More than 300 million people participated in the ice and snow sports, who ate this wave of dividends?

Producer/Associate Column

Written/Associate Senior Advisory Board Member Old Knife

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The Winter Olympics are in full swing, and ice and snow sports have become a new outlet during this year's Spring Festival. In the field of capital, stocks related to ice and snow sports have been bullish, and even a paragraph says, brothers, everyone can buy orthopedic stocks after the holiday, and a large number of rookies go skiing during the Winter Olympics and will fracture their bones.

Jokes are jokes, but enough to show how hot ice and snow sports are in China at the beginning of the Spring Festival in 2022.

01

346 million people participate in snow sports

On January 19, the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee publicly released the "Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Sports Heritage Report". It is mentioned that 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%, achieving the goal of driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports.

With the rapid popularization of skiing, the ski equipment market has unleashed greater potential. According to the "2021-2027 China Ski Equipment Industry Market Development Model and Strategic Consulting Research Report" by Zhiyan Consulting, the market size of the ski equipment industry in mainland China was 3.22 billion yuan in 2014, and this figure has increased to 12.69 billion yuan in 2020.

According to Jingdong platform data, last year's "Double Eleven" ski category self-operated orders increased by 23 times year-on-year; Tmall platform data show that during the double 11 period in 2021, the sales of ski supplies increased by 120% year-on-year, and women's ski clothing and parent-child ski products sold well. The notes on ski equipment on the Little Red Book are shared more than 30,000+ articles, and the content mainly involves the sharing of ski equipment, snowboard equipment raiders, ski clothing purchase strategies, etc. of novice Xiaobai and enthusiasts.

In terms of ski product brands, some consumers will focus on foreign brands such as Burton (american snowboarding brand), Rossignol (one of the world's top five manufacturers of ice and snow sports equipment, French ice and snow outdoor brands), Salomon (Salomon, French outdoor sports brand) and so on.

But in the past year, there are many domestic brands of ski products that have performed well. Among them, the ski goggles of OutdoorMaster (a young outdoor ski brand in Shenzhen) have become a hot product in Europe and the United States in one year, and are very popular with local consumers. In the second year of its establishment, its Kelvin ski helmet ranked first in Amazon's ski sales.

02

The development of domestic ice and snow sports

In the 1980s, the National Sports Commission proposed the "million people on the ice" plan, which was mainly carried out in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other places.

In 1985, the National Sports Commission held a working meeting on the development of winter sports, proposing that China should strive to achieve a breakthrough of zero gold medals in the Winter Olympic Games. Considering that China's ice and snow sports foundation is relatively weak, the overall strength is quite different from the world's advanced level, and the guarantee conditions at that time are limited, China can only concentrate on the development of several key projects, including speed skating, figure skating, short track speed skating, etc.

In the series of snow sports, skiing is more acceptable to the public. Skiing compared to other ice and snow sports (such as skating) for the technical difficulty coefficient is smaller, ordinary "little white" can participate, and the cost of ski resort construction input is not very high, the requirements and standards of ski resorts can be high or low, and the entry threshold is not high.

Since the mainland hosted the third Asian Winter Games in 1996, China's ski industry began to take off rapidly, and there were only about 10,000 skiers in China at that time. In the year of the 2015 Olympic bid, this number rose rapidly to 12.5 million due to the rapid growth of the middle-income group.

According to the State General Administration of Sport, the number of standard skating rinks nationwide will reach more than 650 by the beginning of 2021. In many shopping malls in Beijing, there are also many small artificial skating rinks or ski slopes.

At present, the problem facing the domestic ski industry is that the growth rate of customers cannot keep up with the growth rate of the snow field, and there is serious oversupply. Industry insiders believe that "it is difficult for every snow field to survive." "The root of the problem is to cultivate the market. The ski industry, on the other hand, is very dependent on seasonality. For example, Beijing's snow season is short, the profit time of the snow field can only be insisted from the beginning of December to February of the next year, as the number of skiers is increasing, each family is grabbing the source of customers, and the industry is becoming more and more obvious.

Snow sports have large regional variations. Statistics show that Beijing, Liaoning, Jilin, Xinjiang and Shandong are the provinces/cities with the top 5 ice and snow sports consumption turnover. Among them, Beijing, as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics, not only ranks first in the national ice and snow sports consumption, but also leads the way compared with other major ice and snow sports provinces.

03

Who got this wave of dividends?

On the occasion of this year's Spring Festival, ice and snow sports related categories have become the most popular "New Year goods". Everyone can't wait to wear new ski clothes and bring new ski equipment to the ski resort and start the new year with "Fast and Furious".

From the traditional northern ice and snow sports provinces, to Guangxi, Anhui, Yunnan, Hubei and Hunan to become the provinces and cities with the fastest growth rate of ice and snow consumption during the New Year Festival, the year-on-year growth rate is more than 4 times. With the increase of Investment in China's Ice and Snow Sports Industry in Sports Venues and Sports Services, Ice and Snow Sports has penetrated all the way to the south.

From the purchase of entry-level ice and snow clothing, to more and more people buying more specialized ice and snow equipment, "advanced" ski gods, ice and snow sports consumption structure continues to optimize and upgrade. Snow sports also have a broader mass base. During the 2022 Jingdong New Year Festival, the transaction amount of ice and snow equipment increased by 107% year-on-year, ice and snow sports clothing increased by 99% year-on-year, and ice and snow sports protective gear increased by 41% year-on-year.

