Regional Economic Effects of Ski Resorts in the Post-Winter-Olympics Era: A Case Study of Nanshan Ski Resort, Beijing

Abstract

Ski resorts function as sports consumption facilities, not tourism attractions. Their economic effects on host regions follow a different logic from that of conventional scenic spots. This study treats Nanshan Ski Resort in Beijing's Miyun District as a case, drawing on three sets of materials: the annual China Ski Industry White Paper, the Miyun District statistical communique, official pricing data from the resort, and six semi-structured interviews conducted on-site in January 2025. Three findings emerge. First, the resort sold 84,000 tickets via Meituan in December 2024, an increase of roughly 26% year-on-year, generating approximately 33 million RMB in monthly direct consumption. This revenue base rests on high-frequency sports participants, not one-time visitors. Second, the resort's economic radiation follows a pattern of sports consumption circle attenuation: consumption pull is concentrated within roughly 2 km of the resort [Note 1], with limited penetration across Miyun District as a whole. This attenuation cannot be reduced to geographic distance alone; the purpose-specificity of sports consumption is the central behavioral mechanism. Third, the national skier conversion rate stands at roughly 3% (77.4% of participants ski only once or twice per year), which fundamentally constrains the resort's contribution to sustained regional growth. The paper argues that industry subsidies should be tied to sports participation quality indicators rather than raw visitor counts, that year-round operation should be guided by sports complementarity rather than product substitution, and that regional planning should acknowledge circle attenuation as an empirical fact rather than a problem to be engineered away.