China’s Ice and Snow Industry Sees Strong Growth

By Lily Wang

In the stadiums of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games， athletes have been competing to win medals； outside the stadiums， the cultural products of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games have become very popular and a toy of its mascot Bing Dwen Dwen toy is very hard to purchase； on the ski slopes and within the ice skating rink， fans of ice and snow games are crowded. The ice and snow sports games have become newly fashionable.

With the hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games， Chinese people’s passion for ice and snow games have peaked. China’s ice and snow industry is expected to undergo rapid growth as a result.

Become the spotlight of the global ice and snow industry

According to news from OBS（Olympic Broadcasting Services）， the Beijing Winter Olympics have set record-breaking viewership. These winter Olympic games have truly become a global holiday.

Laurent Vannes， a Swiss ice and snow industry expert， said that he firmly believed the Beijing Winter Olympic Games would bring about an increase in popularity of winter sports in China since it was announced in 2015. As winter sports have faced bottlenecks， China’s market growth will be very significant for global winter sport industry development.

Laurent Vannes said that China does have some advantages in winter sports. In northern China， many places are cold in winter， and have a lot of natural snow. The low air temperature in these areas also makes artificial snow much cheaper to produce.

As an expert of the ice and snow industry， Laurent Vannes has high expectations for China， “for the global ice and snow industry， China is the only market with significant growth prospects. This is why China has attracted the attention of the global ski industry.”

Wu Bin， Deputy Chairman of the Beijing Ski Association， said that from a global perspective， the ski market in North America and Europe has become quite stable， and the market in Japan and the South Korea is on the decline. China is the only fast-growing market in the world， and the increment of the Chinese market will become the increment of the world. In the future， China will be one of the most important markets of the world ski industry.

Skiing as a sport becomes widely accepted

Stimulated by the Beijing Winter Olympic Games， the ice and snow industry has been growing fast in China.

According to Tianyancha， there are more than 7，000 ski-related companies in China， with 1，206 newlyregistered companies in 2021， up by 61% and the highest number in the past six years. Industry segments like ski equipment， ski training， ski information and ski services have been growing fast.

According to the Report on the 2022 New Year Holiday Travel Consumption released by Ly.com， during the Spring Festival， the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games set off a nationwide upsurge of ice and snow tourism. The orders of ice and snow scenic spots has increased by 68%.“Skiing” has become a most-searched keyword for tourism this year.

Compared with ice and snow sightseeing scenic spots， outdoor ski resorts， ice and snow theme parks and other scenic spots and venues attracted more attention from tourists. These factors have led to the thriving scenes seen in China’s ski resorts.

As winter sport becomes increasingly popular， they are increasingly more widely accepted. Although northern China is home to China’s winter sports， and features many high-grade ski slopes， it does not mean ski fans in Southern China will be without opportunities to ski. The Data from Ctrip show that there are many ski slopes in Southern China too， some of them ranking among the top 100 ski slopes in China.

According to the 2021 Report on China Skiing Tourism Consumption， people born in the 2000s and 1990s account for 60% of those participating in winter sports， up by 2%. More and more young people have engaged in winter sport， and many would spend five days or longer on trips.

On the other hand， as the national and local governments have successively launched favorable policies to develop the ice and snow industry， coupled with the influence from the Beijing Winter Olympic Games， the demand of the skiing market has continued to increase. The attention and booking volume of large-scale skiing tourist resorts in China have been increasing significantly.

In terms of the types of slopes， North China and Northeast China have great advantages for the high concentration of snow slopes， rich skiing programs and comprehensive facilities. Take one of the national tourist resorts Yabuli ski resort as an example， the State General Administration of Sports recently issued the “14th FiveYear Plan for sports development”， proposing to support Yabuli and other places in Heilongjiang to build an ice and snow silk road and develop a world class winter sports event platform and tourist resort. In addition， as one of the co-hosts of the Beijing Winter Olympics， Zhangjiakou ski resort has also obtained excellent opportunities for industry development and transformation.

In addition， a Research Report on the Development of China’s Ice and Snow Industry in 2021 shows that from 2015 to 2020， the total scale of China’s ice and snow industry increased from RMB 270 billion to RMB 600 billion. By 2025， the total scale of China’s ice and snow industry is expected to reach RMB 1 trillion， and the industry is becoming a new economic growth point.

Wang Xueli， Director of the Center for Development of Sports Industry of Tsinghua University， said that the holding of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has laid a solid foundation for the high-quality development of China’s ice and snow industry. China’s ice and snow industry is growing from “1” to “N”. Related infrastructure and product services are improving， the number of consumers is increasing， the consumption experiences are being enriched and the industry chain is developing to create more values. The whole industry is only becoming better.

Challenges to the ice and snow sports industry

Recently， the Report on the Development Trend of China’s Ice and Snow Sports Industry released by iiMedia Research shows that nearly 70% of winter sports lovers obtain winter sports information through social platforms； 51.0% of winter sports lovers participate in winter sports about 1-3 times a year.

According to statistics， the scale of China’s winter sports industry has maintained stable growth. In 2021， the market scale of China’s winter sports industry amounted to RMB 59.49 billion， and is expected to reach RMB 71.39 billion in 2022.

An analyst from iiMedia Research believes that with the increasing number of winter sports events and the multiple policy benefits， the market scale of the winter sports industry will continue to expand.

The report points out that China’s winter sports industry still faces many challenges. First of all， the industry lacks professional talent and cannot meet the public needs for receiving professional guidance. Also， the supply and demand of winter sports professionals is unbalanced， and there is no unified authority managing coach training， assessment and certification. The lack of professional talent restricts the high-quality development of the winter sports industry， and the public will not be able to receive professional and efficient guidance.

In addition， the operation mode of the winter sports industry is limited， and making profits is difficult. Although the winter sports industry keeps growing， the business model of the winter sports industry is limited and the business season is short. Most enterprises have to suspend business in other seasons and lack tourism programs. Investment in the winter sports industry is costly， and the payback period for investment is long. On top of that， the high cost of winter sports makes it difficult to earn profit.

Thanks to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics， the focus on winter sports has been greatly increasing， and the potential of the winter sports industry has been further released. In recent years， news about ski industry financing has frequently come out.

In addition， the report points out that as the ice and snow industry crosses many sectors， the “ice and snow+” model has become a new direction of development. With the continuous technology upgrades and increasing demand for entertainment consumption， the cross-sector business model is accelerating the upgrade of the ice and snow industry. “Ice and snow + 5G”， “ice and snow + finance”， “ice and snow + tourism” and other modes have promoted the high-quality development of ice and snow industry and the popularization of ice and snow sports. The business model of “ice and snow +”not only meets the diversified needs of consumption， but also helps enterprises of the industry integrate businesses and create more business diversification models.