China has seen an air sports boom during the May Day holiday, which runs from May 1 to 5, with a surging number of flight camps offering diverse kinds of aerial experiences to air sports fans across the country.
During the five-day holiday, the skies above southwest China's Chongqing Municipality buzzed with planes, parachutes and other kinds of aircraft.
The local government has launched a "low-altitude aviation consumption week" activity, issuing 30 million yuan (about 4.1 million U.S. dollars) worth of vouchers for locals and tourists to improve their experience.
"During the May Day holiday, we have offered 30,000 braised roast ducks to visitors for free and created seven kinds of consumption scenarios such as fixed-wing low-altitude sightseeing tours, simulator experiences, and aerial weddings, thus facilitating low-altitude consumption to be a new hotspot for tourism during the holiday," said Cao Gangjing, director of the Culture and Tourism Development Commission of Liangping District in Chongqing.
To support the sector's growth, Chongqing has streamlined low-altitude airspace project approvals, shortening the time needed to go through all procedures from one month to just one day.
Additionally, a one-billion-yuan industrial fund has been established, with over 50 leading enterprises in collaboration to build flight camps and develop general aviation businesses.
Beyond the air sports boom is a broader trend that sports consumption has become a key engine driving the growth of domestic consumption and national economy.
In the first quarter of the year, online sales of outdoor sports gear surged 50.9 percent year on year, with those of sports pants and jackets skyrocketing by 270 percent and 290 percent, respectively, year on year.
The sales of windbreakers priced above 1,000 yuan are also growing rapidly.
"The growing interest in sports has spawned a diversified demand for specialized gear, supporting services, and smart devices. Sports consumption has become a new way of fashionable lifestyle and health consumption. It's also driving the growth of dining and cultural tourism consumption, injecting strong impetus into the continuous heating up of the consumer market," said Chen Pingfang, an expert with the CCID Consulting's Consumer Goods Industry Research Institute.
China's sports industry now employs over seven million people, with new professions in event management, fitness coaching, and sports rehabilitation gaining traction. Traditional fields like sports products manufacturing, event services, and venue operations are converging at an accelerated speed with new materials, smart equipment, and digital media, forming a complete ecosystem from research and development to production, services and consumption.
China sees air sports boom during May Day holiday
