2022-02-16
Moderator:
Ge Lei, Executive General Manager of CYTS Linkage
Panelists:
An Li, VP and Head of Public Policy, Airbnb China
Mika Cui, Co-founder, JNE Group
Folko Alexander, Representative of the Russian Tourism Association World Without Borders in China
Liu Xiaoshan, Chairman of Qiaoshan Group
Hou Minghui, Founder of BingXueTouTiao (Ice and Snow Headlines)
Moderator: Jilin Province has proposed to build six new industries, one of which is new form of tourism. The Beidahu Dialogue with a theme of “Promoting High-quality Ice-snow Tourism Development and Building World-class Ski Resort Destination” offered suggestions on how to build Jilin into a world-class skiing vacation destination. Today we have invited tourism scholars and experts from home and abroad and they will contribute their wisdom to the development of the ice and snow industry in Jilin. Now we come to the topic of “New Form of Tourism and the Building of a World-class Ski Resort Destination”.
Sochi, Russia, hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics. It is rich in snow and ice, and offers great winter tourism experiences like that with the Aurora Borealis. I have a question for Mr. Folko. How did you develop your ski resort destinations in Sochi and in Russia? Thank you!
Folko Alexander: Firstly, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was a big advertisement for Sochi. And secondly, there are number of investments in the Sochi’s skiing infrastructure from state-owned enterprises and private companies. Total investment exceeded USD1 billion. The third reason is that Sochi has a very unique geographical location. It has mountains and it is also a coastal city. I think Sochi offers rich experiences. People can go to the beach in the summer time and they can go skiing in the winter time.
Moderator: I think this is kind of an inspiration to Jilin City. A world-class city needs to have large resorts. I think Jilin City should be thinking of applying or bidding for the next Winter Olympics. And the other thing is that, you know, we need the investment from the government and private sector to create a favorable environment. We said that Sochi is a coastal city but in Jilin we have a very big lake covering 500 square kilometers. So in Jilin we can have year-round vacation activities.
I know Airbnb has developed the 2022 report on tourism. According to the report, 85% of the respondents plan to travel despite the pandemic and 73% will start their travel in winter. I wish to ask An Li how do you envision the world tourism momentum and especially the winter tourism?
An Li: Not long ago we issued a report and there are several highlights. The past 2 years has been a challenging period for people in the tourism industry. But with this report we have also seen some good signals. For instance, the COVID-19 has actually boosted people’s mood for traveling because people have been holed up in their own apartments too long. Also COVID-19 is not going to impact people’s traveling very much because our respondents are mainly in tier-1 and tier-2 cities and they plan to have 2.5 travels on average in the following year. And the outbound tourism industry is actually also promising because people’s confidence in tourism is also rebounding. Just the other day we released Q3 fiscal and financial statements of 2021. And according to the statements compared with the same period in 2019, we had a 38% YOY rise and a 70% YOY rise compared with 2020. This is a rebounding in terms of statistics.
Ice and snow tourism is undoubtedly the highlight of winter tourism. In the past, tropical island tour was the first choice for tourists in winter, but ice and snow tourism has become popular over recent years. Our report shows that 92% of our respondents say that with the Beijing 2022 Games around the corner, more and more people would like to try ice and snow tourism and half of them will be trying it for the first time. According to the reservation data of Airbnb, the major snow and ice tourism areas can be roughly divided into three categories: The first category is represented by Zhangjiakou and the areas adjacent to Beijing, and also includes Chengdu, Sichuan and Huzhou, Zhejiang. The second category is represented by Changbai Mountains and it involves the high-level and remote ski resorts. The third category is represented by Aba in Sichuan, Yanbian in Jilin, and Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang, where there are diverse activities including mountain climbing, hiking, self-driving, camping apart from skiing.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, many countries have encouraged people to have long holidays and work at staggered shifts on the premise of ensuring safety. This brings more opportunities for ice and snow tourism. We should have confidence in tourism, and with the arrival of the sojourn era, we have more leisure time to enjoy high-quality tourism.
Moderator: China’s modern skiing originated from Beidahu. In 2009, Qiaoshan Group made a heavy investment in Beidahu. After years of construction, a comprehensive skiing vacation destination has taken shape. The strategic cooperation with Sunac as of this year will make Beidahu take a bigger leap forward. What are your expectations for the future of the Beidahu?
Liu Xiaoshan: France has 65 million ski lovers out of a population of 68 million. With a population of 1.4 billion and abundant ice and snow resources, China is bound to become the world’s biggest country in snow and ice sports.
For Beidahu, I think it has the qualities to become the top-notch ski resort. It has to be located in a perfect latitude. So similar to Rocky Mountains and also the Alps, Beidahu is located in a golden boat of ice and snow. In Beidahu we can have a relatively long period of snow season and we have slopes of 870 meters in elevation. Slope of at least 800 meters in elevation are essential for hosting the Winter Olympics, the World Championships and the World Cup Competitions. Across the world, there are only less than 50 ski resorts with slopes of more than 800 meters in elevation. Beidahu has a very good geographical location, and it is close to a city with a population of 30 million. It also enjoys good transportation as it is only one and a half hours car drive away from the Changchun International Airport.
