2.1 Study area

Chongli is a small town governed by Hebei Province, and close to Beijing, the capital of China (Fig. 1). However, as it is surrounded by mountains and is one of the least developed regions in China. Before Beijing applied to be the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2013, the local government of Chongli considered the poverty issue and delivered a strategy––“the tourism prospers the town”––in 2009. Therefore, the ski tourism industry is developing along with the entire tourism industry in Chongli.

Because of its geographic advantages in terms of location (close to Beijing) and natural resources (mountains and snow), Chongli was given the chance to be the host town of the 2022 Winter Olympics, along with Beijing. As a result, the ski tourism industry is now booming in Chongli.

2.2 Data and methods

2.2.1 Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) Model

This study applies the CCD Model to dissect the connections between the ski tourism industry and the regional economy of Chongli. This approach involves coupling coordination created from the physical field, which clarifies the systems' relationships. If various systems grow amicably and their inner components cooperate, then there is a positive coupling; however, if different systems create coordination, yet the interactions between components are tumultuous, then there is a negative coupling. By testing the CCD of two systems, the level of cooperation can be obtained. The CCD Model has been broadly utilized to examine the tourism industry system and its relationship with a variety of related systems, for example, the tourism industry system and the natural environment system (Wang et al., 2017), the cultural industry system (Weng and Li, 2016), the area economy (Guan et al., 2011; Cheng and Zhang, 2020), and others.

Fig. 1

Location of Chongli

2.2.2 Index of the ski tourism system and regional economy system

This study takes past research as benchmarks for the coupling connection between the tourism industry system and other industry systems. The previous articles tried to build several economy systems (Guo et al, 2020; Li, 2020; Ge et al, 2021; Wu et al, 2021). For example, Li (2020) selected Yangshuo County as the research object, which is a city similar in size to Chongli. Therefore, the economy system built by Li (2020) is taken into consideration in this study. However, there are few studies on building the ski tourism system, and the statistics of ski tourism are limited. Taking the general tourism system as a benchmark, it was combined with the available Chongli ski tourism statistics. Most researchers build a tourism system covering tourism revenue, the number of tourists, and the tourist's behavior (Guo et al, 2020; Li, 2020; Ge et al, 2021; Wu et al, 2021). The skiing system in Chongli also covers ski tourism revenue, the number of ski tourists and ski tourists' consumption. In short, this study attempted to build a coupling coordination index of the ski tourism industry system and the local economy system of Chongli. After filtering, three indexes were selected for the ski tourism system, including ski tourism revenue (STR), ski tourist number (STN), and average ski tourist expenditures (ASTE); and seven indexes were confirmed: local tertiary industry gross domestic product (TGDP), local GDP, per capita net income for farmers (IF), per capita disposable income for urban residents (IUR), total retail sale of consumer goods (CG), total investment in fixed assets (IFA), and local financial revenue (LFR). The data for the indexes mentioned above came from the Statistical Official Report, Chongli Tourism Governing Department and the article published by Yang and Xu (2019), and the details are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1

The data for the index of the ski tourism system

2.2.3 Determination of index weights

The information entropy approach was utilized to confirm the index weights of the ski tourism system and the regional economy system in Chongli. The concept of information entropy was first presented by Shannon in 1948, and can be useful in the estimation of uncertainty regarding data sources and determining the weight of each index. The information entropy approach has been broadly applied in previous tourism studies. The information entropy approach has been demonstrated to be valuable in ascertaining the index weights of tourism industry development (Liao et al., 2018), the local economy (Cheng and Zhang, 2020), the environment (Tang, 2015), and other components.

Table 2

The data for the index of the regional economy system

The study by Wang and Liu (2020) was selected as the benchmark, and there are four steps to the information entropy approach.

(1) Step 1: Normalization of data

To eliminate the influence of the dimension and magnitude, data normalization must be conducted. Since all indices in this study are positive, the higher the data value, the better its effect in the system. Therefore, the equation is as follows:

where, X_ij represents the normalized data value, x_ij represents the original data value, i is the year, j is the index, and max (x_j) and min (x_j) are the maximum and minimum values, respectively.

