Yutang Sports is partnered with Host City to support Asia’s largest meeting of sports, business and cultural events.

Under the theme of “Attracting New Audiences through Sports and Entertainment”, Host City Asia will bring together international event owners with Asian host cities, brands and investors at the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing on 31 May.

High level speakers include senior representatives (presidents, CEOs, secretary generals, directors and experts) of organising committees, sports federations, entertainment events, cities and corporates.

As Media Partner, Yutang Sports will be providing editorial coverage, in addition to wider marketing and sales support.

About Host City

Host City was first launched as a magazine in Beijing in 2003 for the organisers of the Olympic 2008 Games. Since then it has hosted four rapidly growing international conferences in the UK serving the international community of event owners, hosts, organisers and suppliers.

Host City is delighted to return to Beijing for Host City Asia with the participation of the Beijing Olympic City Development and the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Phone +44 7876 682072 or visit www.hostcity.com

About Yutang Sports

Yutang Sports is a sports market intelligence and sports marketing company consisting of a sports industry media outlet and sports sponsorship agency. It provides editorial content, market analysis and sports marketing business services such as consultancy and sponsorship sales.

The media outlet provides the most up-to-date sports business news, media analysis and exclusive data reports on the Chinese sports industry in both Chinese and English languages. With millions of views in China per year, the company is considered one of the most important sports industry media outlets in China, one that provides regular services to corporate clients.

Yutang's sports sponsorship agency helps international and domestic sports rights holders/events to partner with Chinese brands. The company has successfully facilitated partnerships between many sports events and Chinese brands such as Stankovic Continental Cup and Sunshine Insurance Group, Snooker players & K-boxing, Beijing Half Marathon and Rarone, driving development for both sports and sponsors.

Phone: +86 10 6715 0501 ext. 808 or visit http://en.ytsports.cn

Host City: What is the main aim of Thailand’s event hosting strategy – is it direct economic impact or wider societal benefits?

Weerasak Kowsurat: We never draw any international games to the country for economic purpose. This happens afterwards, when you see people coming to the city and spending money, but it is never placed there as the main objective of why we bid.

Every time we bid it is because we think that it is time to generate a spiritual atmosphere for the locals to attend and understand better about sports. It’s more on the social side.

It is not a stadium that makes the city that looks lively; it is the population, the people who, after the sports events happen, are inspired to do more activities – either economically, socially or culturally. And we find we have been very successful in that direction.

We don’t intend to always see people packing in a big major stadium somewhere – it happens naturally.

Host City: Do you have plans to build any major new venues?

Weerasak Kowsurat: We have decided to think a lot more seriously about whether there are requirements to build more sporting facilities, because we think that unless we have a better plan of how we are going to use those facilities after the mega event, then we would prefer to make use of what god gives. And you see that in the Tri-league – swimming, biking, running – this is happening more and more in Thailand and we are getting more international participants who want to come here, not only because they want to be at the championship but part of our society.

See, Thailand has been voted internationally as the friendliest country in the world for around ten consecutive years. It pleased a lot of people, including ourselves, that the scenery is nice but the better part is that the people are nice. They may not all be able to communicate in international languages, but the body language is so friendly that it absorbs almost any activity, either sports or non-sports.

Also the weather is so amenable to almost any kind of sport – except winter sports! Then we have all year round sporting activities happening all the time. We have been working with at least 600 run and ride events annually around the country. With a population of 70 million population, this means we have at least 1,000 attending each event around the country.

See, sporting is not about winning or losing. It is an activity that you do with others. That will help to mix diverse people, regionally, domestically and internationally.

Thailand received 35 million international visitors last year, including a million Americans. We have a great variety of people coming into the country. Sport events can be looked at as a way in the modern society for different people to mix together.

When you mix these kind of things together it will bring harmony: harmony for the guest and harmony for the host.

Host City: What kind of events are most important to Thailand – sports, business or cultural events?

Weerasak Kowsurat: We have 1.2 million MICE travellers coming to the country every year. But that is not the biggest portion of activities we have – the largest is people travelling for tourism generally.

Host City: Thailand has not hosted a major multisport event since the Asian Games in 1998. Are you still focusing on smaller championships or will you bid for mega events in the future?

Weerasak Kowsurat: We have been talking about the Youth Olympics, but it depends more on what we would like to achieve; and we need to consult more with our people and find out what they are most interested in.

Having all the big sport leaders coming into town at SportAccord gives us a chance to see the whole list of all sports available on the planet. Maybe it’s time for our generation to pick and choose what to try.

It’s not about competing to be the host city; it’s about what the people in the city want to do.

