The marathon is gradually becoming the most popular and influential mass event in China.
Yesterday morning, the second Houguanhu half marathon was held in Caidian, Wuhan. According to the organizing committee, the number of people who participated in the last session was more than 6,000. In this session, "the total number of people exceeded 10,000, and only 6,000 people participated in the healthy running." In Hubei, in addition to the first Wuhan International Marathon held this year, the Jingmen Marathon and the Yichang Marathon have been held in succession. In fact, in recent years, with the city marathon as a carrier, there has been a "marathon" fever throughout the country, and it is still heating up.
According to the statistics of the State Sports General Administration, the number of national marathon events in 2015 increased from 13 in 2010 to 134, an increase of 83 games from 2014, almost a 10-fold increase in five years. Industry insiders predict that running in the next five years will become the first sport in China, and the marathon-derived running economy market has great potential.
Holding a marathon helps increase city awareness
According to industry sources, the reason why the marathon can catch fire is simple. “On the one hand because the sport is suitable for a wide audience, people of all ages and income levels can easily participate. On the other hand, it can not only become a new city business card. , but also bring real money and silver consumption. This race that meets both the needs of the public and the fame and fortune, few cities do not want to participate."
Gao Zhidan, assistant to the director of the General Administration of Sport of the People's Republic of China, stated: "Running, as a simple, economical and effective exercise and fitness method, has become the first choice for fitness for many people." In contrast, ball sports emphasize physical confrontation, archery, shooting, and fencing Swimming and other sports are subject to venue restrictions, and runners only need a set of clothes and a pair of shoes. In addition, in addition to comprehensive sports events such as the Olympic Games and the Asian Games, individual international marathons have never refused to register amateur players, and there have been thousands of open places. Participating in the event personally is far more attractive to ordinary people than watching the event, which makes the marathon participation group huge.
The fiery marathon is also inextricably linked to the development of the Chinese economy. First of all, in order to meet the needs of the people, the people of the country are increasingly demanding for fitness and health and are willing to spend money to enjoy life. Coupled with the rise of national fitness as a national strategy, sports venues, event organization, and fitness guidance have all been continuously improved by the efforts of relevant departments, especially the sports department, giving the marathon more growth ground.
At the beginning of this year when the first international marathon was held in Wuhan, Wang Shenshun, director of the Wuhan Sports Bureau, said: “Wuhan has already hosted series of domestic and international competitions such as the Women's World Cup and Wuhan Open Tennis. Successful marathon competition will accelerate the construction of a national first-class sports city. The rhythm of the game will enhance the popularity of Wuhan's sporting event business cards and solidly advance the realization of Wuhan's internationalized first-rate city construction goals.†In fact, many cities in China hold marathon races and all have similar ideas to Wuhan’s. Well-known, integrating the characteristics of tourism, culture, and business into the "runway", and promoting itself in the process of many participants "using their feet to measure their lives."
There will be 100 billion consumer market in 2020
For the cities hosting the events, the marathon not only introduced the development and style of the city to the whole country, but also the whole world. It also attracted a large amount of funds for hosting the city and injected new blood for the development of the city.
Public data shows that about 2 million people watched the 2015 New York City Marathon. Because of this game's turning point, the organizers made a profit of 73 million U.S. dollars a year, New York's local consumption tax and accommodation tax amounted to 22.2 million U.S. dollars, and nearly 10,000 players donated a total of 34.5 million U.S. dollars in charity. Integrating the benefits of all aspects, the economic benefits created by the event amounted to approximately RMB 2.5 billion.
Wang Dawei, deputy director of the Athletics Management Center of the State Sports General Administration, believes that the hottest marathon is not only the hot competition but also the hot tourism. He said that “a city that holds a marathon will not only attract local attention but will also attract national attention. Many other cities’ running enthusiasts will seize the opportunity to participate in the competition, which will greatly promote the city’s image promotion. Drive the growth of local tourism and catering industries."
Taking the 2016 Wuhan International Marathon as an example, the revenue from the operation and promotion of various events is about RMB 250 million, and the gross profit of event operations has reached RMB 150 million. The industry expects that by 2020, the number of various types of marathon events in China will exceed 800, and the number of participants will reach 10 million. This implies a consumer market with a scale of 100 billion.
The fiery marathon is also a microcosm of sports development. Just as Zhang Qing, the CEO of the sports consulting company that runs the Marathon App, told the Changjiang Business Daily reporter that the development of the sports industry in China is still in its infancy and there is more room for development in the future. Consumption includes hardware consumption, software consumption, etc. For example, around an event, the consumption of the entire industry chain is upgraded.There are many items to choose from, such as hiking, camping, rock climbing, and marathon. Although it is not popular enough, it has already begun to increase. The more they are perceived by the younger generation of consumers, they like it."
Marathon also highlights diversified design
If China wants to do a big job in the marathon, it also needs to constantly improve the marathon's ability to organize events and the level of contractors. It can learn from the experience of some developed countries. The United States has more than 1,000 marathons a year, and Japan has a total of 1867 marathons of various sizes. The organization of these competitions has gradually formed a complete system through years of exploration.
The marathon races held by neighbors in Japan are well-known for their thoughtful organization. Take the Osaka Marathon that started yesterday as an example. Volunteers were recruited about 3 months before the match. According to the different responsibilities of volunteers, organize different trainings in advance and ensure that volunteers have sufficient training and clear division of labor. Because the road control caused by the competition will be released to the society through the media as early as possible. In the ten days before the start of the competition, the control road map will be published at intersections, subway buses, bulletin boards, etc. At the same time, an alternative road will be marked to guide the driver and ease traffic congestion.
In addition, in the face of more and more marathon competitions, it is very likely that they will fall into the trap of “singleness and uniformityâ€. Insiders suggested that “marathons can be diversified and their forms can be diversified. First, they can highlight local cultural connotations based on local characteristics. For example, when you design a route, you can run along a scenic spot; there is also a way to create a form similar to a parent-child marathon or a group relay marathon to try to get the marathon out of the game.â€
Reproduced from: Changjiang Business Daily
Picture source from network
AUTRENDS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED , https://www.petspetstoys.com