Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival draws record tourists to China

A significant hike was observed in tourism in China due to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival which helped to generate over 46.18 million yuan in income

During the New Year’s holiday people headed to the snowy capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province to celebrate the New Year. Most of the visitors were attracted by the grand and intricate ice sculptures of its annual Ice and Snow Festival.

The towering ice structures were built from ice blocks harvested from the frozen Songhua River nearby.

This year, the ice festival attracted over 3.05 million visitors during the three-day New Year holiday that ended on Monday, generating 5.91 billion yuan ($826 million) in tourism revenue, as state media agency Xinhua reported.

The numbers are more than the pre-COVID visits in 2019.

 

As per the local newspaper Harbin Daily, during this holiday period, the number has doubled from 2019 in the accommodation and catering sectors.

The key reason behind Harbin's increasing popularity is social media, Xinhua said.

This tourism boomed to a three-month high as China's service activity expanded at the fastest pace in the last five months in December. The event lifted the optimism level across the tourism sector.

How does Ice Festival Harbin attract visitors?

On the occasion of the New Year holiday, over 163,200 visitors over the New Year holidays, which is five times more than last year, and out of all the numbers almost 40 per cent of those holidaymakers visit New Year's Eve. This helped to generate over 46.18 million yuan in income, which is six times higher than last year.

Heilongjiang welcomed around 46.19 million tourists in these three days, which is triple, as compared to last year, generating revenue of 6.920 billion yuan, almost five times more than last year.

To coincide with the festival's official opening, the city government announced a special public holiday, the Ice and Snow Holiday.

Winter tourism has benefited the local companies in the sector. The surge in tourism has raised the shares of ChangBai Mountain Tourism Co, which is a travel agency based in northeast China, since December last week.