In Thailand, the sports facilities that already exist have room to grow; we don’t want them to sit idle. At the same time, we also have what god makes: we have very nice scenery, we have two oceans, we have mountains and plains; and the weather outside is so amenable to sport. So instead of throwing away billions of dollars building something in concrete, why don’t we get people to go out and be friendly in the local atmosphere.

Host City is Event Development Partner of SportAccord

The Boao Forum for Asia takes place annually on the Chinese island of Hainan. This year’s event included a panel discussion on “Potential of the Sports Industry” with VIP speakers including Olympic champions, national sports association leaders, leading Chinese brands and media owners.

The panel opened with reflections on the leadership of the President Xi Jinping, under which sports has played an important part of the drive for healthier living and the development of China's “soft power”.

Fang Gang, Director of CCTV's sports channels said “Sport is part of national strategy for fitness and healthy living – sports has critical role in society.”

“Everybody is behind the national plan – it is substantial”, said Qian Jiannong, Senior Vice President, Fosun International.

The 2016-2020 National Fitness plan set ambitious targets for improving fitness and increasing sports participation by raising awareness of health and integrating exercise into everyday life.

Opening sports facilities for free to local people is an important aspect of the plan.

Alisports is using the Alibaba online retail platform to help achieve the 19th NPC goals by giving Ali credits as online incentive for users to exercise more.

“Sport is independent, something special and different,” said Zhang Dazhong, CEO of Alisports, whose project is laying foundations “to empower industries and provide services to national fitness.”

Alisports is also working with badminton, table tennis and tennis teams to improve performance.

He emphasised Alisports’ commitment to the empowerment process of sports, while also focussing on the enjoyment of sports.

Zhang Dazhong, CEO, Alisports said: “China must accumulate its own sports and not just buy international assets.”

Zeng Gang, Vice President of Suning Sports emphasised the importance of investment into education while also making it fun. “Sports is one part of entertainment… we try to promote enthusiasm and a positive feeling for sport”.

The ability to develop a sport is also linked to the availability of venues and equipment, which is one reason for the rapid growth of snooker in China. “Anyone can play in snooker halls,” pointed out Ju Cunguo, general manager of Daqing city's Cultural Media Co., Ltd.

According to Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman of the Hurun Report, motor sports, fitness and horse racing are increasing and leading demands in China for sport.

Digital boost for winter sports

China has its eyes on great success at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, hosted in Beijing.

"Whilst there is pressure on for Beijing2022, all sportspeople can do is their best for their country," said Li Yan, Chairwoman of the Chinese Skating Association.

Fang Gang said CCTV wants to showcase sport stars who can lead and inspire Chinese people and play sports. “The advantage of CCTV is that it is a national channel working for national good,” he said.

One such star is Wu Dajing, who has been incredibly busy ambassador for winter sports since PyeongChang 2018, where he became the first Chinese man to win Olympic short track gold.

According to Fang Gang, 20 million per minute watched Wu Dajing win his gold medal.

“I could not believe how many people were at the airport on my return. But my coach said it will only last for 40 days!” said Wu.

He said he wants to “make a contribution to Winter Games and promote speed skating and skiing.”

“Three years ago, nobody in South of China knew short track speed skating – they do now!”

Wu Dajing is asking for help from digital platforms to help promote Beijing2022.

While Alibaba is the biggest online retailer in China, the biggest communication platform is WeChat, owned by Tencent.

“Sports is so substantial” said Chen Juhong, Vice President of Tencent. “Wu Dajing made a huge impact.”

Tencent is also working with tennis, soccer, and baseball organisations to find out how data can be used in China.

“Tencent owners are very forward looking – there is no need to monetise data today,” he said.  “We are looking for a win-win of Tencent working with people.”

Li Yan, Chairwoman of Chinese Skating Association was interested to find out how digital platforms can help their 60 national events. “Work with us… Do not let the sport get lost in data and size of market,” she asked.

Zhang Dazhong said Alibaba expects a doubling of winter sports sales and higher value per sale for winter sports, but stressed that more investment is needed in winter sports infrastructure.

Zeng Gang, Vice President of Suning Sports invited skaters to work more closely with Suning to promote stories about athletes, generate more content and get more engagement.

He also said that football in China needs to fulfil its potential. The Chinese Super League must find a home for football fans and “create a tie from fan to club”.

The Chinese Super League is working with English Premier League to learn how to customise and commercialise football in China, said Zeng.

Suning is considering offering new membership events for Chinese Super League.

It’s not just online where sales are growing; Suning has recently opened a sport store in Nanjing as it promotes a “hybrid offline-online model for sport.”

