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 a 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 a 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, Sunday.

The "ice city" Harbin on Sunday 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.