Explore insights from the Heilongjiang Ice & Snow Tourism Industry Development Index (2023), revealing substantial growth and investment in China’s leading winter tourism destination. Understand the sector’s trajectory and strategic advancements.
Beijing, China – The Heilongjiang Province, located in northeastern China and known for its lengthy winters, has seen its ice and snow tourism sector achieve continuous development and enhanced integrated strength from 2017 through 2022. This growth trajectory is highlighted in the recently unveiled “China · Heilongjiang Ice & Snow Tourism Industry Development Index (2023)” in Beijing.
This comprehensive index, a collaborative effort by the China Economic Information Service (CEIS) and Heilongjiang’s Department of Culture and Tourism, evaluates the province’s ice and snow tourism industry through a multifaceted lens. It assesses six dimensions: resource endowment, industry pillars, product competitiveness, brand influence, and the industry’s overall contribution.
Commencing with a baseline of 100 points in 2017, the index climbed to 185.5 points in 2022, marking an 85.5 percent increase since the base period and indicating a 9.38 percent annual growth. This metric underscores a substantial strengthening of Heilongjiang’s ice and snow tourism industry over the assessed five-year span.
Breaking down the sub-indexes, it becomes evident that the industry has garnered stable investment flows. In 2022 alone, it attracted 150 investment projects totaling an investment sum of 46.45 billion yuan, an increase of 65.95 percent compared to the previous year.
Harbin, Heilongjiang’s capital, has been instrumental in securing significant investments, particularly in the wellness sector, ice and snow entertainment facilities, and cultural tourism. These investments are strategically positioning Harbin as China’s “capital of ice and snow culture.”
Heilongjiang has also made strides in enhancing its talent development systems, leading to increasingly competitive ice and snow tourism offerings.
He Dawei, the Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Heilongjiang Province, stated that this index provides a dynamic and thorough depiction of the local ice and snow tourism industry’s current state. It assists in identifying industry gaps and setting clear objectives for future development.
He emphasized the international recognition of such indices as benchmarks for assessing the economic health of industries. Heilongjiang’s index, in particular, serves as a testament to the effective practices and efforts made in cultivating its ice and snow tourism sector and offers valuable insights for the broader development of winter tourism within China.
Yang Mu, Deputy President of CEIS, remarked that the index, which was initially introduced in 2021, impartially mirrors the high-quality growth pattern of Heilongjiang’s ice and snow tourism industry. It will persist as a reliable metric and provide strategic direction for the province as it continues to refine and advance its winter tourism industry.
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