Love for ice and snow tourism flourishes
The Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2022 have strongly propelled the consumption of winter sports products, said business insiders at the launch ceremony of the 2022- 23 Beijing winter sports consumption season.
The ceremony took place at the National Speed Skating Oval, or Ice Ribbon, on Jan 6. During the event, an e- commerce platform operator introduced that the composite growth rate of winter sports products on the platform has surpassed 50%.
According to an official release from the Beijing Bureau of Sports, the city continues its efforts to explore the good use of the Games’ legacies via professional and mass winter sports events, integrating tourism and sports resources and promoting the year- round operation of the Games’ venues.
The consumption season event is typical of such efforts.
During the season, the Beijing municipal government has organized popular winter sports events for both adults and children in diverse forms, including competitions of short track speedskating, figure skating, ice hockey and curling, to provide benefits for many generations to come.
Wu Xiaonan, chairman of Beijing National Speed Skating Oval Operation, said that the venue has reopened to the public since Jan 1, with the hope to serve all people who have enthusiasm for winter sports and the ice and snow culture.
Meng Qianghua, deputy head of the Beijing Bureau of Sports, said the consumption season will further consolidate the achievements of the Beijing 2022 Games, drive the consumption of ice and snow products and promote the development of the ice and snow industry in and around Beijing.
In January 2022, the Haituo ski resort in Beijing’s Yanqing district was recognized as a national ski resort.
In the resort, tourists can have an immersive experience related to the Beijing 2022 Games, going on the longest sightseeing ropeway in China, checking out the hotel rooms where Olympic champions lived, and visit a Winter Olympic franchise souvenir store and the restaurants which served Olympic athletes.
In May, the Yanqing Olympic Park, with a snow field of around 299,000 square yards, was officially opened to the public for all seasons and has received a total of 185,000 visits since midNovember.
The local government is making efforts to integrate it into the bigger picture of the tourism industry in Beijing’s suburbs by connecting popular tourist destinations such as Longqing Gorge, Yudu Mountain and Shijinglong Ski Resort, so as to build up an industry belt for ice and snow tourism.