Beijing’s winning bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games has successfully evoked a wave of welcoming among Chinese nationals.
Snow and ice sports are rising in popularity, and Beijing winter tourism is gradually turning into a focus of tourists’ attention. In late 2017, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development (BTD) held the Second Beijing Ice and Snow Cultural Tourism Festival to greet the Winter Olympics, build the brand of Beijing Winter Tourism and relay the spirit of the Winter Olympics. With the theme of “Charming Beijing and Exciting Winter Sports,” the two-month-long ice and snow carnival presented the public with a series theme activities, such as a New Year countdown celebration, temple fairs, winter sports, exhibitions and performances, showing global tourists the image of winter ice and snow tourism in Beijing. Snow and ice sports events were actively arranged by the BTD and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, such as the Snow Marathon, which helped to welcome the Winter Olympics and triggered national enthusiasm for Winter Olympic sports on ice and snow.
The BTD cooperated with Ctrip Group, a leading online provider of travel services in China, to enrich the content and expand the influences of the Second Beijing Ice and Snow Cultural Tourism Festival activities. They deepened collaboration in diverse travel products, online exposure through domestic and overseas multi-channels, offline promotion seminars, 1000-person tours, celebrity self-driving, online solicitation and more, which enabled information to reach the target audience effectively and powered Beijing with winter tourism.
To welcome the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the BTD took advantages of Ctrip products to advocate “National Olympics.” By exploring group features of different tourists and considering different demands of tourists from home and abroad, the BTD developed 10 kinds of special winter-themed travel routes covering Winter Olympics, the Chinese New Year and Winter Folk of the Imperial City, providing various travel choices for tourists. Ctrip and the BTD also launched the 1000-person tours for the Winter Olympics Skiing Experience, which enjoyed popularity among the citizens and tourists.
Meanwhile, the Ice and Snow Tourism Festival made use of popular celebrity live streaming, inviting 10 groups of web celebrities to experience 10 kinds of themed self-driving routes. Using live streaming and more, they posted self-driving strategies and helped organize food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping and entertainment, so citizens could have the tools they needed to enhance their experience.
Additionally, the BTD ran rounds of advertisements on popular overseas social media such as Facebook and Twitter to draw more tourist abroad, promoted hot topics for the Chinese New Year such as “red envelopes,” “temple fairs” and “spring couplets,” for the sake of buzz marketing. Many overseas tourists were attracted to participate in prize-winning Q&As such as “CNY in Beijing,” “Impression of Beijing” and “Great Wall Hero,” which drove Beijing’s tourism even further.
Beijing winter tourism is now attracting global tourists’ attention, thanks to the Ice and Snow Cultural Tourism Festival. Through this annual festival, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development wishes to showcase the charms of Beijing Winter Tourism, help the Winter Olympics and welcome the forthcoming grand international event together with people around the world.
Photo courtesy Beijing Winter Tourism