(2) Step 2: Confirmation of weights

First, the ratio of the index p_ijis determined to obtain the contribution of the j-th index in the i-th year. The equation is:

Second, based on the concept of information entropy, the value of the information entropy e_j of the index j can be calculated by the following formula:

where e_j is the information entropy of the index j; p_ij is the proportion of the index j in year i; i is the year from 1 to n.

Next, the entropy redundancy (d_j) is determined depending on e_j to calculate the deviation degree of index j. The equation is:

The greater the deviation degree of index j, the larger the weight of index j. The weight of index j (w_j) can be calculated by the following equation:

where n stands for the number of years, and m stands for the number of indices.

The weight of indexes in the ski tourism system and the regional economy system are shown in Table 3.

Table 3

The weights of indexes

2.2.4 Determining CCD

According to Wang and Liu (2020), the CCD between U₁ (regional economy) and U₂ (ski tourism) is calculated as follows:

where C represents the coupling degree, T represents the coordination degree, U₁ and U₂ stand for the levels of the regional economy system and ski tourism system, respectively, D illustrates the total effect of the level of the regional economy and ski tourism; and α and β reflect the contributions of the regional economy and ski tourism, respectively. Typically, values of α = 0.5 and β = 0.5 are used for the tourism and regional economy system, respectively (Li and Feng, 2020). Although the ski tourism system plays a significant role in the tourism system of Chongli in this study, it is still a subset of the entire tourism system. Therefore, the coefficient of ski tourism should be slightly smaller than that of the entire tourism system, so this study used α = 0.6 and β = 0.4.

3.1 The dynamic relationship between systems

The results of the coupling degree (C), the coordination degree (T) and the total effect (D) from 2009 to 2019 are shown in Table 4. The results of the CCD of the ski tourism system and the regional economy system show a pattern of coordination step-by-step.

Table 4

The results of the CCD model

The CCD of the above two systems was evaluated according to the classification standard of the coordination degree of the coupling model (Table 5). According to the results of the CCD of the two systems, the dynamic relationship between the regional economy system and the ski tourism system of Chongli can be analyzed. These systems have developed from an extremely unbalanced status in 2009 (D = 0.1) to a superiorly balanced status (D=0.983) in 2019 (Table 6). According to the result in Tables 5 and 6, the coordination level between the ski tourism system and the regional economy system was improving each year from 2009 to 2019. This development can be divided into three stages based on the coordination level: the period of unbalanced status (2009–2011), the period of gradually balancing status (2012–2015), and the period of high-quality balanced status (2016–2019).

Table 5

Classification scheme of CCD

Table 6

The relationships between the systems in Chongli from 2009–2019

3.2 Analysis of the three stages

3.3 The effect of ski tourism on individual income

The above results prove the favorable relationship between the ski tourism system and the economic system. However, the overall increase in the regional economy was the basis of poverty alleviation. In addition to measuring the dynamic relationship between the regional economy system and ski tourism, the effect of ski tourism on the farmers' income and urban residents' income is another important aspect. If different types of people in Chongli can improve their income under the effect of ski tourism, then ski tourism can be fully considered as a useful tool for poverty alleviation. A regression analysis was conducted with the indicator of STR mentioned above and the two indicators of IUR and IF. In the first regression analysis, STR was the independent variable, and IUR was the dependent variable. In the second regression analysis, STR was the independent variable, and IF was the dependent variable. After preliminary testing, the index was found to satisfy the premise of the regression analysis so it could be used for the regression analysis. The results of the two regression analyses are shown in Table 7.

