than ten or twenty billion, and the recovery cost is slower, so it can only rely on the real estate model to support the loss of cultural tourism projects, and the core of this type of ski resort is still real estate realization." Li Xiao said that after all, real estate is a limited resource, and in the end, it still needs to rely on the continuous blood transfusion of the cultural tourism industry in order to maintain the benign development of the project.
The advantage of small ski resorts is that the investment is small, the assets are controllable, and the unique local resources can be used to quickly realize the cash by cultural tourism. However, such small ski resorts need to solve the problem of market cultivation, "if the local market is not so good, and can not attract customers in other provinces and regions, they can only rely on local customers, and whether the scale and consumption capacity of local customers can support and meet the operational needs of ski resorts, but also test the size of ski resorts and market balance."
On the other hand, whether it is a large ski resort or a small ski resort, there is a prominent contradiction - how to achieve four-season operation.
"All scenic spots, as long as it involves cultural tourism projects, there must be a low season, winter is generally the off-season of traditional cultural tourism projects, spring, summer and autumn are peak seasons, our industry is the opposite, spring, summer and autumn are off-season, only winter is our peak season." Li Xiao said that therefore, no matter how big or small the ski resort, it is necessary to solve the contradiction point of the four-season operation.
In Li Xiao's view, for ski resort investment, the most taboo is "to do ski resorts for the sake of ski resorts". To put it simply, if there is no support for the operation of the four seasons, only the single business of skiing is carried out, and after the snow season, the three seasons of spring, summer and autumn can only be closed. "Relying on a snow season alone, whether it is to support real estate or support cultural tourism, it is not enough."
So is having good resources for the four seasons one of the core elements of measuring a ski resort, that is, what else can be done in other seasons besides skiing?
"From the very beginning, Xiling Snow Mountain has been committed to four seasons operation." Li Xiao revealed that since 2017, Xiling Snow Mountain has begun to create the concept of sports tourism. Simply put, the core is to build a product system that allows customers to fall in love from experience, because sightseeing is only once, sports-enabled tourism is repeated many times, and it is necessary to find differentiated business ideas that open up traditional experiential visits to this place.
trend:
Education and other industries have entered the market
The Winter Olympic economy will drive the large industrial chain
Young people are sought after, consumers are enthusiastic, and capital is also aiming at many industries related to "ice and snow", and they have entered the game.
Orange IT data shows that from 2015 to 2022, a total of 38 investments in the field of "ice and snow projects" were completed. Among them, in terms of the number of investments, 2016 and 2021 are the peak periods of investment, with 10 and 9 investments completed in these two years respectively; and from the perspective of investment amount, the investment amount in 2015 and 2019 is the largest, with 737 million yuan and 703 million yuan respectively.
Every reporter noted that in 2021 alone, a number of financing has been achieved in ice and snow-related fields. In February 2021, ski social platform GOSKI received a round of financing of 20 million yuan A+ and subsequently, Snow Owl Technology, snowboarding brand Aoxue Culture and ski training institution SNOW51 received two rounds of financing in 2021. In January this year, Snow Owl Technology completed a new round of financing again.
In addition to investment institutions, the education and training industry has also entered the ski track to find new vitality. In 2021, New Oriental invested in Wanyu Fangfei, which is doing ice training; Spark Thinking reached a strategic cooperation with the China Ice and Snow Conference.
"Capital's attention to the ice and snow industry in recent years is still relatively large, and direct investment is also increasing." According to Zhang Yi's observation, whether it is a direct investment in the ski industry itself or an indirect investment in related industries in the surrounding areas, the role of capital in promoting it is very large.
However, in Zhang Yi's view, capital investment in the ice and snow industry is unlikely to explode. On the one hand, the investment in the ski resort field has a relatively long cycle and the overall layout of investment is larger; on the other hand, the growth of ski-related industries is more accompanied by the growth of ski consumption. "So overall, like most of the real economy, ice and snow industry investment is a relatively stable medium- and long-term investment, which is not suitable for 'short-term speculation'."
At present, taking the Winter Olympics as an opportunity, the mainland ice and snow industry is in a stage of rapid growth. According to the "Ice and Snow Sports Development Plan (2016-2025)" formulated by the State General Administration of Sport, the total scale of the mainland ice and snow industry will reach 1 trillion yuan by 2025, and the ice and snow industry will continue to develop.
At the same time, the development of the ice and snow industry will also drive the rapid growth of related industries in the surrounding areas. Qunar Big Data Research Institute found that every 1 yuan increase in ice and snow tourism revenue can drive transportation, accommodation, catering and other related industries to increase revenue by more than 4 yuan.
"The ski industry will spawn a large industrial chain containing a variety of industrial economic forms in the future, and the 'Winter Olympic economy' brought about by the Winter Olympics is a very large and new economic engine, which is expected to pull up the industrial chain of the ice and snow economy and has great growth potential and development space." Zhang Yi thinks.
(In the article, the interviewees Li Nuan and Wang Bo are pseudonyms)
Reporter's Note| 300 Million People Transform "Cold Resources" into "Hot Economy"
Riding on the east wind of the Beijing Winter Olympics, China set off a "wave of ice and snow".
General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned in his 2022 New Year's message: "Let more people participate in ice and snow sports, which is also the meaning of the Olympic movement." A few days ago, when meeting with IOC President Bach, General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "I said that green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains, and now ice and snow are also golden mountains and silver mountains, which has driven the development of the ice and snow economy." ”
At present, the new consumption of ice and snow sports has moved from a niche to the public, driving China's ice and snow industry to usher in an unprecedented momentum of development, and also igniting the investment enthusiasm of trillions of funds in the ice and snow industry. From ski training to equipment, from ice and snow tourism to food and accommodation consumption, from offline purchase to online marketing, the huge industrial chain and huge potential around the "ice and snow economy" are constantly extending.
The world is looking forward to China, and China is ready. In the future, "300 million people participating in ice and snow" will drive the ice and snow industry system to continue to grow bigger and stronger, and innovate more industrial scenarios. The ice and snow industry, which transforms "cold resources" into a "hot economy", is expected to become a new driving force and a new engine to promote economic and social development.
Reporter: Dong Xingsheng Wen Menghua
Edited by: Liang Xiao
Vision: Liu Qingyan
Typography: Liang Xiao Wang Shujie
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