00:00 Ice and snow tourism is booming in China, with Harbin the most popular winter destination for visitors.
00:08 More than 3 million tourists visited the city during the New Year holiday.
00:12 The total tourism income between the end of December and January 2nd was $827 million, both record highs.
00:21 Harbin's success is in part due to the growing popularity of winter tourism,
00:26 which was boosted by Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
00:30 Last year, over 2,000 new snow and ice-related businesses were launched, a 24% increase year-on-year.
00:37 Looking ahead, it's forecast that the winter season from late 2023 to early this year
00:43 will see tourism numbers exceed $400 million for the first time, with $76 billion in revenue generated.
00:51 Justin Downes is president of the international leisure and hospitality company AXIS Leisure Management in Beijing.
00:58 I asked him why Harbin has become so popular.
01:02 Harbin has always been a fascinating location for not only Chinese people, but from people all around the world.
01:08 China is an enormous country, almost like Europe in many ways, where you've got so many different languages and cultures and cuisines and climates.
01:16 Harbin is a very unique place, given that more than half the population has no exposure to snow and ice or winter.
01:23 Just the whole notion of cold temperatures and snow is interesting.
01:28 But Harbin has got a very strong Russian influence, which is quite intriguing to people all around the world and to China.
01:35 The architecture, the food, there's a lot of Russian history, Russian signage.
01:40 I think there's just always been a fascination as it's a unique part of Chinese culture that most Chinese people have never had a chance to experience.
01:48 So it's always attracted people up there.
01:50 So it's a whole cultural offer there.
01:53 And the ice sculptures of Harbin are really just extraordinary.
01:56 I understand there are at least 2000 of them.
01:59 When did that become a tradition and how much has it grown?
02:04 Well, the whole thing is around 40 years old now, I believe, when the festival first started.
02:10 It started small, like most things, and then it just kept on growing and growing.
02:14 It became a bucket list thing, not just for Chinese people.
02:18 But now, if you look at the top 10 tourism destinations, obviously pre-COVID, the Harbin Ice Festival was one of the must-see things that people had to do.
02:27 So, you know, it is so unbelievable if you've never seen it, just the ingenuity, the work that's gone into it, the scale, the beauty.
02:35 I mean, yes, it's cold, but it is absolutely fascinating.
02:38 And I think it doesn't matter if you're a cold person, climate person or not.
02:43 It's just an unbelievable experience that everybody should see.
02:47 Yes, it does seem quite counterintuitive that people would spend their holidays somewhere so cold, but it's clearly an absolute treat.
02:54 So these latest figures we've actually had for this winter across the whole of China, ice and snow tourism increased a staggering 98 percent compared with last winter.
03:05 And of course, you know, notwithstanding COVID, what is it behind this huge influx in snow and ice tourism in China?
03:14 Well, certainly the government policy is heavily supportive of ice and snow industry or sport and wellness and lifestyle in general.
03:23 And because of the Winter Olympics and the legacy that that has left behind, the government is really supporting everybody to spend their leisure time and their leisure dollars on getting in winter sport.
03:35 It's something that people it's not a high cost barrier of entry.
03:39 So people it's generally affordable for people to do.
03:42 It's something you can do with your family and friends.
03:44 It can something you can do with beginners and advanced experiences.
03:49 So it's really something that as a sport seems to have unified everybody.
03:53 And now people have more time, more interest.
03:56 They have they're definitely looking to get outside and enjoy themselves.
04:00 And skiing and winter sports is is an obviously obvious portal for that.
04:04 And how important is this snow and ice tourism for China's wider economy at this time?
04:11 Oh, the tourism in general and tourism destination resort development has been an important economic driver for the government for probably going on 10 years at least now,
04:22 trying to push development into rural areas that need a bit of an economic boost that can't rely on mining or agriculture as their sole source of income.
04:32 So certainly in the north, obviously, where we've got a short it's a totally different type of seasonal playing field up there.
04:40 So development of winter sport is unbelievably important to the government's agenda to boost economic and GDP growth in these smaller communities.
04:50 They have the natural attributes. They have the snowfall. They have the climate. Now they have the culture.
04:55 So the government is definitely behind it.
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