Dai Bin | The Blooming Flowers of Harbin's Snowflake Tourism Industry - Opening Speech at the 2024 Ice and Snow Tourism Forum

On January 5th, at the opening ceremony of the China Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum, Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Research Institute, delivered an opening speech titled "The Blooming Flowers of Harbin's Snowflake Tourism Industry". The full text is shared below. 01

What did we see in Harbin this winter?

Seeing tourists integrate into local life and outlining a new urban scene. With a large number of tourists visiting, not only are popular scenic spots such as Central Street, Ice and Snow World, Sun Island Snow Expo, Hot Snow Miracle, Volga Manor, and Polar Park crowded, but also the Red Professional Morning Market, Daoli Vegetable Market, Bathing Center, and Skala, which integrates song and dance performances, night dining, and entertainment, have become popular. The common scene of so many local people was exposed in the public opinion and spotlight of the Internet amid the tourists' chatter, so that some citizens asked tourists for local playbooks and strategies, which vividly explained what is "tourists define tourism" and what is "host guest sharing". It should be noted that whether it is "Little Potato" or "Sand Sugar Honey Orange", each title reflects the warm and generous local people's genuine kindness and goodwill towards southern tourists, just as tourists and the media affectionately refer to Harbin as "Erbin".

I have seen the prosperity of the tourism market and the vitality of economic growth. Benefiting from the strong recovery of the tourism market, as of December 31, 2023, Harbin Taiping International Airport had a total passenger throughput of 20.805 million, doubling year-on-year and setting a new historical high. Due to the popularity of ice and snow tourism, especially the significant expansion of remote markets in East and South China, Harbin received a total of 3.0479 million tourists during the three-day New Year holiday in 2024, achieving a total tourism revenue of 5.914 billion yuan, both reaching historical peaks. The spillover of tourism consumption power has further driven the growth of local service industries such as catering, retail, performances, transportation, and communication, leading to project investment in scenic spots, resorts, hotels, homestays, neighborhoods, and commercial areas, as well as research and development, manufacturing, and sales of equipment and equipment related to ice and snow leisure. The Four Seasons Ice and Snow Project of the Ice and Snow World added an additional investment of 345 million yuan last year, along with 21 construction projects such as the third phase renovation of the Zhonghua Baroque block and the third phase of the Maple Leaf Town in Songbei District. With a direct investment of nearly 5 billion yuan, it has truly become a new engine for local economic growth.

I have seen the shining brilliance of life and the vibrant vitality of society. With the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society, the understanding of happiness among urban and rural residents has shifted from material satisfaction to spiritual pursuit. Tourism, culture, sports, and health have become increasingly important life options. When I saw the cute Southern "Little Potato" unlock 108 different snow playing poses on site, Cui Jian's "Let Me Sprinkle Some Wilderness on This Snow" immediately came to my mind, and I suddenly realized that I had also been young before. When I saw tens of thousands of people dancing and singing "Sing to the Motherland" on site in the Ice and Snow World, I remembered three years ago when tourists at Shanghai Disney Resort queued up for nucleic acid testing at the fireworks show. Dr. Zhang Wenhong said, "Thank you for the unextinguished fireworks today, which showed us humanity's calmness and confidence in the future in the face of disasters. Yes, we have the ability to overcome all natural disasters and public health events, and we also have the willingness to enjoy the beautiful life we have worked hard for. History has repeatedly proven, and will continue to prove, that there is no force that can stop people from yearning for and pursuing a better life!

02

What has Harbin done over the years?

Harbin is the "leader" in national ice and snow sports, and has been awarded the title of "City of Olympic Champions" by the Chinese Olympic Committee. Has made significant contributions to the popularization, promotion, and training of athletes in ice and snow sports. The statistical survey report on "Encouraging 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" shows that the participation rate of ice and snow sports in Heilongjiang Province is 57.8%, ranking first in the country. After successfully hosting the Asian Winter Games in 1996, Harbin has once again successfully applied for the 2025 Asian Winter Games, ushering in a new era of high-quality development for ice and snow tourism.

Harbin provides convenient infrastructure and comprehensive public services for both foreign tourists and local residents. In the era of individual tourists and free travel, transportation infrastructure such as airports, high-speed railways, docks, subways, buses, taxis, bike sharing, and the Internet, as well as public cultural services such as museums, art galleries, libraries, science and technology museums, cultural centers, and theatres, are the underlying logic of urban tourism competitiveness. For a long time, we have been accustomed to using traditional natural resources and historical and cultural resources to build tourist cities, hoping to use the Internet and new social platforms to attract tourists, and even the director of culture and tourism will become "online celebrities". Little do they know that in the face of absolute strength, no skill is enough to solve the problem of "internet celebrities" becoming "long-lasting celebrities". Only calm water can lead to deep flow, and only with dense branches can leaves flourish. I hope Harbin and more cities can solidify the hard foundation and strength of urban tourism development with higher wisdom and longer patience.

