China sees booming ice-snow tourism with Winter Olympics

HARBIN -- China is expected to see booming ice and snow tourism as the country braces for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, said a report.

In the 2021-2022 winter season, the country is expected to have 340 million ice and snow tourists with tourism revenue of 680 billion yuan ($97.6 billion), according to the report released by the China Tourism Academy.

In the 2018-2019 winter season, China's ice and snow tourists totaled 224 million, with tourism revenue of 386 billion yuan, up 13.7 percent and 17.1 percent from the 2017-2018 winter season, respectively, the agency said at a forum held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province on Jan 5.

The "ice city" Harbin on Jan 5 kicked off its 36th international ice and snow festival, with more than 100 activities scheduled for the coming three to four months.

The annual ice and snow festival has become a name card of Harbin and a major contributor to its booming winter tourism.