Table 7

The effect of STR

The results in Table 7 show that when the revenue of ski tourism in the Chongli area increases, it has a positive impact on the income of both urban residents and farmers in the area. Therefore, the development of ski tourism will increase the income of urban residents and farmers, which shows its potential for poverty alleviation. Among the two, the regression coefficient of ski tourism income and IUR is a bit larger than that of ski tourism income and IF, which means that the influence of ski tourism on IUR is larger than on IF. While IF is lower than IUR, farmers need more assistance in rising from poverty or improving their living standards. Building a complete distribution system, using sports as a tool for poverty alleviation, will assist the residents deeply (Qu et al., 2020). Although ski tourism can bring benefits to both urban residents and farmers in the area, there is still room for optimizing the profit distribution system of ski tourism. The optimal use of sports tourism resources, such as snow and mountains, and the optimization of the income distribution mechanism are the core and basic principles of poverty alleviation using ski tourism in this area.

4.1 The chance to develop ski tourism

Ski tourism plays a significant role in Chongli. There are two main reasons that Chongli chose ski tourism as an important industry during its development. The first reason is ecological. Chongli is near many rivers which provide water to Beijing (Zhang et al., 2020). To ensure water quality, there are restrictions on the local industries in Chongli. The location of Chongli is next to Beijing; therefore, Chongli is considered as the protection area for Beijing to stop the storms (Xu et al., 2006). In this context, Chongli lost many opportunities to develop its local economy, becoming a part of the “poverty belt” around Beijing. However, tourism is considered a pro-environmental industry, which can be encouraged in Chongli. While there are few cultural tourist attractions in Chongli, its outdoor resources should be emphasized.

As Lee (2016) points out, the Winter Olympics represents a unique cultural and economic level of the participants. The Chinese government intends to shape its international image by hosting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics (Hu, 2020). Beijing experienced the 2008 Summer Olympics, and its legacy has made the city more affluent. However, the city lacks a snowy and mountainous area. In 1996, the first small ski resort was established in Chongli. Although it was initially just a niche market in China, the atmosphere of ski tourism is developing step-by-step. Therefore, Chongli has gained the opportunity to host the Winter Olympics along with Beijing, and developing ski tourism is an opportunity for Chongli to change the cold to the gold.

4.2 Ski tourism and its economic effect

The economic effect of ski tourism has been proven in several regions, such as the North American Rockies, northern Italy, and southeastern France. In addition, some countries, such as Switzerland and Austria, rely wholly on ski tourism (Andrew, 2019). Its effect in developing regions like Chongli has been proved again by this study. The results show that ski tourism is beneficial to the regional economy in Chongli, although it took nearly three years (from 2012 to 2015) to make the two systems coordinate well. After 2015, ski tourism and the local economy system became better coordinated. It did not take a long time for ski tourism to coordinate well with the regional economy in Chongli, where the “late-mover” advantage occurred. In the 1920s, a ski lift was installed on the mountain, and ordinary consumers had access to alpine skiing, which was regarded as a sport for men and tough women because of the climbing effort required. Since the 1930s, ski lifts have been common in most ski resorts. Many scholars have shown that the technique plays an essential role in spreading skiing. Ski tourism started later in Chongli than in Western countries; so Chongli could take advantage of the mature model and management experience of those countries. In addition, according to the Western experience, ski tourism became popular with the development of television, movies, and magazines (Marilyn and Nancy, 2019). Massive social media has matured in China, which can spread ski culture easily, reducing the time spent on the developmental progress of Chongli as a popular skiing area.

According to the Western countries' experiences, ski tourism first draws investment to the region (Andrew, 2015). Transportation is necessary when developing a ski tourism industry. Because ski resorts are located in mountainous or rural areas, railways, roads, and airports need to be established. In addition to regional transportation, the lift has been a compulsory component of modern ski tourism since shortly after the 1930s (Christof, 2019). With consumers increasing and ski resorts expanding, more lifts must be built. The influence of these projects brings funds to the mountainous or rural areas, resulting in economic development. Because of ski tourism, more projects have been completed in Chongli, such as the construction of the “Yanchong Expressway” and “Jingzhang railway”. These projects have increased the employment rate and attracted labor.

