The 8th August every year is the National Fitness Day for China. 2018’s one is the 10 year anniversary since the setup of the National Fitness Day. Variety of national fitness activities have taken places throughout the country to encourage more people to join the national fitness program. In the past, people are showing off food and selfies, it is now more of fashion to show off the hiking routes, running maps and real-time competitions at WeChat friends moment. The sports and fitness lovers have integrated their sports and fitness hobbies into their travels, greatly enriching their travel experience.
Fitness tourism is the most popular
According to a report by Donkey Mum Travel Network that in the first half of 2018, the number of people who chose sports tour products increased significantly, which was about 24% higher than the same period in 2017. 2018’s World Cup in Russia pushed Chinese sports tourism to a new peak. During the tournament, more than 100,000 Chinese tourists traveled to Russia.
In sports tourism, fitness related is the most popular category, accounting for 70% of the total Chinese visitors; the extreme sports account for 20%, and game watching is 10%. Fitness tourism represented by
Bushwalking, mountain hiking, bike riding are widely welcomed most of the tourists and have become the main stream fitness activity nation-wide because these activities are experience oriented, relatively low cost, easy to participate. According to the data of the mother, the number of fitness trips in the first half of this year increased by 35% compared with the same period of last year, and the public’s awareness of fitness increased
The data shows that Mountain attractions such as Huang Mountain黄山,Mount Tai泰山, Mount Heng衡山, Mount Emei 峨眉山and Tianmen Mountain天门山 are the most scenic spots for hikers. Participants’ age group spread out from primary school students to the retired elderly. They all participate in the love of the majority of tourists.
Sports tourism is growing rapidly and has great potential
With the enhancement of people’s physical fitness awareness and the enthusiasm for sports events, the market for sports tourism has expanded year on year.
According to the forecast released by the National Tourism Administration, by 2020, the total number of Chinese sports tourists will reach 1 billion, accounting for 15% of the total number of Chinese tourists, they are expected to spend over 1 trillion yuan (200billion Australian dollars) yearly.
With the rise of the middle class, China’s tourism pattern has been shifting from traditional sightseeing to combined tourism model that takes into consideration leisure and fitness.
In recent years, China has vigorously developed sports industries, and sports facilities and conditions have been greatly improved. The infrastructure improvements have paved the pass ways for the rapid growth of fitness tourism. Zhao Yong, deputy director of the State Sports General Administration, said that accelerating the development of the sports tourism industry is a key measure to implement the Strategy of Nationwide Fitness, promote people’s livelihood and increase people’s happiness level.
Australian or foreign brands should seize the opportunity of this round of growth.
Celebrities are massively influential, however, it could backfire and hurt the sponsoring brands, particularly we have seen some backslashes historically. The latest backslahs was a headline news Swisse had to suspended the sponsorship of Fanbingbing, Chinese highest paid actress after she confessed to paying a huge tax bill in this October. Brands do need to be cautious of the risk to engage those high price asking celebrities under China’ current tensed political attitude towards the entertainment industry.
While selecting sports and fitness stars to work together on a Big Health or National Fitness Concept is what Chinese central and local authorities are welcoming. It is not only politically right but also it fits in Chinese market organic demand of combined lifestyles of leisure and fitness.
Compared with millions of dollars commitment fees for those sky-high pricy entertainment stars, those Chinese Sports and fitness famous are a really good value for money with everything welcomed by the market.
Want to find your perfect matching Sports or fitness famous to represent your brand to attract the massive consumer crowds? Come on to talk to us.
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