Justin Downes, President of Axis Leisure Management spoke to CGTN Europe about the Asia Winter Games and the snow economy.
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00:00Justin Downes is president of Axis Leisure Management.
00:04Harbin's always been a very strong winter tourism destination.
00:09I mean, the Harbin Ice Festival is world-renowned as being a top winter destination for winter enthusiasts.
00:18So, it's only growing from strength to strength, and I think it was only last month that Harbin attracted more than 2 million visitors
00:27to come to the city for winter sport tourism.
00:30But, obviously, the spotlight has been shined on China and Harbin now as being a serious winter sport country.
00:39So, everybody around the nation and around the region and around the world is recognizing that China has a very vibrant winter industry.
00:46So, more and more people are inclined to get engaged with sport, travel, and make snow and snow tourism a part of their winter activities.
00:55It couldn't be a better story, actually, for Heilongjiang province, Harbin, and for the country to host these games.
01:01So, is this a long-term strategy, do you think, beyond the immediate boost from the games?
01:05Will there be a long-term economic impact on China's ice and snow economy?
01:10Oh, absolutely no question.
01:12I mean, the central government has made it a part of its five-year plan and longer term to ensure that winter sport is a significant part of the overall national economy.
01:24You know, the government has made a bold statement of saying that more than 300 million people would get involved in winter sport.
01:31That was a part of the bid for the 2022 games.
01:33They've achieved that.
01:35It's continuing to grow from strength to strength.
01:37Winter sport has been made a part of the school curriculum for every Chinese child.
01:43It's everywhere in the media that winter sport is to be something that all Chinese people should enjoy.
01:51And with 750 million-odd people in the south part of the country that don't have snow, that's where the biggest push is and that's where the biggest interest is.
01:59And that's indicative, actually, of the whole of the Asian and Southeast Asian region, that people are now fascinated by snow and they're yearning for adventure and activities.
02:08And this is only the tip of the iceberg, no pun intended.
02:12A very good pun.
02:14And it's quite a specific type of investment, isn't it, that's required specific infrastructure?
02:20What kind of facilities have been built?
02:22Well, I mean, obviously, you have the typical urban infrastructure.
02:27So with any of these games, they need to improve accessibility.
02:32So improvements to highways, out to the, say, the ski areas and things like this.
02:38In the case of the Asian games in Harbin, they've improved the railway access up to Yabali, which is one of the most famous ski destinations in the country.
02:48But it was typically fairly hard to get to.
02:50So the rail access has now been greatly improved through electrification, making it easier, safer, faster, and cheaper for people to get there.
02:58You see new ice venues such as the short track speed skating venue now hosts a capacity of almost 3,000 people.
03:07You've got a hockey arena, hosts around 5,000.
03:10So I think this is putting things on an international standard of facilities to host these types of events long into the future that will help to nurture grassroots sport into professional sport and into global sport destinations.
03:26So it's only good for the growth of the winter sport around the country.