China exceeded expectations with Beijing 2022. In 2015, when the nation learned that it would host the Winter Olympics, its goal was to attract 300 million new winter sports participants by 2022, but according to data from the organizing committee , attracted 346 million.
China Daily noted that 67% more people visited a ski resort in the country in 2019 compared to 2015. Thanks to the nationwide promotion of winter sports ahead of the Olympics, China has seen strong growth in the market. from ice and snow tourism, which generated $94 billion in 2020 and is expected to generate $157 billion by 2025, with tourists exceeding 500 million. In comparison, the United States generates 20,000 million, as specified by the Axios media.
The facilities have grown along with the demand, in 1996 the country had a total of 11 ski resorts, but in 2016 the Ice and Snow Sports Development Program was launched in which the priority sectors for investment were the infrastructure of winter disciplines, the manufacture of snow equipment, a competitive performance industry, tourism and education in this field.
Since then, aided by tax incentives intended to stimulate growth, more than 450 ice rinks and 300 snow complexes have been built. China Daily also indicated that by 2025 there will be 5,000 primary and secondary schools focused on these sports.
Before the start of the Beijing 2022 Games, Ministry of Commerce official Xu Xingfeng told the media that various ski and snow consumption activities were being implemented in Beijing, Shanghai, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Hubei provinces with boom, with ski equipment sales doubling on some e-commerce platforms. Previously, most of the people who went to the ski slopes in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province were locals, but with significant development in the region aimed at serving skiers. Those resorts have been attracting more tourists from other parts of China.
Although the ‘Asian giant’ ice and snow industry had a decline between 2019 and 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Chen Mengjie, chief strategist at Yuekai Securities in Beijing, told the Global Times that this The market, which ranges from equipment suppliers, ski resort development companies, tour companies, and ski and snow gear distributors, is expected to expand to more than $125 billion by 2022.
Another sign of the growth in this industry is that, according to Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the Coordination Commission of the International Olympic Committee for the Beijing Games, China had more than 3,300 athletes training in the national team in 2019, compared to the 300 who trained for the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018.
China Daily noted that China has signed agreements with several winter sports powerhouses, including Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Austria, to host and train Chinese athletes at those countries’ national sports facilities. It has also hired foreign head coaches for various sports including speed skating, curling and skiing to help the delegation prepare for the 2022 winter tournament.
Several of the venues that were designed for Beijing 2022 will remain active with the idea of continuing to boost tourism after the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Those venues are expected to become hot new venues after the Games. In addition to traditional sports such as ice skating and skiing, more innovative entertainment is expected to emerge and create new experiences for consumers,” said Cheng Chaogong, a researcher at Suzhou-based online travel agency Tongcheng. -eLong, in statements compiled by the official newspaper of the People’s Republic of China.