Second, ski tourism changes the industrial structure of the mountainous or rural regions. Livestock, agriculture, forestry, and mining are the typical practices in mountainous or rural areas (Lasanta et al., 2007; Silberman and Rees, 2010). These traditional practices are primary production, with lower value to the local economies. Ski tourism is a tertiary industry, which stimulates regional economies. Modern ski resorts include recreational facilities, catering, and accommodation. Tourism-based economies spread gradually around ski resorts by resident and immigrant investors (Andrew, 2015). More consumers flow to the remote regions, consuming the local products and services. In this cycle, the regional economy becomes dynamic, which utilizes resources instead of selling them. Ski tourism promotes the “urbanization” of mountainsides. Several decades ago, those first ski resorts grew organically in and around the existing mountain towns and villages. After the 1930s, the modern ski resorts were constructed by developers according to the available land and snow conditions that they scouted. As early as 1945, the French created “integrated stations” to meet skiers' demands (Andrew, 2015). Restaurants, shops, and other recreational facilities are appearing in the mountains, which reshapes communities. For instance, ski tourism solves employment issues and ageing issues, and it upgrades the industry (Lasanta et al., 2007). The ski resorts in Chongli did not grow naturally around a village, and the effect of ski tourism there has accelerated the development of the area. Chongli has changed the path of the developing regional economy from relying on mineral resources to using ski tourism as a resource.

Ski tourism also extends the annual business period for mountainous or rural regions. For example, the Alps was traditionally only popular for the summer holidays. In past centuries, European cultures regarded the Alps in winter as “only frost and death” (Andrew, 2015). The winter not only meant a stagnant tourism market but also terrible conditions for traditional practices, such as agriculture and raising livestock. Because ski tourism became prevalent in the Alps, after the 1900s, an annual stable economy was realized. Ski tourism is also assisting Chongli in running a four-season business.

4.3 Ski tourism and policies

Because ski tourism is a complex industry, some countries treat it as an economic and social tool. Therefore, national intervention is essential in forming the ski tourism industry under certain policies. France and Austria are two typical countries that encourage the ski tourism industry. After 1947, the Marshall Plan assisted the Austrian government in investing more funds in tourism, and more cash flowed to the Alpine regions. Between 1950 and 1955, the Austrian government spent 93 million schillings on building chairs and cable lifts, which stimulated the development of ski tourism (Andrew, 2015). In addition to the Austrian government, the French authority published “Plan neige (Snow Plan)” in 1964, which led to adding 150000 tourist beds to French ski resorts from 1965 to 1975 (Andrew, 2015). The US also developed ski tourism policies. After World War II, ski tourism was popular due to the national economy taking off and military factors, such as the troops mastering skiing after the war (Brugger, 2013). Regarding ecological problems, the National Forest Management Act of 1976 directly influenced the newly established ski resorts. Entering the twenty-first century, the American ski tourism industry faced dilemmas due to environmental degradation, homogeneous operations, and lower increases in consumer numbers (Hamilton et al., 2003). In this context, new policies were introduced, such as “Sustainable Slopes”, the “Ski Industry Climate Change Policy”, the “Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act”, the “Policy to Promote Year-Round Recreation on Ski Areas”, and “Learn to Ski & Snowboard Month”. Most of these policies were published by industrial associations. Although they promoted ski tourism, their force was limited.

The Chinese government has paid attention to the development of winter sports, and many policies have been published since 2016. The Chinese government has committed to over 300 million people participating in winter sports. As Chongli seized this chance to develop its ski tourism, the ski tourism systems gradually coordinated with the regional economy, which proves again that the ski tourism industry relies heavily on governmental policies.

