The Winter Olympics meet the Chinese Year, and the ice and snow economy ignites the Taste of the Year

On February 4, a child practiced skiing at a ski resort in Baiyin, Gansu Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Zheyu

When the Beijing Winter Olympics meet the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, ice and snow tourism has become a new fashion during the Spring Festival holiday. Fliggy data shows that the order volume of ice and snow tourism-related goods in the Spring Festival in 2022 increased by more than 30% compared with last year's Spring Festival. On Ctrip's platform, ticket orders for snow and ski resorts increased by nearly 40% year-on-year. Tongcheng travel big data shows that the number of orders for ice and snow scenic spots nationwide increased by 68% compared with the same period last year's Spring Festival. The surging ice and snow boom across the country reflects the heat of China's ice and snow economy, and has also become a vivid portrayal of the "300 million people on ice and snow" from vision to reality.

In recent years, driven by the "Winter Olympics effect", China's ice and snow economy has been heating up day by day. According to the "China Ice and Snow Tourism Consumption Big Data Report (2022)", the number of ice and snow leisure tourists in the country increased from 170 million in the ice and snow season from 2016 to 2017 to 254 million in the ice and snow season from 2020 to 2021. In the Spring Festival of 2022, in addition to enjoying the fun of skiing and skating, tourists from all over the country can also experience ice and snow activities with traditional characteristics such as snow climbing ploughs and ice kickballs, and the fiery ice and snow economy has added more "New Year's flavor" to the Spring Festival. The China Tourism Research Institute expects that the number of Ice and Snow Leisure Tourists in China will reach 305 million in the 2021-2022 ice and snow season, and the revenue of ice and snow leisure tourism is expected to reach 323.3 billion yuan, fully demonstrating the huge potential of China's ice and snow economy. Behind this is the rapid popularization of ice and snow sports in China.

Since China won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2015, the pace of China's ice and snow sports "south exhibition westward expansion and eastward expansion" has been accelerating. Activities such as the national public ice and snow season and the Chinese ice and snow caravan promote ice and snow sports to continue to enter the campus and community, and achieve close contact with the masses. New formats such as ice and snow experience, ice and snow training, and ice and snow tourism that have emerged across the country have also made ice and snow sports increasingly integrated into the daily fitness life of the public. Up to now, There are 654 standard ice rinks and 803 ski resorts in China, an increase of 317% and 41% over 2015, laying a good foundation for the promotion and popularization of ice and snow sports. Today, after years of efforts, the number of participants in ice and snow sports in China has reached 346 million, and ice and snow sports have extended from niche trends to all ages and regions. China has successfully achieved the goal of "driving 300 million people to the ice and snow", which will permanently change the pattern of ice and snow sports in the world and benefit both China and the world. As IOC President Bach said, "From a worldwide perspective, the era of winter sports can be divided into before and after the Beijing Winter Olympics, because 300 million people participate in ice and snow sports, which will open a new era for ice and snow sports." ”

According to international experience, when the per capita GDP reaches 5,000 US dollars, the people will have a demand for sports; when the per capita GDP reaches 8,000 US dollars, sports will become one of the pillar industries of the national economy; when the per capita GDP is close to 10,000 US dollars, it will usher in the "golden period" of ice and snow sports development. In 2021, the average GDP of Chinese will exceed 12,000 US dollars, and the development potential of China's ice and snow sports will continue to be released in the future. With the development of economy, society and science and technology, the popularization and application of new technologies and new materials such as VR, AR, dry snow, liquid simulated ice, etc., more and more Chinese enjoy the health and happiness brought by ice and snow sports.

At present, athletes from all over the world are competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics, China's mass ice and snow sports outside the arena are in full swing, and the same frequency resonance between competitive sports and mass sports will enable more people to realize their "ice and snow dreams" and share the dividends brought by the vigorous development of ice and snow. (Meng Qingchuan)

Source: Overseas Network