In the next five years, we’re going to have 200 kilometers of snow trails, 26 cable car routes, and 12 thousand beds. By 2025, we’re going to have the receiving capacity of 3 million people. And also by 2025, we’re going to be the biggest ski resort in the world.
Summer tourism used to be a short board of Beidahu, and through the strategic cooperation with Sunac, we will build up summer tourism. Relying on the natural resources of Beidahu, we have invested in advancing more than 10 large projects such as the pastoral complex, mountain pulley, zipline, aviation base and magic forest so as to attract tourists here around the year.
Moderator: Qyer is the travel community website of the younger generation, which represents the individuality and self-expression of the young people. Seventy percent of the skiing fans are young people. Could you talk about the consumption trend of the younger generation regarding ice and snow sports?
Mika Cui: First, the Z Generation want freedom most in their travel and the ice and snow tourism offers them freedom. Second, they value personal experiences and interests and they choose the destination of travel out of their own interest. Third, the experience is the most important. They put a premium on experiencing with the cultural kernel of the activity.
Skiing is the core of ice and snow tourism, and it is necessary to attract the younger generation through more diversified experiences. At the same time, we should accentuate the international characteristics of ice and snow tourism, put a premium on the training of professional service personnel and integrate communication resources, to strengthen the publicity effect.
Moderator: Mr. Hou Minghui is a very experienced observer and participant of ice and snow tourism, and he is the founder of Ice and Snow Headline. We would like to invite you to talk about the changes that will take place in the post-Winter Olympics era from the perspective of new trends in the development of the ice and snow industry.
Hou Minghui: Today, China’s ice and snow economy is in a new era, and more and more investment goes to the ice and snow industry. President Xi Jinping said that we shall engage 300 million people in winter sports, which has also expanded the number of participants in ice and snow tourism, and cemented the market foundation for the high-quality development of the ice and snow industry. So we have great sports events, we have charming athletes, and then they can be role models.
In the narrow sense, the ice and snow industry covers a small scale, including some specialized equipment, like the snowgroomers and snow-making equipment. In the broad sense, the ice and snow industry covers a large scale, including the ice and snow tourism and supporting facilities for ice and snow infrastructure. At the national level, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have all put forward new requirements and expectations for the ice and snow industry. The development of the ice and snow industry keeps making breakthroughs, and the value of the industry will reach RMB1 trillion by 2025. Jilin Province shall seize the opportunity to vigorously develop the ice and snow industry. Currently, the value of the ice and snow industry in Jilin Province reaches RMB100 billion, and the goal is to reach RMB250 billion by 2025.
In the process of preparing for the Beijing 2022 Games, the government policy and industrial investment tilt toward the ice and snow industry. Now there are one to two thousand featured schools offering snow and ice sports classes to teenagers. It can be seen that the foundation of the ice and snow industry is being slowly consolidated, and the next 10 or 20 years will be a golden period for the development of the ice and snow industry.
Moderator: Now, please give us some suggestions on how to build Jilin into a world-class ski resort city.
An Li: A world-class ski resort city should first have the convenience of transportation. It should be easy to travel between the downtown area and the scenic spot. In terms of the target consumers, we should differentiate the consumption demand of different groups of people, and we could put the focus on different families. In brand building, we should try to come up with unique hits on the Internet or popular IP.
Mika Cui: As Jilin has such determination to build up the ski industry, it must have a great mass basis. Love sustains the endeavor. As long as we keep up our efforts, I’m confident that Jilin will become a world-class ski resort city.
Folko Alexander: When the epidemic eases, we can build partnerships with ski resorts in other countries. Through advertising and other forms of mutual promotion, we can attract foreign tourists to Jilin for skiing.
Liu Xiaoshan: To build a world-class ski holiday destination, we should first concentrate efforts on setting up a model. Beidahu and Songhuahu both have the good genes to become world-class skiing vacation destinations and should get prioritized treatment. We are going to attract world-class equipment manufacturers to Jilin by giving them policy and market support. While doing a good job in traffic support within the city, we consider improving the traffic of a wider scope, and propose to build an airport in the mountains southeast of the Beidahu and the Songhuahu. At present, tens of millions of people come to the ski resorts every year; the ice and snow tourism will bring 5 million passengers to the airport which will surely have a high throughput.
Hou Minghui: Let’s make known the slogan of “enjoying Beijing Olympic Winter Games and experiencing winter sports in Jilin”. Jilin is an important area for engaging a big proportion of the 300 million people in ice and snow sports. As thus, it makes a step forward in building a world-class ice and snow tourist resort. Besides, we should properly handle policy support, including the new development planning and new layout. We will bring together international resources, international cities and international talents to help Jilin grow into a world-class ski resort.