This winter, ice and snow tourism has become a "phenomenal Internet celebrity". From "Erbin" to Changbai Mountain, from Shenyang to Hulunbuir...... Truckloads of cute "little potatoes" and "little kumquats" flocked to the north to "capture" major scenic spots, bathing centers, and morning markets, and the directors of cultural and tourism bureaus around the country also seized the heat to "live".
Why did ice and snow tourism suddenly become an "Internet celebrity"? Can an "Internet celebrity" become a "long-term red"? The "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
Ice and snow fire out of the circle
The hot air balloon rising from the Songhua River, the artificial moon hanging over the Sophia Cathedral, the reindeer of the Oroqen tribe, and the "well-behaved" Siberian tiger in the zoo...... Harbin, which ushered in the peak season of ice and snow tourism, has become the hottest tourist city this winter. Netizens have said that the hospitality of "Erbin" is so warm that people can't resist it.
Innovative "flower work", meticulous service, and the enthusiasm of the locals...... Today's Harbin is full of vitality and steaming appearance. Relevant statistics show that the tourism popularity of Harbin during the New Year's Day holiday increased by 240% year-on-year. According to big data estimates, the number of tourists in the city exceeded 3 million, and the total tourism income reached 5.9 billion yuan, both reaching historical peaks.
On December 31, 2023, the central street of Harbin's century-old street was crowded. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Jianwei
The winter tourism scene of "hot snow" boiling has spread out in many provinces and regions in the north. In some "Internet celebrity" bathing centers in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, the halls are crowded with tourists who come to experience the bathing culture of Northeast China. In Jilin Province, the long white powder snow in the east, the rime trees in the middle, and the fish in the ice lake in the west, the ice and snow "golden business cards" attract tourists to come. With the help of the 14th National Winter Games, Inner Mongolia has also launched special ice and snow sports and ice and snow tourism projects.
"We came to the Ice and Snow World today to take a free bus, which is heartwarming. Zhao Wen, who came to Harbin from Dali, Yunnan Province, said that the trip was really moved by the enthusiasm of the Northeast people.
Cold snow and ice bring fire to the hot diet. The Northeast diet has many patterns and large portions, which is very similar to the bold and enthusiastic temperament of the Northeast people. In a large iron pot with a diameter of half a meter, chicken wings, potatoes, pork ribs, beef brisket, corn and other ingredients are poured into it one by one, and the room is steaming, which is the fireworks in the world.
"I like Northeast food so much!" said Ms. Liu, from Jiangxi, who heard that she would eat stewed goose in an iron pot on a snowy day, and although she queued for more than an hour, she felt that it was worth it. Yao Lilong, general manager of an iron pot stew chain store in Harbin, told reporters that many stores have issued an initiative to "not increase prices at will", and launched services such as free hot tea and extended business hours.
After the reindeer of the Oroqen tribe walked on the central street of Harbin, they quickly achieved "drainage". "I was attracted by the popular Oroqen roe deer horn hat on the Internet, which not only has cute costumes, rich culture, pristine natural landscapes, but also exciting and fun sports activities. Zhang Ling, a tourist from Hebei Province wearing traditional Oroqen costumes and taking photos in the snow of the Oroqen Autonomous Banner in Inner Mongolia, said.
"Internet celebrity" becomes "long-term red" and still needs to make up for shortcomings
It is no accident that ice and snow tourism is behind the fires in some cities in Northeast China.
"We spent a year 'training' to continuously enhance market-oriented thinking and service awareness. He Jing, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, said that from the beginning of 2023, the local government will begin to use new media platforms to invite head bloggers in cultural tourism to promote Heilongjiang in multiple dimensions, such as Sophia Cathedral and Hongzhuan Street Morning Market, which have become "Internet celebrity" check-in places. At the same time, the local people pay attention to the comments of tourists, and tourists will improve what they are not satisfied with, for example, some tourists said that it would be better to have a moon during the trip to Sophia Cathedral, and the local area made a big artificial moon.
On January 6th, 11 children from Nanning, "Little Sugar Orange", ended their study tour in Mohe and came to Harbin Polar Park. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Tao
With the blessing of self-media, Harbin took the lead in exploding. However, the reporter visited a number of northern cities and found that compared with the summer tourism market, the current winter tourism market development is only "drizzle", and ice and snow tourism is far from driving the entire market, and more still stays in individual points and individual cities.
