Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Ren Jiang) news: In the new year, Xinjiang's vast land is covered in white snow, resembling an ink and wash painting. Amidst the icy landscape, winter sports and tourism are in full swing. From the Altai Mountains to the Tianshan Mountains and then to the Kunlun Mountains, from the mountains to the plains and finally to the edges of the desert, the winter snow is bringing development opportunities for Xinjiang. Inspired by the momentum of the 17th Xinjiang Winter Tourism Trade Fair, the ice and snow industries across Xinjiang are flourishing. The development of the tourism industry has driven the growth and prosperity of the local economy.

On the eve of New Year's Day, the launching ceremony of the second “Silk Road Ice and Snow Season -- Aksu Ice and Snow Culture Tourism Festival” and the Spring Festival series of activities in Wensu County was held in Tomur scenic area in the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This marks the comprehensive launch of winter ice and snow tourism activities in Aksu Prefecture from 2023 to 2024. During the tourism fair and the Snow Festival, Aksu Prefecture has already held the promotion meeting for the series of cultural and tourism activities at the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center, showcasing the local winter tourism resources and itinerary tour products to domestic and foreign merchants.

Photo shows Xinjiang Juvenile Publishing House launches the “Bring Xinjiang Home” activity at its booth at the 17th Xinjiang Winter Tourism Trade Fair and the 2023 Xinjiang Snow Festival, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The winter tourism trade fair, which has been successfully held for 17 sessions, has become a broad platform for the development of winter tourism industry in Xinjiang. This year's tourism fair and Snow Festival have special significance. “This winter tourism trade fair embodies the characteristics of internationalization, scale, branding, and marketization,” said a staff member of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

This winter tourism trade fair has attracted delegations from 12 countries including Uzbekistan, Austria, Italy, and France, as well as representatives from 27 provinces and cities across the country. The participating exhibitors include cultural and tourism enterprises from various provinces and cities, domestic key ice and snow equipment manufacturing companies, national tourism industry alliance enterprises, large-scale ski resorts in Xinjiang, key scenic areas in various regions, cultural and tourism departments, and cultural and tourism investment enterprises, with a total of more than 500 domestic and foreign companies and over 1,600 participants.

At the winter tourism trade fair, there are numerous well-known domestic and international companies. Poma (Beijing) Ropeway Company Limited is a highly globalized high-tech group from France, with business segments including cableways, snow groomers, snowmaking systems, etc. It is the world's first full-industry chain supplier of winter sports technology. Although the company's products have already been introduced to many ski resorts in Xinjiang, the vast development prospects of the ice and snow industry in Xinjiang still attracted it to participate in the fair. Besides, there are many other important delegations, such as, TechnoAlpin, an leading company in the global ice and snow industry of Italy, Austria's Sanhe Doppelmayr Company, which accounts for over 60 percent of the market share in the imported cableway market in China, along with Beijing Heavy Machinery Research Institute.

The fair is not only a major platform for showcasing the ice and snow industry in Xinjiang, but also a powerful engine for industry development. After years of development, Xinjiang now has 101 ski resorts, including six 5S-level ski resorts. It has also created three national-level ski tourism resorts, namely the Nanshan in Urumqi, the Jiangjunshan Mountain in Altay Prefecture, and the Keketuohai in Fuyun County. In addition, there are five autonomous region-level ski tourism resorts, including the Tianchi in Changji, the Jikepulin in Altay Prefecture, the Fushoushan Mountain in Huocheng County, and the Kalajun in Tekes County. The skiing industry pattern of “Four Zones and One Park”, with Jiangjunshan Mountain, Keketuohai, Jikepulin, and Qinggelilang Mountain as the core, has initially formed in Altay Prefecture.

The winter tourism trade fair is also a showcase platform for the latest developments in the domestic ice and snow industry. At this year's fair, the empowerment of high technology has become a new highlight. China Telecom has specially launched the “Digital Human” for this fair to interact with visitors on-site. The handheld guide on the Travel Xinjiang platform showcases a diverse exhibition experience. Wemake Digital Creative Technology Co., Ltd. has customized multiple digital cultural and tourism products specifically for the fair, integrating local cultural characteristics of Xinjiang with a global technological perspective, transforming the blueprint of “digital technology empowering high-quality innovative development of Xinjiang's cultural and tourism industry” into reality for people.

Photo shows folklore performance in Sayram Lake scenic area in Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo provided by management committee of Sayram Lake scenic area)

With the winter tourism trade fair and Snow Festival as opportunities, the ice and snow industry in various regions of Xinjiang is booming. Compared with previous winter fairs, the biggest highlight of this year's fair is the full effort to create Xinjiang's super IP in ice and snow -- the Snow Festival. It has hosted 11 main activities, six series activities, three ice and snow culture and art series activities, and 13 ice and snow festival supporting activities, with a total of 33 projects in four sections. It also integrates ice and snow tourism, sports events, and cultural performances, creating a new wave of ice and snow tourism in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, presenting a wonderful ice and snow feast. Preliminary statistics show that more than 800 athletes from home and abroad, as well as over 300 families, have participated in the Snow Festival event series. Nearly 100,000 people have participated in offline activities, and nearly 900 domestic and foreign media outlets have provided comprehensive coverage. As of now, the total online dissemination has exceeded 1.38 billion times, and it is estimated that the total online dissemination will exceed 1.5 billion times by the end of the Singing Night event of the Snow Festival on January 13, 2024.

The popularity of the winter tourism trade fair has quickly attracted attention and welcome to the IP “Snow Festival”. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the top ten ice and snow tourism routes in the country by the end of 2023, among which the Snow Festival has become one of the featured ice and snow activities.

Starting from this fair, until March 2024, more than 1,000 cultural, sports, and tourism events will be held throughout Xinjiang, which will boost the development of the ice and snow industry and effectively stimulate ice and snow consumption.

Ice and snow festival events promote the strong growth of the ice and snow industry. In the ice and snow industry project library of the cultural and tourism industries investment and financing service platform, there are currently 34 ice and snow-related projects with a total investment of 12.814 billion yuan (about 178.98 million U.S. dollars), involving projects such as ski resorts, ice and snow equipment industrial parks, and hotels. The ice and snow personal equipment and ice and snow industry equipment industries are also gradually taking shape in areas such as Altay and Urumqi.

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