4.4 The challenge to Chongli's ski tourism

This study found that the effect of ski tourism differs for urban citizens and farmers, although it is positive for both groups. The reason for this phenomenon may be a result of the model of developing ski tourism in Chongli. The new model of the ski tourism industry has changed from ski resorts growing organically in and around the existing mountain towns and villages to corporate design and management (Andrew, 2015). Farmers in the towns and villages may not gain direct benefits from this model. The urban citizens, however, may have a higher education and qualify for jobs in the ski resorts, and they may have more money to invest in the ski tourism industry. This new finding indicates that a better redistribution system needs to be established.

It is obvious that ski tourism and the regional economy have gradually come to work well with each other in Chongli. However, one challenge should be considered. The ski tourism industry relies on natural resources. Climate issues influence the entire tourism industry (Feng et al., 2019), and also impact the operation of ski resorts. At present, because of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Games and governmental policies, the climate may be neglected. Following the Winter Olympic Games, the industry may be reshaped because subsidies will be reduced, so ski tourism and the regional economy may face a new challenge. Therefore, the future impact of ski tourism on the regional economy in Chongli deserves further research.

5.1 Contributions to theory development

This study illustrates the dynamic relationship between ski tourism and the regional economy in Chongli. It enriches the research on the effect of sport tourism.

First, the ski tourism system and the regional economy system in Chongli both showed a growth trend, and the coordination connection between the two systems has gone through progressive improvement. The level of coordination of the two systems has gone through three phases: the period of unbalanced status (2009–2011), the period of gradually balancing status (2012–2015), and the period of high-quality balanced status (2016–2019).

Second, different opportunities have emerged, such as the Chongli government's procedure of “tourism prospers town” in 2009, entering the preliminary phase of the Olympic Games bid in 2013, China's effective bid for the 2015 Olympic Games, the Ice and Snow Sports Development Plan (2016–2025) in 2016, and the improvement of ski tourism in the Chongli region, which are all joined by political benefits and the opportunity to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Third, during the progressive facilitated improvement of ski tourism and the regional economy, Chongli eliminated extreme poverty. The advancement of ski tourism can be coordinated with the regional economy, which serves as an exemplary instance of sports tourism easing poverty. However, attention should be paid to the redistribution systems, because urban citizens gain more benefits from developing ski tourism than farmers.

Ski tourism is only one type of sport tourism. This study proves the potential for regional tourism in the economy and its social effect in poor areas. The research on sport tourism in general, especially ski tourism, can gain empirical evidence when it focuses on the impact of this special type of tourism. This study also found the process of ski tourism and the regional economy, which can remind future scholars that when they conduct an evaluation on the effect of sport tourism, they need to consider a longer period. Since the relationship between sport tourism and the regional economy is dynamic, a shorter time period may not reveal the whole truth.

5.2 Implications on industry practice

This study provides a concept for poor regions to use sport tourism as a tool for fostering their economies and alleviating poverty. First, a resource analysis is necessary for the areas to cultivate sport tourism. Chongli has taken full advantage of its snow and mountains to develop its ski tourism industry and achieve its goals. For other developing areas, there may be other promising sport tourism resources, such as glaciers, cliffs, deserts, and so on. These resources may be more difficult to develop than traditional tourism products at times, though they may be basic elements in sport tourism. Second, the location should be considered in developing sport tourism. Chongli is close to Beijing. As the reputation of ski tourism in Chongli spreads, the customers from Beijing flow to Chongli. This suggests that poor regions should pay attention to developing sport tourism in cooperation with big nearby cities. Finally, the positive effects of policies and a mega event can provide a great opportunity for these regions to forge a new image in sport tourism and improve their local economies.

5.3 Limitations and future directions

First, this examination has certain shortcomings because of limited data. The present study collected data from 2009 to 2019. Because of COVID-19, ski tourism has suffered, and the relationship between ski tourism and the regional economy may have been affected. Therefore, further exploration will continue to examine new developments in this system. Second, this study mainly focuses on one area under the effect of the Winter Olympics. Other areas in China can be examined and compared with this area to obtain more specific results regarding where ski tourism can benefit the region without a direct influence from the unusual Winter Olympics opportunity.