What are the hidden worries and challenges behind the upsurge of sports tourism market?

From an event to the construction of an industrial belt, with the help of large-scale events, policies and the whole background of consumption upgrading, the sports tourism market in China is welcoming an upward development trend. The World Tourism Organization predicts that the global sports tourism market is expected to exceed $400 billion in 2020. As early as the end of 20 16, the former National Tourism Administration and the State Sports General Administration jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Vigorously Developing Sports Tourism, proposing that by 2020, the total consumption scale of sports tourism will exceed one trillion yuan.

The era of sports tourism "playing with mountains and rivers" is coming.

Sports celebrities entering the track of sports tourism can be regarded as one of the epitome of sports tourism development, and Deng Yaping is one of the representatives. 20 16,10 In June, Deng Yaping's team and Zhongyuan Investment Company jointly initiated the establishment of Deng Yaping's sports industry investment fund in Henan Province, which is the first sports industry fund named after famous athletes in China. It is planned to raise a total scale of 5 billion yuan and an initial scale of 500 million yuan, which will be raised and operated in a market-oriented manner.

Statistics show that as early as 20 16, more than 20 sports and cultural industry investment funds have been established in China with a total scale of more than 40 billion yuan. Deng Yaping believes that the sports tourism market is huge, and everyone's pursuit of consumption upgrading and quality life will be more and more combined with themed, sports and leisure tourism. From the perspective of sports, the era of "seeing mountains and playing with water" has passed, and the era of "playing with water and playing with mountains" has arrived. It is necessary to upgrade the experience lifestyle.

One business layout of Deng Yaping's sports industry investment fund is to surround the scenic spot, take the scenic spot as the carrier, and join sports events, such as rock climbing, skiing, mountain cycling, mountain marathon, hot air balloon, paragliding, etc., to form a three-dimensional play project system in a region.

These sports tourism projects are compatible in meeting the demand of participation and consumption in experience tourism. The same is true for sports tourism projects such as golf, equestrian, mountaineering, diving and outdoor sports. Different from the traditional sightseeing tour, sports tourism has more prominent characteristics in the universality of participating groups, diversification of consumer demand and customer stickiness. Take the marathon as an example. According to the Big Data Analysis Report of China Marathon in 20 17, China held marathons of various sizes in 20102, which was more than three times that of 328 in 20 16 and 52 in 2010. It not only brings heat to the upstream and downstream of sports industry, but also becomes the entrance of tourism flow.

Sports town can be regarded as a higher or more comprehensive form in sports tourism industry. 20 17 In May, the General Administration of Sports issued the Notice on Promoting the Construction of Sports Leisure Towns, pointing out that by 2020, a number of sports leisure towns with distinctive sports characteristics, strong cultural atmosphere, industrial agglomeration and integration, good ecological environment and healthy people will be supported throughout the country. Previously, 96 demonstration pilot sports towns have been selected nationwide.

Under the dual promotion of policy and market, real estate developers, investment companies and sports industry companies have become the main bodies of sports town construction and operation. According to incomplete statistics, up to now, there are more than 20 real estate enterprises, including China Evergrande, Wanda Group, Greenland Group, Vanke and Agile Group. , has made a layout in the sports industry.

The data shows that in only 20 16 years, more than 100 sports towns in China have entered the construction stage; 20 17 construction heating. Outdoor projects such as cycling, marathon, fishing, mountaineering, ice and snow have become the main implanted contents or formats of sports towns.

Gains and losses of policy boosting

Behind the emerging industries, it is inseparable from the continuous blessing of many policies. According to the reporter's incomplete statistics, from May 20 16 to May 2010, the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Sports General Administration and other relevant departments issued nine sports tourism policy documents of different sizes, including the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Sports Development and the Outline of Healthy China 2030. Its main contents include not limited to proposing several major sports tourism projects; Promote industrial integration, support and guide qualified tourist attractions to expand sports tourism projects; Cultivate multiple subjects and guide social forces to participate in the construction and operation of fitness and leisure facilities; Formulate and implement the development plans of characteristic sports industries such as ice and snow sports, outdoor sports in mountainous areas, water sports and air movement.

Wang Xingbin, a former planning expert of the National Tourism Administration, believes that the policies introduced by individual departments may not be very effective. For example, in the recent document issued by the General Office of the General Administration of Sports on accelerating the industrial development of self-driving sports camps, in his view, the measures taken by the General Administration of Sports to promote self-driving sports camps are good, but this camp involves planning, land, transportation and other aspects. And it needs to be promoted together with other relevant departments when promoting the landing, otherwise it is difficult to solve it by relying on the policy documents of one department alone. "Comprehensive things should be fully grasped."

Correspondingly, the previous self-driving sports camp development plan was jointly issued by the General Administration of Sport, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Transport and the former National Tourism Administration.

Wang Xingbin believes that the policies introduced will be effective, but it is hard to see how effective they are. The introduction of policy documents is too intensive, and the implementation may be difficult to fully implement at the local government level. Because a new policy has not been fully implemented, a new policy may come again. He said that the key lies in whether the local government really regards meeting the sports needs of the masses as an important part of government work.

The hidden worry behind the upsurge

Deng Yaping once shared a set of data, that is, the annual growth rate of global tourism is 4% to 5%, the annual growth rate of global sports tourism is 14% to 15%, and the annual growth rate of China sports tourism is 30% to 40%. At the same time, sports tourism in developed countries accounts for 25% of the tourism industry, while only 5% in China, which shows that sports tourism in China is still in the primary development stage.

A related phenomenon is that hot money is pouring into the sports tourism industry, but the purpose that investors can invest in high-quality projects or resources is still relatively lacking. Deng Yaping said that most scenic spots need to be integrated with high-quality sports, but its sports industry investment fund has not been able to find a good project that can be put together with scenic spots. At the same time, she said that there is still a lack of teams with cross-border operation level in sports and tourism, and it is necessary to introduce foreign teams to China. Its adaptation to localization in China needs the cooperation of very strong local teams, but it is in a fault state.

Sports towns are also in the primary stage, and the problems exposed during the period are representative. Many real estate developers play the main role of investment, development and construction in the construction of sports towns, but their overall ability in the construction of sports tourism products and the operation of towns is still lacking. For them, the development and operation of characteristic towns is a "new battlefield" different from their previous business.

Tian, co-founder of Runna Technology, believes that not all sports can be combined with tourism, and there are very few sports towns that can really operate successfully. As Liuli, vice president of Jiangsu Sports Industry Research Institute and vice president of Tsinghua University Alumni Real Estate Association, pointed out in a recent article, from the basic characteristics, top-level design and planning, investment implementation and operation management of the town, there are inherent deficiencies in the current sports town construction from structural design to industrial engine. Including lack of top-level design, lack of industrial chain concept, lack of sports industry concept and leading projects.