Our reporter Wang Shuyi and Peng Yang
The most beautiful April day on earth. In spring, many people go hiking, cycling, camping, and hiking, enjoying the joy of outdoor sports. In recent years, people's enthusiasm for participating in outdoor sports has continued to rise, and the supply of products related to outdoor sports has also become increasingly abundant. The development of the outdoor sports industry has met new consumer demands and injected new growth momentum into the consumer market.
Getting close to nature: the rise of "outdoor heat"
The Chaobai River Camp on Earth in Shunyi District, Beijing, features green grass and gurgling streams. On weekdays, there are about a hundred guests per day. On holidays, even more people come, "said Hu Zeyang, the marketing director of the campsite, to a reporter from China Securities Journal. During the Qingming Festival holiday, the campsite has about 400 to 500 guests per day. In recent days, the booking for the May Day holiday has also been relatively good, with the booking volume basically reaching the highest level of individual guest reception on weekdays.
As a senior practitioner, Hu Zeyang clearly feels that outdoor sports are continuously heating up and have penetrated into all age groups. Last year, the camping population was mainly young people, but this year there have been more and more family trips, and it has become increasingly common for four generations of people, including the elderly, middle-aged, young, and young, to camp together, "he said.
Not only camping, but also outdoor activities such as cycling, hiking, and trekking have seen a significant increase in popularity. According to data from Meituan and Dianping, since the beginning of this year, "cycling park", "cycling club", "camping and barbecue" have become popular search terms.
The "2024 Spring/Summer Taobao Tmall Sports Outdoor Industry Trend White Paper" recently released by Tmall shows that over 60% of respondents have significantly increased their frequency of participating in outdoor sports in the past year. According to a report by the China Business Industry Research Institute, as the enthusiasm of the public for outdoor sports continues to increase, the proportion of people in China who regularly participate in physical exercise is expected to exceed 45% by 2025.
Equipment first: Outdoor products are selling well
According to data from the special selling e-commerce platform Vipshop, since mid March, sales of outdoor clothing and sports shoes have exploded. Among them, sales of running shoes increased by 54% year-on-year, sales of sports hoodies increased by 62% year-on-year, and sales of assault jackets increased by more than 70% year-on-year.
The "Market Outlook Forecast and Future Development Trends of China's Outdoor Equipment Industry from 2024 to 2029" released by the China Academy of Commerce Industry Research shows that the size of China's outdoor equipment market has increased from 67.5 billion yuan in 2019 to 87.2 billion yuan in 2023. Analysts from the China Academy of Commerce Industry Research predict that the compound annual growth rate of China's outdoor equipment market size will be 5% from 2023 to 2028. By 2024, the market size of China's outdoor equipment will exceed 90 billion yuan, and by 2028, it is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan, reaching 111.3 billion yuan.
Industry insiders say that with the development of the economy and society and the improvement of living standards, consumers are paying more attention to their physical health and quality of life. The demand for outdoor sports will continue to be released, injecting new impetus into the consumer market.
Policy support: Significant increase in the number of enterprises
Last year, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with the General Administration of Sport of China and five other departments, issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Construction and Service Improvement of Outdoor Sports Facilities (2023-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), which proposed to promote the total scale of the outdoor sports industry to reach 3 trillion yuan by 2025.
The Action Plan also specifies support for the construction of camping sites. Encourage qualified tourist attractions, vacation areas, rural tourist points, urban recreational belts, suburban parks, sports parks, etc. to designate camping and leisure functional areas on the basis of meeting relevant planning and environmental impact assessment requirements.
With policy support, the number of outdoor sports related enterprises has significantly increased. According to reports, as of now, there are over 279000 outdoor sports related enterprises in China. Among them, there will be 67000 new outdoor sports related enterprises added nationwide in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 92.78%. From January to February 2024, there were over 7000 newly registered related enterprises, an increase of 3.9% compared to the same period in 2023.
Industry insiders believe that with policy support and market development, the outdoor economy is expected to continue its strong growth momentum.
Source: China Securities Journal