Harbin's winter tourism starts heating up again

HARBIN — Seeing an increasing number of people visiting the Polar-park since it started operating weeks ago in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, Zhang Jiwei, the park's marketing manager, is becoming more confident about the venue's performance this winter.

Harbin is famous for its ice and snow resources. This winter, the city opened three winter-themed parks, launched 12 ice and snow experience products and 10 winter tourism routes, and created more than 100 related activities to promote the development of winter tourism, culture, fashion and sports.

Although the temperature can drop below — 20 C, screams of joy and waves of laughter have been heard in the parks.

"We planned to celebrate the New Year here; the colder it is, the happier we are," says Liu Shuang, a tourist from Tianjin who came to Harbin with her husband.

China recorded roughly 52.7 million domestic tourist visits during the three-day New Year holiday, up 0.44 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Tourism revenue generated over the holiday reached over 26.5 billion yuan ($3.8 billion), up 4 percent from the same period last year.

These figures showed that people's consumption willingness and travel expectations were shifting from a cautious to a more optimistic direction, says Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy.

"Winter tourism attracts more young people, and therefore we pay more attention to the quality of our products to effectively meet tourist demands," says Geng Deyong, an official of the management committee of Changbai Mountain in the northeastern province of Jilin.

Changbai Mountain is building itself into a globally influential tourism destination and is expanding its ice and snow tourism options.

Industry insiders believe that the recent recovery of winter tourism is due to the recovery of people's travel confidence and increasing demand, while the upcoming Spring Festival holiday will also boost winter tourism.

Optimized epidemic prevention and control measures, inspiration stemming from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and the popularization of ice and snow sports will further promote the development of the ice and snow industries, Dai says.