my country's outdoor sports currently has 130 million enthusiasts, and the development of "blowout" is gratifying-
Get out of the house and embrace nature
Our reporter Liu Rong
After years of development, the participants in outdoor sports have become more and more extensive, and the number of outdoor clubs has continued to increase.
At the same time, problems such as the imperfect club management system and the unclear ownership of the industry have become increasingly apparent.
Regulating the development of the industry and providing consumers with high-quality services have become the common expectations of the industry and consumers.
Every weekend early in the morning, many tourist buses will be waiting near the Beijing Subway Gongzhufen Station, Beitucheng Station, Huixin West Street South Exit Station. After the leader with various flags greets their team members to get on the bus, the bus will go to Beijing. Send them to various outdoor sports of their choice in the suburbs.
The definition of outdoor sports is very broad, including hiking, camping, rock climbing, mountaineering and so on.
Among them, the sport with the lowest threshold and the most popular among consumers is outdoor hiking.
According to the "China Trekking Tourism Development Report (2019)" statistics, in 2019, for the fourth consecutive year, hiking has become the most frequently participated and favorite outdoor sports event for the outdoor population.
In our country, outdoor sports already has 130 million enthusiasts, which is inseparable from the current sustained high demand for sports consumption.
After years of development, the number of participants in outdoor sports has become more extensive, and the number of outdoor clubs has continued to increase.
At the same time, problems such as the imperfect club management system and the unclear ownership of the industry have become increasingly apparent.
Solving these problems, standardizing the development of the industry, and providing consumers with high-quality services have become the common expectations of the industry and consumers.
Consumer groups are getting wider and wider
Our country's outdoor sports are led by a group of young people.
Since 1998, some young people who admire and yearn for nature began to gather on the Internet, and they spontaneously organized trekking activities in the mountains.
According to Hu Yuexing, founder of Beijing Outdoor Network, these like-minded young people waved the banner of hiking and mountaineering, and soon brought the boom of outdoor sports to all parts of the country.
From 2012 to 2018, outdoor sports ushered in explosive growth.
In 2018, the scale of my country's outdoor sports industry reached 53.7 billion yuan, with more and more people participating.
"At peak hours, more than 100 buses depart at the same time every day. Close-distance activities of 1 to 2 days and long-term activities of 3 to 7 days are very popular." Hu Yuexing said, because outdoor sports can enhance group cohesion and collaboration. Many companies have begun to choose outdoor sports for team building and expansion.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has made people more and more aware of the importance of health, and more people have begun to go outdoors and embrace nature.
Sales data from JD.com shows that in the past three months, the cumulative sales of outdoor equipment products exceeded 700 million yuan, an increase of approximately 69% over the same period last year.
Interestingly, affected by the popularization of electronic products and the normalization of overtime work, the participation rate of young people has decreased.
"Young people working overtime have become the norm, and they are more willing to chase dramas and play games on the sofa during holidays." said Li Jianbao, leader of the Yimi Sunshine Outdoor Club.
This has also been recognized by Lin Min, an outdoor sports enthusiast born in the 1990s.
At the beginning, she and her boyfriend would also call friends and classmates to participate in activities, but they were repeatedly refused: "The journey back and forth for 4 hours, hiking for 4 hours, too tired! It is more comfortable to stay at home."
Li Jianbao said that the post-60s and post-70s who "have money and leisure" have become the main force in outdoor sports. Old acquaintance."
In addition, elementary and middle school students also participated.
Especially after the "double reduction" policy was introduced, some parents who value children's physical and mental health education choose outdoor sports to let their children exercise and temper their will.
"Outdoor sports have a threshold." Jiang Wanwen, deputy secretary-general of the China Adventure Association, told reporters that in addition to having the appropriate physical fitness to deal with outdoor sports of various difficulties, participants must also have a full understanding of their risks.
"We must maintain awe of nature at all times."
Jiang Wanwen said.
