Winter wanderlust creates snowball effect for economy
Popularity of tourism, sports spurs consumption momentum
With the opening of the 27th Harbin Ice and Snow World on Dec 17 in Heilongjiang province in Northeast China, the nation's winter tourism and sports entered their peak season.
"As of Dec 18, the day after the opening of the Harbin Ice and Snow World, searches for 'snow tours' and 'Harbin' have surged on our platform," said Qi Chunguang, vice-president of travel portal Tuniu.
The area of the winter theme park has been expanded by 1.2 million square meters this year, with the total volume of ice and snow used reaching 400,000 cubic meters — a record high in the history of the annual event, China Central Television reported.
Before the opening of the "winter fairyland" in Harbin, snow and ice enthusiasts had already been eagerly anticipating the event.
LY.com (Tongcheng Travel) said that as of 9 am on Dec 15, searches for "Harbin Ice and Snow World" had skyrocketed fivefold compared with the same period the previous day. It added that Harbin has maintained the top spot among winter tourism destinations on its platform since December.
"My daughter likes to pout prettily at me and ask me to take her to the Harbin Ice and Snow World. We went to the 'snow fairyland' about eight years ago when she was very young, and we plan a family trip to Harbin again during the New Year holiday," said Wang Lin, 45, a Beijing resident.
Qi, from the Tuniu portal, noted a growing trend in winter tourism this year. "Based on our data, people living in central, eastern and southern provinces, including Jiangsu, Guangdong and Hubei, show a stronger passion for winter tourism. So far, 70 percent of winter tour bookings on our platform have been made by tourists from these regions," he said.
"The most popular winter destinations in recent months include Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, northeastern provinces such as Jilin, and Altay in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. About half of group tour participants in recent months have chosen Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang as their destinations," Qi added.
