Xinhua News Agency: Will the "Erbin phenomenon" just be a "flash in the pan"?

Harbin's ice and snow tourism is hot "out of the circle" and has become the most shining landscape of China's cultural and tourism economy this winter. The "Erbin phenomenon" has attracted widespread attention, and while people have praised it, they can't help but ask: Is Harbin's popularity just a carnival of traffic? Will it be a "flash in the pan"?

The reporter's investigation found that the emergence of the "Erbin phenomenon" is inseparable from the help of the Internet, but more importantly, it is "potential": "taking advantage of the situation" - "ice and snow are also invaluable assets" Inspired by the concept, Harbin relies on superior "cold resources" and profound culture to develop a characteristic cultural tourism "hot economy"; "Building momentum" - the local government and enterprises "set up a plan" to do their homework early for the first ice and snow season after the epidemic, and "homeopathy" - after properly coping with the challenges, "Erbin" became more confident, the enthusiasm of citizens to take ownership of the city, and the popularity of social media continued. It is such a time and situation that makes the ice city "hot".

"'Erbin' is out of the circle this time, full of fireworks, full of vitality, full of enthusiasm and full of confidence," said the city manager of Harbin, "We have more confidence to write a new chapter of characteristic cultural tourism."

"Blowout" growth, "Ice City" is so dazzling this winter

This winter, coming to Harbin to enjoy ice and snow has become a new fashion for people all over the country.

On January 25th, Harbin Ice and Snow World officially opened on the 39th day. At night, this huge snow park is crowded with people and lights. In addition to watching the ice sculptures and snow sculptures, tourists compete to experience the "trump card" entertainment projects such as super ice slides and snowflake Ferris wheels, and dance to their heart's content with the instructions of the Internet celebrity host "Brother Left and Right", turning the scene into a sea of joy. "It's nice and fun, it's worth the trip!" Lu Chang, a tourist from Xi'an, said with a smile.

Not only Harbin Ice and Snow World, Central Street and other popular scenic spots are crowded, but also the Hongzhuan Street Morning Market, Daoli Vegetable Market, and even some bathing centers are very popular. This ice and snow season, the "Ice City" ushered in the "highlight moment" and became the most popular ice and snow tourism city in China. According to the data, during the three days of the New Year's Day holiday in 2024 alone, Harbin has received a total of 3.0479 million tourists, with a tourism revenue of more than 5.9 billion yuan, both reaching a record high, and the passenger throughput of Harbin Taiping International Airport is 205,000, a year-on-year increase of 93.8%.

"Erbin" is on fire, driving the ice and snow tourism boom in the whole area of Heilongjiang. Guangxi's "sugar orange", Sichuan's "red panda" and other cute babies formed a group to "brave" Heilongjiang, and everywhere they went, they were warmly welcomed by the "old iron" in the northeast, and netizens opened the "cloud baby" mode through the live broadcast platform. The huge flow and attention of Heilongjiang's ice and snow fever have made cultural and tourism departments across the country "revitalize" from heartbeat to action, focusing on the current "hot stalks" and topics, promoting their own tourism products, and forming a "national cultural and tourism festival".

Not only that, "Erbin" also went out of the circle to foreign countries. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Martin Nidger, director of the Swiss National Tourism Agency, was amazed by the popularity of winter tourism in Harbin in an interview with Chinese media, and shouted in Chinese to welcome Chinese tourists to visit Switzerland.

The shining of "Erbin" has also made the old industrial base in Northeast China visible again, bringing long-lost popularity and valuable confidence to the revitalization of Northeast China, and making the resource endowment, policy advantages, humanistic characteristics and huge potential here intuitively displayed in front of the people of the whole country.

Phenomenal popularity, accidental or inevitable?

For more than a month, the popularity of Harbin's cultural tourism market has continued to be high. According to data from the Ctrip platform, Harbin's tourism popularity extended from New Year's Day to the Spring Festival, and during the Spring Festival, travel booking orders increased by more than 14 times year-on-year, making it the city with the highest increase in the country.

"Harbin's popularity is not accidental, but accumulated. He Jing, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, said.

Ice and snow are the distinctive features and advantages of Heilongjiang. As a major province of ice and snow resources, Heilongjiang Province has actively promoted the development of the whole industrial chain of ice and snow sports, ice and snow culture, ice and snow equipment, and ice and snow tourism in recent years, and accelerated the promotion of ice and snow characteristic cultural tourism as an important industry to achieve comprehensive revitalization. The government work report being reviewed at the second session of the 14th Heilongjiang Provincial People's Congress proposes that in 2024, it will vigorously develop characteristic cultural tourism, receive more than 100 million tourists in the ice and snow season, and exceed 150 billion yuan in tourism revenue, so that the ice and snow land will be better transformed into the people's gold and silver mountains.

If Heilongjiang is the "crown of ice and snow", Harbin is the most shining pearl. In 1963, the first Harbin Ice Lantern Garden Party, in 1985, the first Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, and in 1999, the first Harbin Ice and Snow World...... Harbin's ice and snow festival culture has a history of decades, and the "Ice City" lives up to its name. As a famous historical and cultural city in China, the "City of Olympic Champions" and the "World Capital of Music" awarded by the United Nations, Harbin's profound cultural heritage makes visitors feel that "it is better to meet than to be famous".