"To develop winter tourism, the top priority of many cities in the north is to make up for shortcomings. Liu Jingjing, Secretary of the Party Committee and Professor of the Art Research Institute of Communication University of China, said.
Ice and snow resources have always been there, and increasing the gold content is the key. At present, the development of ice and snow tourism in various places is mostly "relying on resources" and "selling scenery", the problem of homogeneous competition is obvious, and high-quality ice and snow tourism still lacks business innovation. In areas where ice and snow tourism is booming, sightseeing-oriented ice and snow tourism products are still dominant, and one-stop ice and snow tourism attractions are relatively developed, with ice lanterns, snow appreciation, and skiing and skating as the main contents, while the supply of comprehensive ice and snow tourism destinations such as ice and snow tourism resorts and ice and snow tourism complexes is relatively limited, which cannot fully meet the needs of tourists for leisure and experience-based ice and snow tourism products.
"The snow is all the same snow, and it's pretty much the same everywhere you look. Zhang Min, an expert from the Academy of Social Sciences of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said that which ice and snow tourism is stronger, ultimately depends on service awareness and service quality. In the past few years, tourists have complained the most about "pit customers", "stealing customers", "extensive" services and other problems, and there is still a long way to go to improve service quality.
In addition to enriching the tourism experience, the safety of ice and snow sports that accompany tourism also needs to be paid great attention to. In recent years, there have been many injuries such as fractures and concussions caused by skiing and skating accidents. Experts pointed out that most of the ski market is a one-time experience group, and casualties can easily lead to beginners "looking at the snow", affecting the expansion of the ice and snow industry consumer group.
Industrial upgrading calls for "ice and snow +"
According to a report released by the China Tourism Academy, it is expected that the number of ice and snow leisure tourists in the mainland will exceed 500 million in 2025, and the domestic ice and snow tourism revenue will exceed 1.1 trillion yuan.
"Ice and snow tourism in the Northeast has also had a certain amount of popularity in previous years, but it has become popular this winter. From the market demand side, the domestic tourism market in winter has been short of products for a long time, and the people often choose the south to avoid the cold. Wang Lingen, deputy director of the Ecological Research Office of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that in recent years, with the excavation of the ice and snow market in the north and the matching of related security products, consumers' willingness to travel to the north has increased, especially the desire of new consumer groups for differentiated experiences is becoming stronger and stronger, depending on whether the market has a good supply of tourism products.
Wang Lingen said that in the future development of ice and snow tourism, the model of focusing on assets and volume investment will not work. Some areas in the north are vast and sparsely populated, and some areas still belong to ecological reserves, so it is not suitable for large-scale development to develop tourism, and more consideration should be given to the mode of light volume and high-quality products.
Tourists visit the Linhugusai Scenic Area in Zhuozi County, Inner Mongolia, December 30, 2023 (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Beihe
At present, in addition to traditional sightseeing, sports events and amusement, winter tourism especially lacks leisure and vacation products in extremely cold environments. Tourism products based on ice and snow resources need to be continuously innovated. Liu Jingjing said that it is necessary to deeply explore the connotation of ice and snow tourism and develop more characteristic ice and snow tourism products, such as hot springs and snow appreciation, snow hiking adventure, ice and snow research, snow fun games, ice and snow sketching, etc. At the same time, it will increase the combination with local culture, integrate local folk customs, festivals, and performing arts activities, and enhance the cultural experience of ice and snow tourism with tourism.
The industrial chain and talent chain of winter tourism need to be extended urgently. Yu Zhigang, dean of the School of Economics and Management of Northeast Agricultural University, said that at present, the development of ice and snow tourism in various places should seize the opportunity and improve the corresponding industrial chain, such as cold and warm equipment, winter transportation, etc., which need to be further upgraded. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the cultivation of talents and attract more people to participate in the development of the winter tourism industry chain.
The winter holiday and the Spring Festival are coming, in order to promote the healthy development of the ice and snow industry, the interviewed experts suggested that all localities should attach great importance to safety issues and plug the loopholes in safety management; tourists should raise their awareness of safety risks and be the first guardian of their own safety; sports, emergency response, market supervision and other departments should further implement their regulatory responsibilities and carry out full-coverage supervision and inspection of ice and snow sports venues in the region; relevant departments should introduce unified standards for the safety management of ice and snow sports as soon as possible to guide the healthy development of the industry. (Reporter: Zhang Lina, Zhang Yue, Wei Jingyu) (Source: Xinhua News Agency)