Jilin takes off as a leading tour destination for winter season

Province aims to be world-class player, attracting visitors from home and abroad in colder months

Jilin province has developed into one of the top winter tour destinations in China in recent years, with rapid growth in the number of its tourists and revenue.

According to the local tourism authority, the northeastern province welcomed about 62 million tourists in the winter season between 2016 and 2017, growing 19.36 percent from the previous winter.

Tourism revenue during the period reached 116 billion yuan ($17.7 billion), up 27. 12 percent from the winter of 2015-16. That number also accounted for more than 40 percent of Jilin's total annual tourism revenue.

The province's top two winter resorts - Changbai Mountain Wanda International Resort and Vanke Songhua Lake Resort - both announced they received more than 300,000 tourists in the 2016-17 winter, ranking them as China's top two ski resorts.

Already one of the leaders in China's winter tour industry, Jilin province plans to become a world-class player in the field, according to local officials.

They regard the winter tour industry as a vital driver for boosting local economic growth.

"The emerging winter tour industry is one of the most competitive sectors in Jilin, which is crucial for its revitalization," said Bayin Chaolu, Party chief of Jilin.

He made the remarks during the first China International Ice and Snow Tourism Industry Expo, held in the provincial capital of Changchun in December 2016.

Earlier in 2016, the Jilin provincial government released a blueprint on strengthening the "ice and snow" industry. It plans to build top local destinations and top local brands, by mobilizing the competitive resources of various industries and diverse investors.

The guideline calls for building a comprehensive winter tourism industry chain. It will focus on winter tours, winter sports and a snow and ice culture - in the hope of making it a new, strategic growth engine by 2020.

Local officials have also identified bottlenecks that hindered the sector's growth and are trying to find solutions.

Yang Andi, the head of the Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said that the bottlenecks included insufficient infrastructure facilities, unbalanced development among different regions and a lack of efficient marketing.

The official said Jilin is using various industry shows and expositions to promote its winter tour-related infrastructure projects to potential investors, and make its attractions better known to tourists.

Promotional platform

The annual China International Ice and Snow Tourism Industry Expo, which held its first session in December last year, is one such efficient promotional platform.

The second expo is now underway, from December 2017 to March 2018 in Jilin City.

The event has become a prime venue for domestic and overseas businesses to identify opportunities in Jilin province.

Leading Chinese real estate developers, such as Vanke, Wanda and Luneng, have made huge investments in building high-end ski and other resorts in the province.

Local statistics show that 14 big winter tourism projects - each with investment of more than 100 million yuan ($15.5 million) - were under construction this year.

There is also increased investment in building or renovating airports, expressways and high-speed railways - with the aim of improving traffic access for winter tour destinations.

The province will continue to launch more winter tourism projects in the years to come. These include the construction and renovation of the Lianhua Mountain Ski Resort in Changchun, the Wanfeng Ski Resort in Tonghua, the Tianhe Valley Hot Spring Town in Songyuan and a four-season ski training center in Jilin City.

Investors from home and abroad are welcome to take part in these projects, according to local officials.

At present, the province's major winter tour products include tours of ski resorts and hot spring resorts, snow and ice sightseeing.

A lot to offer

Jilin has a lot to offer in the winter. Tourists can participate in various sports in the ski resorts in the east of Jilin, enjoy hot spring spas in the south and go winter fishing on icy Chagan Lake in the west.

Local officials said the province also employs resources from other industries to boost the growth of winter tourism.

Sports, culture, agriculture, education and even manufacturing are among the sectors that Jilin relies on for developing cross-industry winter tourism.

Ma Shaohong, head of the Jilin Provincial Culture Bureau, said that the cultural and creative industries can play an important role in making winter tours in Jilin more attractive.

"Creative cultural products are widely used in winter tourism-related shows and exhibitions," Ma said.

Zhang Zhenying, deputy chief of the Jilin Provincial Sports Bureau, said sports administrations throughout the province had organized a great number of events to attract winter sports enthusiasts to Jilin.

According to Zhang, the province organized more than 500 sports events during the winter of 2016-17, attracting more than 6 million participants.

Zhang Bojun, head of the Jilin Provincial Bureau of Education, said his bureau has worked with local sports authorities, providing training for students to expand their interest in winter sports.

"We are going to get more students into winter sports by organizing various training programs," Zhang Bojun said.

"The total number of students in Jilin that will be involved is expected to reach 800,000 by the end of 2018."