In September, a series of marine sports festivals and events focused attention on the youthful island of Qingdao: the 16th Qingdao International Sailing Week & Qingdao International Marine Festival and the inaugural China (Qingdao) International Marine Sports Conference kicked off in Qingdao; numerous top-tier international and domestic marine sports events were in full swing...
Li Quanhai, President of World Sailing, noted that Qingdao, as an Olympic sailing city, has seen vigorous development in sailing sports post-Olympics era, with the introduction of stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), kayaking, and other water sports projects, elevating the city's marine sports to new heights.
As many guests pointed out during the experience-sharing session of the Sailing Week & Marine Festival, Qingdao's long coastline offers a natural advantage for popularizing marine sports. Waters near landmarks like the Olympic Sailing Center, the First Sea Bathing Beach, Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach, and Haiqu Park are becoming new hotspots for marine sports in Qingdao, known for their iconic appeal.
The integration of sports and tourism is gaining momentum. Driven by a series of competitive sports events, vibrant coastal landscapes are constantly“updated” along Qingdao’s coast, and the spillover effects of“sports+” will continue to unfold with the accelerated enhancement of cultural and tourism concentration.
From September 6-7 and September 14-16, two major events—the China Paddleboard City Club League and the China Jet Surf Open—were successively launched at the Olympic Sailing Center. Meanwhile, near the Olympic Sailing Center, the China Jet Ski Open had previously staged thrilling“speed and passion” scenes at Haiqu Park.
These three events are all branded water sports competitions developed by the Water Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport. In recent years, SUP, jet surf, and jet ski have broken through the niche sports circle to enter the mainstream, becoming new favorites: riding the“water magic carpet” jet surf in calm waters, performing stunts on a jet ski, or paddling a SUP while taking photos with the sunset.
According to the Outdoor Sports Industry Development Plan (2022-2025) jointly issued by the General Administration of Sport and multiple departments, the number of outdoor sports participants in China exceeded 400 million by the end of 2021, and the total scale of the domestic outdoor sports industry is expected to surpass 3 trillion yuan by 2025.
Qingdao, with its vast blue waters, is destined to coexist harmoniously with water sports. The 16th Qingdao International Sailing Week & Qingdao International Marine Festival and the inaugural China (Qingdao) International Marine Sports Conference, featuring multiple marine sports events, aim to leverage the city's coastal advantages to seize the opportunities presented by the development of the water sports industry. The waters near the Olympic Sailing Center, with their“natural advantages” and increasingly mature event support services, have become a preferred venue for marine sports competitions.
Water sports enthusiasts who have long been engaged in and followed water sports are particularly excited about Qingdao’s introduction of jet surf, jet ski, and paddleboard events."The landing of these competitions at the Olympic Sailing Center will help promote the development of these water sports in Qingdao, further enriching the marine leisure projects of the national 5A-level scenic area—Qingdao Olympic Sailing Marine Cultural Tourism Zone. Here, visitors can not only stroll along the beach, enjoy the sea breeze, and listen to music, but also watch or participate in water sports to experience the thrill of surfing."
Participants sprinted from the beach to the waiting rowboats, boarded the boats, completed the course according to the predetermined route, and then dashed back to the beach... Recently, the 2024 National Coastal Rowing Beach Sprint Invitational held at the First Sea Bathing Beach attracted over 150 rowers from across the country. The beautiful scenery of red-tiled roofs, green trees, blue seas, and clear skies, along with the old city, left a deep impression on the participants.
Coastal rowing beach sprint is a new project derived from traditional flatwater rowing."This project is fashionable, fun, competitive, and easy to popularize, quickly gaining popularity among young people in various countries," said Su Ke, Deputy Director of the Water Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport.
With coastal rowing becoming an official event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the 26th Provincial Games of Shandong Province added the coastal rowing beach sprint event."Two national-level coaches, Li Guangju and Jia Qingbin, were entrusted with the task of selecting 15 athletes in late 2023 to form the Qingdao Coastal Rowing Team," said Zhang Xiangfeng, Deputy Director of the Qingdao Sports School. Thanks to the coaches' extensive experience and the solid foundation of marine sports in Qingdao, the Qingdao team achieved excellent results, winning"three golds and one silver" in the annual championships of coastal rowing this year.
From September 14-15, the China Marine Kayak Open was also held at the First Sea Bathing Beach, marking the first national-level marine kayak event in China.
Currently, water sports attract a large number of participants and have become popular tourism and leisure products in the market. In the future, the First Sea Bathing Beach plans to diversify its offerings, introducing and developing new marine sports projects based on existing ones to meet the needs of different tourists. At the same time, it will strengthen integration with the tourism and cultural industries to create distinctive marine sports tourism brands.
From the selection of venues for this marine sports conference, although the waters near Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach were not included, they have gained prominence due to hosting multiple marine sports events.
Since 2019, the Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach has hosted several events, including the 2019-2020 Shandong Surfing Championships and the 2019 National U-Series Surfing Championships (Qingdao Station). Currently, the influence of sports events and the chain effect of traveling for sports are evident at the Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach.
The best time for surfing in Qingdao is from May to October. At the Shilaoren waters, the dynamic scenes of surfers riding the waves have become a beautiful sight along the coast, attracting many residents and tourists to stop and watch.
Qingdao's first surfing club,"North Wave," is located at the Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach, the only surf spot in northern China. Wang Tianxiang, co-founder of North Wave Surfing Club, is teaching beginners how to maintain balance on kayaks in these waters. Among the beginners are not only young people but also teenagers and middle-aged adults.
For surfers in northern China, the consensus is gradually forming that“summer surfing in Qingdao, winter surfing in Hainan.” A student of the surfing club mentioned that the Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach offers natural geographical advantages such as waves, wind speed, and tides, with clear water, fine sand, and a gentle slope. Moreover, it is a comprehensive resort beach integrating vacation, sightseeing, swimming, beach sports, and leisure entertainment, with increasingly mature facilities. Many surfers choose the lifestyle of“one wave, one board, one weekend,” traveling for sports, and places like the Shilaoren Sea Bathing Beach are transforming into new scenes with a full range of tourism elements.
"Participating in outdoor marine sports, Qingdao has a geographical advantage," said a practitioner deeply involved in outdoor water sports. With the impetus of sports events, the number of people paying attention to and participating in marine sports continues to grow. As relevant departments introduce more measures in terms of policy and infrastructure, more marine sports events will be introduced and cultivated, further enhancing the compatibility of marine sports with daily leisure, presenting a development scenario where"competitive and recreational sports coexist, and the coastal line flourishes with multiple highlights."
This practitioner also suggested leveraging Qingdao's rich tourism and ecological resources to attract more people through sports events and convert them into economic benefits. For example, during sports events, travel agencies and tourism associations could collaborate with water sports clubs to offer sports tourism routes, a novel attempt.
"Sports events are a powerful tool to boost urban vitality and an effective way to promote consumption and unlock consumption potential. Qingdao is working on creating a‘travel with events’ brand, promoting the deep integration of sports and tourism," said a responsible person from the Qingdao Sports Bureau. High-quality marine sports events are a characteristic of Qingdao, attracting people to visit and consume. In the future, Qingdao will provide high-quality, full-process, personalized cultural and tourism services for athletes, coaches, staff, spectators, and their families, truly forming a sports tourism industrial chain that"attracts people with events and retains them with tourism."