Comprehensive evaluation of ski resort development conditions in northern China

Abstract

China′s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will promote rapid development of domestic ski tourism. More than 10 provinces in the northern China list ski tourism as a new source of growth in the tourism industry. Formulating a scientific evaluation system is an important foundation for ski resort development. By referring to the conditions of existing international ski resorts, a comprehensive index system for evaluating ski resort development was developed based on natural factors, human factors, athletic sports, and popular ski tourism. The system was composed of one target layer, two indices, seven sub-indices and twenty-five basic indices. Based on data collected during a field investigation in 2012 and on a statistical model, the development conditions of the following ski resorts were quantified: Yabuli Ski Resort in Heilongjiang Province and Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin Province in Northeast China, Wanlong Ski Resort in Hebei Province and Nanshan Ski Resort in Beijing in the northern China, and Silk Road International Ski Resort in Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in the northwestern China. The resulting index values of development conditions at Beidahu, Yabuli, Wanlong, Nanshan, and Silk Road International Ski Resorts were 0.304, 0.278, 0.270, 0.214, and -0.025, respectively. Various natural and human factors exert positive and negative effects on the development potential of ski resorts. The development conditions of the five ski resorts were inferior to those of first-class international resorts. Therefore, the development conditions of the five ski resorts should be improved with future construction.

A critical review of climate change risk for ski tourism

“…Also, China as the largest emerging market has so far not been investigated in terms of climate change implications for current or future developments. There is only one known study investigating current climate potential for skiing tourism in China (Li et al, 2016). There is also no known study for ski markets in South America.…”

The Spatial Differentiation of the Suitability of Ice-Snow Tourist Destinations Based on a Comprehensive Evaluation Model in China

“…Our study establishes an evaluation system for the comprehensive assessment from the three perspectives of Ice-snow tourism is a resource-oriented industry, and the development of ice-snow tourism depends rather strongly on the environmental basis of snow and ice resources [21]. Our study establishes an evaluation system for the comprehensive assessment from the three perspectives of industry resources, the state of development, and the potential for development, and it derives appropriate locations for ice-snow tourist destinations based on spatial overlap and the composite index [22]. The details of the evaluation system are presented in Table 2.…”

The Spatial Pattern of Ski Areas and Its Driving Factors in China: A Strategy for Healthy Development of the Ski Industry

“…However, the development of China's ski industry, compared with that of developed countries, is still in the primary stage and faces certain challenges, including (1) unreasonable site selection and the lack of unified standards for the construction of ski areas [35,37,38]; (2) a large proportion of smalland medium-sized ski areas, imperfect supporting facilities and relatively out of date piste conditions (small vertical drops, gentle slopes and inadequate natural snow resources, etc.) [39,40]; and (3) low probability that tourists will visit again [36]. The related theoretical research is also insufficient.…”