Harbin has built an increasingly perfect commercial environment for ice and snow tourism through persistent research and development, investment, and quality control. If scenic spots relying on natural and historical cultural resources are the core attractions of tourist cities, then the commercial environment is the core element of urban tourism competitiveness. The commercial environment requires urban landmarks like the Ice and Snow World, as well as small and medium-sized tourism and leisure projects like the Polar Park; It needs Harbin Symphony Orchestra and Harbin Summer Concert, as well as China-Chic Music Festival and Skala; We need time-honored brands such as Qiulin, Harbin Meat Union, Madier, and Harbin Beer, as well as trendy brands with Chinese and international styles; We need the Central Street and Sofia Church, as well as restaurants, bars, and cafes on the streets and alleys. A city that can see cultural heritage and the future of civilization, a city with technological innovation, talent gathering, and prosperous industry and commerce, is more likely to become a world-class destination that is accessible from afar and shared by hosts and guests. Note that the fireworks of the human world are the most soothing to the hearts of ordinary people!

Harbin releases more goodwill, warmth, and quality for tourists who come from afar. The best travel is the link between people, and people are always the most beautiful scenery. Once tourism in a foreign land enters the daily leisure space of citizens, every inch of space from theaters to markets, every moment from day to night, from employees to the first person of citizens, will become an element of the tourism experience. Cities have warmth, citizens have kindness, and tourists can seamlessly blend in without any discomfort. If the city is cold and the citizens are resistant, even if you have many high-rise buildings and high GDP, tourists will only stay away. It should be pointed out that consensus and order are the result of long-term evolution, and also require the active construction of urban managers. One week before the New Year holiday in 2024, the Harbin Municipal People's Government issued a letter to citizens entitled "Encountering Ice and Snow, Meeting Warmth, Not Neglecting Beauty, Not Neglecting Emotions", advocating that "everyone is a transmitter of urban temperature. Everyone is a guardian of urban honor. Everyone is an ambassador of urban image and a recommender of urban beauty", effectively guiding a caring and warm social atmosphere for tourists. In terms of price management, we not only fully respect market rules, but also emphasize fair trade and honest management. We cannot ask exorbitant prices and make a one-time deal just because of the "sky high wealth and prosperity". The fact proves that these measures are necessary and effective, reflecting the modernization level of the governance system and governance capacity in the cultural and tourism fields.

03

Prosperity has begun, how do tourists plan for the future?

In the new era, the tourism industry should take the people's beautiful life as the strategic direction for innovative development. Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles has been a fine tradition of the Chinese nation since ancient times, and it is also a dream of beautiful Chinese tourism. Today's China has entered a new era of comprehensive development of mass tourism, which has become a daily option for people to live a better life. The market is sinking, demand is upgrading, and personalization and diversity have become new propositions for tourism consumption. According to data from Qunar platform, since November last year, the search popularity related to "skiing" has increased significantly, and the booking volume of ski resort tickets in China has increased by 147% year-on-year compared to the same period in 2019. The ticket sales of indoor ski resorts in Guangzhou, Chongqing, and Kunming increased by more than 1.5 times compared to the same period in 2019, and the ticket sales of Guangzhou Hot Snow Miracle increased by as much as 1.7 times. Unlike outdoor ski resorts waiting to open, some indoor ski resorts in the south are open year-round, and skiing is no longer exclusive to winter, but has even become a summer retreat activity. It is the responsibility of tourists and an opportunity for the tourism industry to drive supply with demand, create new demand through supply, and allow more tourists to enjoy high-quality ice and snow, summer escape, nighttime study, high-speed rail, self driving, shipping, and cruise tourism and leisure.

In the new era of tourism, it is necessary to pragmatically promote the integration and development of culture and tourism at a deeper, higher level, and wider scope. We should not only emphasize the integrated development of excellent traditional Chinese culture and tourism, but also attach importance to the innovative integration of red culture and advanced socialist culture with tourism. To further unleash the driving effect of major cultural projects, accelerate the construction of a number of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with profound cultural heritage, national level tourism and leisure cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics, world-class tourism cities, and international tourism destinations, and enrich the supply of excellent literary and artistic works and high-quality tourism products. Cultivate a group of new formats with strong cultural attributes, high technological content, and strong demonstration and driving power, such as "aviation tourism", "high-speed rail tourism", "highway tourism", "shipping tourism", "tourism festivals and events", "tourism shopping", "tourism art", etc., so that "tourism" and "tourism" can play the strongest voice of China's economic prosperity.

The tourism industry in the new era should prioritize high-quality development as its most important political task. In order to better stabilize expectations, boost confidence, deepen integration, and promote development, tourism industry policies and work priorities should timely release consumption potential from the demand side within the cycle, and shift to high-quality development that coordinates demand side management and supply side innovation across cycles. Is tourist satisfaction high? Is the competitiveness of market entities strong? Is the development momentum new or not? It is a realistic issue that must be answered and well addressed in the modernization process of the governance system and governance capacity of the tourism industry in the new era. To be guided by tourist satisfaction, further improve the tourism public service system for individual tourists, and continuously enhance tourist satisfaction and community sense of gain. To give entrepreneurs more trust and encourage practitioners, investment institution and market entity cultivation plans should be implemented at multiple levels, including national and local levels. To introduce new quality productive forces such as technology, culture, art, fashion, and innovation, cultivate new driving forces for tourism development, lead new demand with new supply, and strive to build the tourism industry into a priority area of humanistic economy.

Author | Edited by Dai Bin | Source by Xue Shiyi | Reproduction by China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source