Developing outdoor sports and embracing a healthy life have great potential in outdoor sports industry.
Outdoor sports are connected with people’s livelihood at one end and economy at the other.
In recent years, with the development of economy and society and the improvement of living standards, people pay more and more attention to health and quality of life, and favor leisure and sports methods close to nature. The development of outdoor sports in China has ushered in spring.
1. Overview of outdoor sports industry: The projects are rich and diverse to meet the needs of different types of people.
Outdoor sports was born in Europe in the 18th century, and it first existed in the form of exploration and scientific investigation. By World War II, outdoor skills and equipment such as mountaineering, rock climbing and camping had made great progress in the army. With the economic recovery after the war, outdoor sports took the lead in realizing popular development in Europe and America, and became a way of life to improve the quality of life. Various outdoor organizations and outdoor competitions began to appear.
Outdoor sports are rich and varied, which can be divided into land, mountains, water, ice and snow, air movement, camping activities and outdoor games according to different natural environments. According to the professional level and activity intensity, it can be divided into three categories: professional, routine and leisure outdoor sports to meet the needs of different types of people-professional outdoor sports are often in a harsh environment, requiring participants to reach the professional level in physical fitness, psychological quality and technical equipment; Conventional outdoor sports have relatively low professional requirements, which are both challenging and adventurous; Leisure outdoor sports mainly focus on experience and relaxation, and are suitable for a wide range of people.
According to the data of Tianyancha Professional Edition, up to now, there are more than 279,000 outdoor sports-related enterprises in China. Among them, from January to February 2024, more than 7,000 related enterprises were newly registered, up 3.9% compared with the same period in 2023; In terms of geographical distribution, the number of outdoor sports-related enterprises in Zhejiang, Guangdong (tied for first place), Henan and Shandong ranks in the forefront, with more than 41,000, 17,000 and 16,000 respectively. From the time of establishment, 45.9% of related enterprises were established within 1-5 years, and 25.1% were established within 1 year.
Second, the development status of outdoor sports industry: from frisbee and camping to skiing, diving, bungee jumping and leisure coexist.
With people’s pursuit of quality of life, outdoor sports are becoming more and more popular. In 2023, more people will flood into nature and feel the fun of outdoor sports. From frisbee and camping to skiing, diving and bungee jumping, outdoor sports and equipment are becoming more and more professional and hard-core, attracting more and more young people to join them.
1. Development support
With the improvement of people’s life and income level, outdoor sports consumption has gradually become an important consumption field for people to pursue health and quality of life. From 2022 to 2023, outdoor sports in China showed explosive growth, which promoted the rapid development of the industry. According to the data of China Outdoor Sports Industry Development Report (2022-2023), in the first half of 2023, orders related to outdoor sports increased by 79% compared with the same period in 2022, and the orders increased by 221% compared with the same period in 2019. In 2022, the market scale of outdoor products industry in China has reached 197.1 billion yuan, and it is expected to increase to 240 billion yuan in 2025. There are indications that China’s outdoor sports industry is growing rapidly, and China has become one of the countries with rapid growth in the global outdoor sports industry.
With the deep integration of national fitness and national health, the outdoor sports industry, which meets the people’s needs for a better life, has entered a golden period of development, and the coexistence of market scale expansion and content quality improvement has become an important feature. Outdoor sports such as skiing, surfing, diving, mountain climbing, rock climbing, cycling, road running and fishing have gradually become new leisure choices for people to return to nature and relax in recent years. In 2022, the Outdoor Sports Industry Development Plan (2022-2025) jointly issued by the State Sports General Administration and the National Development and Reform Commission showed that by the end of 2021, the number of outdoor sports participants in China had exceeded 400 million, and the total scale of outdoor sports industry would exceed 3 trillion yuan by 2025.
2. User portrait
Comparing the portraits of outdoor users in a broad sense (including sports and outdoor sports), it is found that outdoor sports, especially leisure outdoor sports in recent years, show the following obvious characteristics:
The post-90 s and post-80 s accounted for a larger proportion. Comparatively speaking, in outdoor sports, college students and middle-aged and elderly people account for a relatively small proportion, while the "post-80 s" groups represented by parent-child families and the middle class and the "90-95 s" groups who first entered the workplace and followed the trend constitute a relatively core part. Consumers in these two age groups have a certain economic foundation, stronger consumption power and more demands for quality life.
Women account for a larger proportion. Different from traditional ball games, fitness or mountaineering and hiking, outdoor leisure sports under the new trend attract more female players, accounting for 2/3 of them, and "exquisite mother" has become one of the important labels.
First-tier cities account for a larger proportion. First-tier and new first-tier cities have higher consumption capacity and pursuit of quality life and trendy things, with 65% outdoor sports participants concentrated, and their preferences affect the wind direction of the entire outdoor sports consumption market; The second, third and fourth tier cities have low penetration rate at present and are high potential areas for future market growth.
Third, future development: consumer demand continues to heat up, welcoming unprecedented opportunities for development.
With the continuous warming of consumer demand, the outdoor sports ecosystem is welcoming an unprecedented opportunity for development.
On the one hand, hiking is becoming a new choice for modern people to escape the fast-paced life, blend in with nature and enjoy life. Walking through mountain streams, city streets, park trails and even deserts is not only a sport, but also an attitude towards life.
Around hiking, jackets and sun protection clothes have become indispensable items in wardrobes. Hiking clothes hold up more than 80% of the market, and professional mountaineering and hiking shoes contribute 50% of the hiking shoes market. Small people walking upstream and cross-country gradually highlight great potential, and auxiliary equipment such as upstream shoes, cross-country running shoes, trekking poles and crampons are worthy of attention.
In addition, in recent years, cycling, as a sport and social way, has been gaining popularity and the scale of related categories has continued to grow. Three different scenes, namely, urban cycling, road cycling and mountain cycling, have their own characteristics, which has brought diversified demands for cycling equipment. Every ride is a personalized equipment show, from bell and lock to watch and kettle rack, to shelves and reflective stickers.
Tianyancha Research Institute believes that consumers’ preference for outdoor sports highlights their pursuit of a healthy life and also shows the huge consumption potential of the outdoor sports market.