Winter wanderlust creates snowball effect for economy

Indoor as well as outdoor

Ma Rui, marketing director of Wuhan Chengjian Bonski, an indoor ski park affiliated with Bonski — a company that operates ski domes and provides ski training and education — said she has noticed the rising popularity of winter sports such as skiing in recent years, with outdoor and indoor ski parks complementing each other and driving the growth of winter tourism and sports.

"Indoor ski parks break the limits of time and space, offering people year-round access to winter sports and lowering the threshold for participation," she said.

Cheng Xiaoming, general manager of Wu Shang Bonski, said demand for high-quality and convenient winter tourism and sports experiences has strengthened this year.

"We usually see large numbers of tourists on weekends and public holidays. Indoor ski parks are also popular in summer, when people seek out-of-season snow experiences during scorching weather," he said, adding that domestic winter sports — especially skiing — have grown rapidly since the successful conclusion of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. People's consumption preferences have gradually shifted from "checking off a bucket list item" to "deeper learning", with winter sports increasingly becoming a social activity.

Discussing the development of China's winter tourism and sports, Zhang Jinshan said that China has a long history of winter sports and tourism. "Altay in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is recognized as the origin of winter sports," he said.

Zhang noted that winter sports and tourism experienced rapid growth after 2000, alongside improvements in the economy and people's livelihoods, and that the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics marked a milestone in the sector's development.