Chinese tourists are expected to make 230 million trips featuring ice and snow in the 2020-2021 winter season, generating more than 390 billion yuan (60 billion dollars) in revenue, according to a report from the China Tourism Academy (CTA) on Jan. 5.

The year 2021 marks the one-year countdown to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, which is driving the development of the country’s ice and snow industry.

Ice and snow tourism has become an industry that will encourage 300 million people to participate in winter sports, a goal China has set to achieve by 2022, the report said.

Ice and snow tourism has also become a new way of life for Chinese tourists. Although the industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic, people’s confidence is returning. Of those surveyed for the report, 82 percent said they are willing to take short-distance ice-snow trips, and more than 53 percent said they will maintain or increase their budget for such trips compared to previous years.

Tourists enjoy themselves in Jilin, northeast China’s Jilin province. (Zhu Dawei/People’s Daily Overseas Edition)

The report revealed that Chinese tourists now prefer to travel with their families on short trips that are smart, customized, independent and high-quality.

The country has increased investment in ice and snow tourism. According to incomplete statistics, from 2018 to 2020, total investment in the industry exceeded 900 billion yuan.

To boost the development of ice and snow tourism, China has rolled out over 14 policies concerning ice-snow consumption, people’s health and winter sports, while local governments of provinces and cities, including Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Beijing, have introduced 22 industrial policies for the industry.

Dai Bin, head of the CTA, said China should develop ice-snow tourist destinations, routes and products with a unique and profound cultural heritage to attract visitors.

Elements of the Olympic Winter Games, intangible cultural heritage and folk culture should be added to ice and snow tourism, said Song Qihui, a senior official from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, who also called for the construction of provincial and national ice and snow-themed resorts.

Cities including Harbin, Shenyang, Jilin and Changchun in northeastern China, as well as Zhangjiakou in north China’s Hebei province, have been selected as top cities for ice-snow-themed tours this year at the China Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum held on Jan. 5.