Asian Winter Games boosts tourism prosperity in Harbin

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By Du Qiongfang (Global Times) 10:49, February 10, 2025

According to statistics from the local public security authorities, since December 17, 2024, the number of foreign visitors visiting Harbin has exceeded 100,000, a nearly threefold increase compared with the same period last year. Statistics released by the Chinese travel agency Tongcheng Travel on Friday showed that domestic flight ticket orders with Harbin as the destination have increased since February by over 20 percent year-on-year.

Jiang Yiyi, dean of the College of Leisure Sports and Tourism at Beijing Sport University, told the Global Times on Sunday that several factors have significantly boosted the development of Harbin's tourism industry. These factors include the sports event being a major attraction for tourists, the city's growing popularity among visitors from southern parts of the country in recent years, and the timing of the event, which coincides perfectly with the peak season for ice and snow tourism, as well as the Chinese New Year holiday and winter vacation.

Jiang noted that Harbin can "serve as an enlightenment" for other cities in boosting tourism by building a strong sports event system for both international and domestic competitions and improving services including payment convenience and multilingual support.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)