Specifically, the categories with the fastest growth rate in terms of consumption amount are snowboard holders, snowboards, speed skating blades, ski pants and ski suits, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 130%. Among them, ice and snow equipment has successfully won the top three, and ice and snow equipment has become the hottest new year goods this year.

Traditional sports brands have also begun to lay out ski sports, and brands such as ANTA and Li Ning have successively released new ski products. Nearly 100 fashion brands, including Prada, have sold ski sports equipment on Tmall luxury products, including clothing, helmets, skis, etc. The fiery consumption of ice and snow has become an opportunity for new brands of domestic products to overtake in curves.

Relevant experts predict that it is expected that by 2025, the number of ice and snow tourists in China will exceed 500 million person-times, and the domestic ice and snow tourism revenue will exceed 1.1 trillion yuan, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the entire sports industry.

At the end of last year, luxury sports fashion brand BOGNER began to expand into China, the company and Bosideng International Holdings Limited set up a joint venture company, and reached a strategic joint venture agreement. The joint venture will introduce the BOGNER brand and the FIRE+ICE brand to the high-end fashion and sportswear markets in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and jointly operate the Bogner related brands.

In terms of regional distribution, since the beginning of this year, ice and snow sports have rapidly penetrated from the north to the south.

According to Ctrip's Spring Festival data, as of January 26, the most popular ski destinations in the province for the Year of the Tiger are: Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Huanggang, Anji, Liupanshui, Shennongjia and Wuxi. From this point of view, in addition to Beijing, where the Winter Olympics will be held, the southwest region represented by Chengdu, Chongqing and Guizhou Liupanshui, the east China region represented by Hangzhou, Anji and Wuxi, and the central China region represented by Huanggang and Shennongjia have become the most popular ski destinations for tourists during the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger.

In addition to the outdoor ski resorts in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, in many shopping malls in Shanghai, simulated ski machines are also popular with many consumers. The person in charge of the operation of a shopping mall in Shanghai said that the cost of a machine is generally about hundreds of thousands of yuan, and the biggest difference between machine snowmaking and slippery snow is that it is relatively safe and more efficient.

As of the beginning of 2021, there are 654 standard ice rinks in the country, an increase of 317% over 2015; there are 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts in the country, an increase of 41% over 2015. By the end of 2020, there are 50 indoor ice rinks and 20 ski resorts in Beijing.

04

The "compulsion" of ice and snow sports

Because of the high requirements for venues, equipment, transportation and other conditions, if a country or region does not have the corresponding level of economic and social development, ice and snow sports are difficult to truly enter the public.

When a country's per capita GDP exceeds $8,000, the sports industry begins to grow significantly; when the per capita GDP exceeds $10,000, the ice and snow industry begins to flourish.

Consumers of ice and snow sports must be "rich and idle", and this has become the new favorite of the middle class.

Whether it's skiing or skating, it's not cheap. According to reports, learning figure skating in Shenzhen requires two or three hundred yuan per lesson (45 minutes), and if it reaches a more professional level, it costs tens of thousands to 100,000 yuan per year.

Compared with skating, the "class attribute" of skiing is more obvious. Skiing means getting around by car, but it also means spending a weekend outside and staying in a hotel that can't be too bad. Skiing is a "one-stop" middle-class consumption, from equipment to catering, and even the choice of routes, which are completely different from ordinary sports consumption.

According to the report of the Financial World Weekly, an ordinary ski consumer spent 12,000 yuan on 7 skis: a high-end Burton ski suit 4,000 yuan + snowboard 2,000 yuan + snowshoes 2,000 yuan + helmet 1,000 yuan, the basic expenditure has been 9,000 yuan; plus the average price of 250 yuan / time ski ticket, 60 yuan round-trip bus fare, 50 yuan rental locker and protective gear, and the average price of lunch in the snow field of 70 yuan.

05

Ice and snow sports, the market opportunities will be more and more large

Although ice and snow sports participants should have "money and leisure", the freedom, excitement and challenges that are quickly released during their sports make them much more entertaining than other sports. For the public, it may be more appropriate to say that skiing and ice skating are sports than "ice and snow entertainment". The higher requirements for equipment in ice and snow sports will inevitably bring huge market opportunities.

Due to the more significant entertainment nature of ice and snow sports, it is conceivable that after the Winter Olympic Games, ice and snow sports will inevitably develop more rapidly in China:

First, for regions with natural resources in the north, snow sports can be carried out for a longer period of time, which means more profitable commercial value. Especially for some tourist attractions and commercial squares, a good ice and snow sports venue is a good plus for attracting guests and retaining guests.

Second, more and more parents will be willing to accompany their children to participate in ice and snow sports. Household consumption will become the focus of ice and snow sports.

Third, for some relatively affluent middle-class people, they may aspire to become relatively professional ice and snow athletes, so there must be a potential demand for coaches and escorts.

Fourth, sports brands and clothing will develop equipment related to ice and snow sports when the year is approaching winter.

Resources:

1, 21st Century Business Herald, Tao Li, "Turnover soared by 135%! "Ice and snow" sports consumption fire out of the circle! Luxury brands are already targeting the Chinese market," February 4, 2022

2. The Paper, Future Network, "The Opening of the Winter Olympics!" The wave of ice and snow consumption is coming, and ice and snow sports have become the first choice for the winter vacation after the double reduction", February 5, 2022

3. China Youth Daily, Cixin, "'300 Million People on Ice and Snow' Opens a New Era of Ice and Snow Sports", February 5, 2022

4. Finance and Economics Weekly, Tian Yanlin, "This winter, I skied 7 times and spent 10,000 20,000", February 6, 2022