Harbin Harnesses Ice, Snow for Tourism Growth
PR87641
HARBIN, China, Jan. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
The 33rd Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Exposition recently
kicked off in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Close
to 100 sets of ice sculptures and a variety of entertaining facilities like ice
slides offer visitors an unforgettable encounter with art and nature.
Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1421309/video.mp4
Over the past several years, Harbin, also dubbed the ice city, has been
harnessing its unique "freezing" resources for development and witnessed
thriving growth of the ice and snow economy. Statistics showed that during the
recent three-day New Year holiday, the city's 11 major tourist attractions
received 530,000 tourist arrivals.
Heilongjiang Province boasts a snow season as long as half a year. Thanks to
its exceptional climate conditions, Harbin hosts many internationally acclaimed
ice and snow events such as the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival and
the Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Exposition. It also
houses leading winter resorts like Yabuli Skiing Town, China Snow Town and
Beiji (North Pole) Village. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival has
emerged as one of the four global major ice and snow events. And the Harbin Sun
Island International Snow Sculpture Art Exposition is the largest and most
widely participated ice sculpture expo in China.
Internationally, it is generally believed that an economy is capable of
supporting the development of ice and snow industry when its GDP per capita
exceeds US$8,000. Ice and snow sports are thus considered "aristocratic games."
China may lag behind developed countries in professional winter sports, but the
country has long seen a solid fan base for ice and snow sports in Harbin. As
the matrix of Chinese ice lantern art, snow sculpture and ice and snow culture,
Harbin held the first ice lanterns celebration in China early in 1963. It
hosted the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, the first of its kind in
China, in 1985.
In addition, many professional winter sports events have also been held in
Harbin. Among them are the third Asian Winter Games in 1996, the Harbin 2009
Winter Universiade, the FIS Snowboard Half-Pipe World Cup, the World
Championships of Snowboarding 2016, and five National Winter Games.
A 2021 report on the ice and snow tourism development in China released by the
China Tourism Academy estimates that the 2020-21 snow season will see ice and
snow destinations attract 230 million tourist arrivals and witness a total
tourist revenue of more than 390 billion yuan (US$60 billion) given tourists'
demands and availability of high-quality tourist products and services.
Given its advantages in developing ice and snow tourism, Harbin has set the
goal of building itself into a leading tourist destination for winter
vocations. Wang Zhaoli, Party chief of the city, said Harbin will tap into the
potential of its ice and snow resources, expand cooperation and boost a
higher-quality ice and snow economy in the next five years.
SOURCE: Information Office of the Municipal Government of Harbin
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