In China, the potential of ice and snow sports is finally beginning to be unleashed.
In the past, due to climatic conditions, ice and snow sports remained a niche in China until July 31, 2015, when Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, accompanied by a public commitment by the Chinese government to allow 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports. According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on January 12 this year, this commitment has been fulfilled in October 2021.
In just a few years, ice and snow sports have gradually entered the vast southern and eastern regions, including the most densely populated and economically developed urban agglomerations in the Chinese. As of 2020, China has 36 indoor ski resorts, more than 1/3 of the world; in 2020, 8 of the top 10 cities with ice and snow tourism tourists are in the south.
If you summarize it simply, it is easy to portray the development of ice and snow sports in China as a typical narrative: major events, favorable policies, and industry take-off. CBN magazine wants to make the granularity of this narrative a little thinner, showing market forces outside the policy push.
In four stories on the cover story of this issue, you'll see how a real estate company turned snow world into a popular tourist destination in a southern city; how a startup turned skiing into a lifestyle like daily fitness; how a consumptive group could bring a niche sport like fire hockey; and, in a mature market, how ice and snow sports can be combined with other business models.
New route
——Sunac took the snow south
Opened in June 2019, Guangzhou Sunac Snow World covers an area of 75,000 square meters, of which the snow area is 55,700 square meters, which is the second largest indoor ski resort in the world after Harbin Sunac Snow World.
The customers of this Sunac Snow World accounted for 60% of the local consumers from Guangzhou-Foshan, followed by consumers from the core cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area such as Shenzhen and Dongguan, accounting for nearly 30%, and the remaining 10% came from Neighboring Provinces such as Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi.
Even if 2020 is deeply affected by the epidemic, by the end of 2021, the cumulative passenger flow of Guangzhou Sunac Snow World, which has been open for two and a half years, will exceed 1.9 million, with an average single-day passenger flow of more than 2,500 people – which is comparable to the peak number of skiers on the weekend of Yabuli, China's most famous outdoor ski resort. During the 2021 National Day holiday, this indoor ski resort set a record for a single-day reception of more than 7,500 people. These data all show the "southerners"' enthusiasm for skiing.
Sunac Cultural Tourism plans to deploy 35 indoor skiing projects across the country, and its largest customer base is "southerners".
This report will introduce the development process of Sunac Cultural Tourism Group's ice and snow projects, the specific strategy of comprehensively going south, the difficulty of building and operating indoor ski resorts, and future planning.
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New consumption
- Southerners, go skiing like going to the gym
The simulated ski machine (also known as the "snow blanket") originated in Europe and was originally used for the daily training of professional skiers. You can think of it as a treadmill with skis, but it's larger, with a sliding area of 30 square meters and a larger one of more than 60 square meters. Usually there is also an equal-width mirror device in front of the simulated ski machine to allow the coaster to correct the posture.
In the past three or four years, more than 100 such "white large treadmills" have emerged in Shanghai. In the large shopping malls of southern cities such as Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Ningbo, more and more snow blankets are turning.
In Shanghai, more than half of this boom was driven by SNOW51. The urban ski space brand, established in 2018, currently has 16 stores in Shanghai and is stationed in Beijing, Ningbo, Shenzhen and other cities.
What are the doorways to do skiing in the mall? How do you sell training sessions and "lifestyles"? As a ski space brand that is currently expanding rapidly in the South, it can be used as a cut in our discussion of how to do ski business in the South to some extent.
New business
- Fiery ice hockey
Ice hockey is the "crown" of winter sports. On the schedule of the Winter Olympic Games, the men's ice hockey final is always scheduled to be played on the last match day, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is no exception.
The ice hockey boom that arose for the purpose of further education has accumulated a group of highly consumable audiences for the sport in China. Ice hockey, in the eyes of some families, is becoming a new "Olympic number" in the field of sports.
New ideas
--Ski business in Japan
Our ice and snow business is starting, but Japan is looking for new opportunities.
The rise of the ski boom at the popular level in Japan dates back to 1961. That year, two large ski resorts, Niseko and Niigata Naeba in Hokkaido, were officially opened, and the elements of skiing popularity were slowly available. In that year, the number of skiers in Japan exceeded 1 million for the first time, and the construction of ski resorts in Japan entered an era of rapid development.
Japan's ski fever peaked in the era of bubble economy. The end of the bubble economy allowed the boom to subside quickly. The infrastructure of ski resorts such as ropeways will need to be updated in about 30 to 40 years, but a new generation of potential consumers in the middle has been living in a long period of economic downturn in Japan, with less disposable income than their parents, and more leisure and entertainment options.
Now, these "ski heritages" are under multiple pressures such as aging equipment and reduced passenger flow. Hoshino, a hotel group, saw new opportunities at this time.
In addition to the cover feature above, you can also see in this issue of the magazine:
Sports retail
- The change and invariance of Decathlon
"CBN" magazine has reported on Decathlon in 2013 and 2017 respectively, and the titles of the two articles are called "Decathlon Runs Up" and "Decathlon Accelerated Run", which tells the story of Decathlon's expansion of actively landing in more cities and opening more stores in China at that time - opening 50 or 60 new stores throughout the year and welcoming the grand situation of "6 stores opening on the same day" at the peak.
According to information disclosed by a Chinese supplier of Decathlon in its IPO prospectus, Decathlon's stores in China once exceeded 300 in 2019. Since 2020, under the influence of the epidemic, Decathlon has turned more energy to store efficiency optimization and brand upgrading. By January 2022, the total number of stores announced on its official website has been adjusted to 260. Decathlon's localization of the Chinese market is entering a new stage.
Employee stability, a high degree of "autonomy" in stores and a focus on experiential marketing – Decathlon is using these methodologies to respond to new changes in the Chinese market.
Research Report
- Beauty makes a choice
Midea has done several big things in 2021. The first is to update the business strategy and reorganize the original four major businesses into five major sectors: smart home business group, mechanical and electrical business group, HVAC and building business unit, robot and automation business unit and digital innovation business.
The other is to sweep goods in the capital market. Midea has two share repurchase programs in early and mid-2021, with a total of more than 13 billion yuan of shares repurchased, reaching an unprecedented high.
Midea is "speed shifting" to usher in a new period of transformation. This research report will analyze Midea's transformation strategy for you.
Compensation and benefits
——2021 Company Salary and Welfare Report
This year, the company is difficult, and the company is even more difficult.
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