More and more market players
The explosive growth of outdoor sports enthusiasts has brought unlimited business opportunities.
In addition to the AA system’s partner form, other business models have begun to appear-outdoor teams are convened by the team leader, and participants pay transportation, catering, and team leader service fees-this is the embryonic form of outdoor clubs widely existing in the market. .
Especially in first- and second-tier cities, the number of outdoor sports clubs is increasing year by year, and the types are constantly subdivided.
For different consumer groups, there are outdoor clubs that focus on art and photography, outdoor clubs that organize blind dates and friendship activities for post-80s and post-90s, and clubs that focus on middle-aged and elderly people or children.
The products offered by different clubs are also very different.
"Middle-aged and elderly people prefer outdoor routes with strength within 10 kilometers and climbing within 400 meters." Li Jianbao said.
"Outdoor sports give young people the opportunity to reach more friends. In the state of exercise and in the natural environment, they are more likely to open up." 8090 outdoor club outdoor sports leader Yang Lele told reporters, in the 6 years of being the team leader , Outdoor activities have contributed to more than 20 pairs of young people getting to know each other and entering into marriage.
There are also some outdoor clubs that focus on parent-child outdoor sports.
Wang Yansong’s 121 Outdoor Club has a special "Parent-Child WeChat Group" to organize children over 6 years old to participate in outdoor sports with their parents.
In order to ensure the safety of children, the club is equipped with more team leaders for parent-child outdoor sports.
"Children have great potential. As long as they are scientifically guided and encouraged in a timely manner, they will gradually like this sport." Wang Yansong said, especially for some children who are addicted to electronic products, "Outdoor sports make them more focused. , Forgot the existence of mobile phones."
However, with the rapid growth of consumer demand, there are many chaos in the operation of outdoor clubs that have sprung up.
The reporter learned from the investigation that some clubs have only two or three full-time employees, and most of the team leaders are part-timers and are busy "rushing to the field"; some clubs do not even have a registered company, lacking operating qualifications, and get together and disperse; some clubs are compressed Cost, hiring informally operated vehicles.
This has brought many hidden dangers to the personal safety of consumers, and also caused the phenomenon of "bad money driving out good money" in the outdoor sports market.
Industry development needs to be more standardized
In recent years, outdoor sports accidents have occurred from time to time.
For this reason, the Chinese Mountaineering Association and the Chinese Adventure Association have repeatedly called on outdoor sports participants to conduct outdoor activities under the premise of ensuring safety.
The China Adventure Association has also formulated industry norms such as the "Explorer's Behavior Guide" and "Expedition Emergency Rescue Guide".
Industry insiders told reporters that outdoor leaders and outdoor clubs have always lacked clear entry thresholds and assessment standards.
"Outdoor sports are different from general sports and tourism activities. In addition to good communication and organization skills, the team leader must also have the corresponding physical fitness, the ability to control outdoor sports risks, the ability to rescue outdoor sports accidents, and Rich experience in outdoor sports." Jiang Wanwen told reporters that the Chinese Adventure Association and the Chinese Mountaineering Association have organized skills training for outdoor adventure leaders and outdoor instructors.
"But in practice, many outdoor sports clubs do not regard qualifications as a hard condition for recruiting team leaders, and there is no hard requirement for holding a certificate at the industry level." Jiang Wanwen said.
In addition, there are many differences in the ownership of outdoor sports.
Some people think that outdoor sports are the sports industry, while others believe that outdoor sports have the immersive characteristics of tourism activities and are more appropriate to be classified as the tourism industry.
This has led to some outdoor clubs registering sports companies, while others registering travel companies.
This situation inevitably creates a "blind spot" in supervision.
Hu Yuexing said frankly that as a practitioner, he hopes that there will be a clear competent authority to supervise and regulate the development of the industry. “Only in this way can the outdoor sports industry develop healthily and provide outdoor sports participants with standardized, standard, and high-quality services."