Pioneering versatile events with synergistic effects, fitness venues evolving into sports and social hubs, and modern sports integrating with traditional activities... New scenarios merging culture, tourism, and sports continue to emerge.
"Sports+" Ignites the Island City's Holiday Consumer Market
During the just-concluded National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, a new travel trend continued to gain momentum: "traveling to a city for the love of a game." Sports events have evolved beyond mere competitions into key drivers for consumption and urban economic revitalization. A series of high-level competitions and mass sports activities have ignited public passion and boosted the holiday consumer market.
An All-in-One Experience: Compete, Stroll, Play, Shop
During the holiday, an "i-Doing Teens" series invitational tournament took center stage at the Guoxin Sports Center. "i-Doing" is the core brand for national fitness under the Qingdao Sports Development Group, adhering to the brand philosophy of "Love Sports, Love Life." It has formed an all-encompassing fitness ecosystem with five integrated components: "i-Doing Training," "i-Doing Space," "i-Doing Events," "i-Doing Creative Products," and "i-Doing Community." This year's tournament marked the first cross-disciplinary integration and upgrade of three mature proprietary IPs under the Sports Group: the "Grand Star Cup" ice hockey, the youth badminton, and the swimming club invitationals, pioneering a new event format of "versatile events with synergistic effects." Over the 7-day event, more than 1,500 young athletes aged 4 to 15 from across the country gathered by the Yellow Sea. The ice rink witnessed thrilling speeds, the badminton courts showcased agile maneuvers, and the pools churned with energy—these venues served not only as competitive arenas but as spaces for self-expression, dream-chasing, and friendship-building.
To create a warmer and more creative participation experience, a special themed market was set up within the sports center park. It brought together diverse businesses including light meals, sports equipment, city-themed creative products, and interactive experiences, creating an integrated space for "competing, strolling, playing, and shopping." The organizers also curated an educational tour for young participants, featuring city landmarks and a harbor cruise. The journey concluded with a visit to the Ocean University of China with marine-themed workshops and study certificates, truly "learning through competition with education through entertainment." The event also launched co-branded "i-Doing" souvenirs, ensuring every participant took home unforgettable memories of Qingdao.
The 2025 "i-Doing Teens" National Club City Series Invitational Tournament has attracted over 1,500 young athletes from all over the country to compete in Qingdao.
Action from the opening day of the invitational tournament.. Photo by Wang Lei
This September, the Fushan National Fitness Center was completed and officially opened. Spanning over 30,000 square meters, the center features 11 specialized spaces, including badminton hall, basketball court, football pitch, tennis court, pickleball court, gym, running track, sports rehabilitation center, and café. The extended holiday gave more residents the chance to discover the joy of exercise at this new venue.
"Holiday trips usually mean either traffic jams or overcrowded attractions. I'd rather just meet friends for a game here," said Mr. Suo, an energy design engineer whose desk-bound job leaves little time for sports. He took advantage of the holiday to "have a blast" with friends at the badminton hall in the Fushan National Fitness Center.
"The WeChat mini-program lets us easily book badminton, basketball, or table tennis courts in advance. You can enter with a quick face-scan or QR code—it saves time and streamlines management,," explained Ms. Wei, who was there with her daughter for training. "This place feels more like a vibrant community where you can exercise, grab a drink, socialize, or even get some work done—it's a complete experience."
"Court bookings were exceptionally strong during the holiday, especially daytime sessions. All 40 badminton courts were consistently fully booked, reflecting tremendous public enthusiasm for sports," said Cao Qian, Operations Manager at Fushan National Fitness Center. To accommodate the surge, Cao and her team implemented comprehensive preparations including complete venue sanitization and detailed safety protocols. "The visitor flow met our projections, and operations ran perfectly smoothly."
New Experiences Inject Fresh Vitality
On October 4, the first Dongmaiyao Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) Carnival was held at the Liuqing River Scenic Area in Qingdao's Laoshan District. The organizers creatively combined the modern paddleboard experience with traditional fishing, offering tourists a brand-new experience.
Li Shaoliang, Party Secretary of the Dongmaiyao community, said the paddleboard carnival was an innovative attempt. Once a small fishing village dependent on aquaculture, Dongmaiyao has transformed by leveraging its natural coastal advantages. Villains now operate seafood restaurants, guesthouses, and tour services, significantly boosting incomes. With the recent official opening of the Dongmaiyao Rural Study Base in the Liuqing Bay Rural Revitalization Area, the small village is attracting more tourists through an integrated development model of culture, tourism, and sports, continuously injecting new vitality into rural development.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the National Day holiday's cultural and tourism consumption month, over 29,000 integrated cultural, sports, and tourism activities were held nationwide. Among them, "spectating + tourism" and "participating + tourism" projects accounted for 43%, an increase of 12 percentage points from the same period last year. Data from multiple travel platforms show that orders for sports tourism products during the holiday increased by 120% year-on-year, with per capita spending exceeding 2,500 yuan. This indicates that sports tourism is shifting from a niche experience to mass consumption, becoming an indispensable growth pole for the holiday economy.
Data from the General Administration of Sport of China shows that in the past five years, the total scale of China's sports industry has grown at an average annual rate of 10%, significantly higher than the average GDP growth of around 6% during the same period. The added value of the sports industry has exceeded 1.5% of the GDP, becoming a new bright spot for economic growth. During this year's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the role of sports consumption in driving the holiday economy became even more prominent. National sports service consumption increased by 28% year-on-year, with sub-sectors such as event tickets, sports training, and fitness and leisure all seeing growth rates of over 30%.
Experts note the industry's shift from single-venue services to integrated ecosystems combining "sports+health," "sports+culture," and "sports+technology." Future development requires stronger industrial chain integration and enhanced policy support to sustain sports consumption as a durable engine for high-quality economic growth.
From single events driving broader consumption to one ticket unlocking multiple experiences—evidence shows sports consumption's true potential lies in transitioning from "an event" to "a lifestyle," and from "industry stimulation" to "urban transformation." This sports consumption boom has sketched a 7-trillion-yuan industry blueprint, establishing sports as a defining feature of China's high-quality economic development.
Editor: Ruichen Yuan