What tourists may not expect is that in order to meet the ice and snow fever this winter, Heilongjiang Province has already started to act. In 2023, Heilongjiang will carry out the "100-day action" for summer summer tourism and the "100-day action" for winter ice and snow tourism, establish a "cultural tourism experience officer" system, and strive to improve the tourism consumption environment and improve service quality with tourists' thinking and empathy from tourists' perspectives. Before the arrival of the ice and snow season, Heilongjiang Province traveled to many provinces to promote its high-quality ice and snow tourism resources, products and routes to the people of the whole country, and used new media platforms to promote them in multiple dimensions.

On December 18, 2023, Harbin Ice and Snow World officially opened, kicking off the ice and snow season tourism. Unexpectedly, there were many tourists that day, and they shouted "refund" because they waited too long for the big slide. The relevant parties of Harbin immediately refunded the tickets, apologized, and took a series of measures to optimize and refine the services of the scenic spot. Such a sincere move moved the tourists, turned the crisis into an opportunity, won the praise of a large number of netizens, and made more people firm up their desire to come to the ice city to "check in".

Since then, "Erbin" has gradually entered a better situation and opened the "pet mode". An artificial moon rises in Sophia Square, and a warm station is built on the side of the street...... Harbin took out the "family background", and waves of heart-warming operations made the locals feel "strange". The hospitality of the citizens was also ignited, and they joined in the ranks of entertaining guests, inviting tourists for tea on the central street and escorting tourists in private cars for free......

The market is effective, the government is promising, the citizens are loving, and the blessing of social media makes "Erbin" become the "top stream" in the time, place, and people.

How does the "Erbin phenomenon" become the "new normal"?

Talking about the "Erbin phenomenon", industry insiders believe that there are accidental factors in the popularity of ice and snow tourism in Harbin this year. However, with the effect of the Winter Olympics of "300 million people on ice and snow" and the opportunity for the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China, this city with urban characteristics, historical accumulation, cultural heritage, and determination to do a good job in market management and high-level service is expected to turn the "Erbin phenomenon" into a "new normal" for the development of the cultural and tourism industry.

Recently, Harbin Ice and Snow World officially started ice storage to prepare for the next ice and snow season and the 9th Asian Winter Games in 2025. When the ice and snow craze meets the passion of sports, the grand occasion of the "ice city" can be imagined. It is reported that Harbin will focus on the construction of international ice and snow tourism resorts, reconstruct the top-level design of cultural tourism development, optimize and upgrade the large platforms of scenic spots such as the Ice and Snow World with tourists as the center, and is determined to take the Asian Winter Games as an opportunity to promote the high-quality development of the ice and snow economy.

"The beauty of Harbin is not only the ice and snow in winter. The relevant person in charge of the Harbin Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism said that the city has a romantic "lilac kingdom" in spring, a pleasant summer capital in summer, and beautiful five-flower mountains in autumn, which is the strength of Harbin to develop all-season tourism.

Harbin is a multicultural gathering and a blend of Chinese and Western cultures, and its profound cultural heritage is also the biggest confidence of "Changhong". The urban area retains a large number of historical buildings such as Baroque, Byzantine and Gothic, and is known as the "City of Architectural Museums of All Nations". This is the earliest city in mainland China to inherit modern music and art. The "Charming Harbin Summer" brand integrates summer tourism resources and deeply integrates concerts, food festivals and beer festivals. One can reasonably expect that the summer edition of the "Erbin phenomenon" will be just as exciting.

Relevant people pointed out that the "Erbin phenomenon" has accumulated valuable experience for improving the attractiveness of the city, and has also put forward new requirements for the future development of the city.

"Efforts need to be made to improve the 'hard facilities' of urban infrastructure and scenic spots, and optimize the 'soft environment' such as tourism formats and consumption atmosphere. Even if the snow melts or the flow decreases, such cities will have more opportunities and more confidence in the next round of fierce competition. Pan Yang, member of the Standing Committee of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and executive chairman of the Heilongjiang Overseas Chinese Investment Enterprise Association, said.

"There is still a lot of work to be done to make the 'Erbin phenomenon' the 'new normal'. Zhang Na, a lecturer at the School of Public Administration and Law of Northeast Agricultural University, believes that "in particular, it is necessary to continue to improve the cultural influence of ice and snow tourism, and improve the service and management capabilities of government departments in the development of ice and snow tourism." ”

Experts also believe that the "Erbin phenomenon" has important enlightenment significance for releasing the vitality of the ice and snow economy, promoting the development of the cultural and tourism industry, exploring the stable and far-reaching path of "Internet celebrity" cities, and boosting confidence in high-quality development. The "Erbin phenomenon" and its future development deserve further attention and research from relevant parties to explore the rules of urban brand building and operation, so as to look forward to the emergence of more "Erbin".