This article was based on a panel discussion at Boao Forum For Asia on 9 April 2018. For more detailed discussion on Sports development in China please attend Host City Asia in Beijing on 31 May 2018

Host City Asia, taking place on 31 May in Beijing under the theme of “Investing in Events to Attract New Audiences”, is attracting rights holders of the world’s most popular major events, with a record number of Olympic International Federations (IFs) participating.

The leaders of Olympic IFs committed to attend include: Anders Besseberg, President, International Biathlon Union (IBU); Beng Choo Low, Secretary General, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC); Luis Alexandre Pontes Rodrigues, Director for Asia and Oceania, Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB).

Other IFs confirmed to participate at senior level include World Skate, International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) and Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM).

The leaders of other major sports events represented at Host City Asia include Erich Wolf, CEO, Red Bull Air Race and Victor Cui, International CEO, ONE Championship.

It’s not just sports events represented either; with a panel on “How cities can become hubs for entertainment and culture”, Host City Asia serves the diverse interests of event hosts from China, Asia and Oceania.

Delegates will also hear from and meet organisers of the biggest international mega events hosted in Asia between now and 2022.

China’s biggest corporations are also supporting Host City at senior level, with Dalian Wanda Group’s Chen Hailiang a recent addition to the agenda – and more Chinese brands set to follow.

Other international experts confirmed to speak at Host City Asia include David de Behr, Head of Global Events, Aggreko; Patrick Vadja, Senior Risk Advisor, Marsh and Jeff Ruffolo (Expert Advisor to Beijing 2008, Guangzhou 2010, Nanjing 2014 and Beijing 2022).

“The stage is set for our first conference in Asia to be a huge success,” said Ben Avison, Editorial and Conference Director at Host City.

“Host City conferences always attract fantastic speakers and after four years of growth in the UK it should be no surprise that our first conference in Asia is set to be another hit.

“We are particularly overwhelmed that our Beijing event is enjoying the greatest ever level of participation from International Federations and other major event rights holders and we are delighted to be able to present such a great opportunity to host cities across Asia.

“And given that the Host City brand started life as a magazine published in China in 2003, it is a great pleasure to bring Host City back to its origins in the great Olympic city of Beijing.”

The first Host City conference took place in London in 2014, followed by three successively greater conferences and exhibitions in Glasgow. Host City 2018 takes place in Glasgow on 20 and 21 November.

Host City Asia takes place in Beijing on 31 May. For more information about Host City Asia please visit http://www.hostcity.com/events/host-city-asia/

Scotland’s 2020 vision for event hosting

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland, shares his strategic vision of the next two years

Host City: Scotland has a great programme of major events coming up over the next two years – what are your expectations of these events?

Paul Bush OBE: There are a lot of great events taking place in Scotland in the next couple of years, and it comes off the back of a very successful 10-15 years where we’ve hosted some of the biggest and the finest events in the world, including the 2014 Commonwealth Games, The Ryder Cup, the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Champions, and the 2017 World Badminton Championships.

Over the coming years we will continue this trend with the Glasgow 2018 European Championships, The 2019 Solheim Cup, the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships, the LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 and UEFA EURO 2020.

With events playing a significant role in our visitor economy, this supply of events will ensure we continue to sustain and grow the sector while also delivering a positive impact both economically and socially for Scotland.

Host City: What kind of national assets will be used and developed over the next two years?

Paul Bush OBE: Through our national events strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage, we try to maximise our assets for events, whether it’s our natural environment, our people or our built facilities. The events we have coming up over the next two years will really take advantage of these and ensure they continue to deliver a legacy for Scotland. For instance, the Glasgow 2018 European Championships and the European Athletics Indoor Championships will make use of a facilities built for 2014 Commonwealth Games including Emirates Arena and the SSE Hydro, while at Hampden Park we’ve seen the installation of new LED screens in the East and West Stands as part of the development work being done in preparation for EURO 2020.

We’ll also see the addition of new assets like the Olympic standard BMX track being built at Knightswood Park for the European Championships as well as the opening of the new V&A Dundee this summer. Both of these new facilities will be a fantastic addition to our existing facilities and present great opportunities for future events in Scotland.

Host City: What does the events and festivals sector bring to Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018?

Paul Bush OBE: The Year of Young People 2018 is putting Scotland’s young people in the spotlight, celebrating their talents, contributions and creating new opportunities for them to express themselves through a wide range of activity.

As part of the year, we’ve developed a nation-wide programme which, for the first time, is entirely co-designed by young people and the events and festivals sector. The programme includes both new events and new programme strands for annual events – all of which reinforce Scotland's position as the perfect stage for events.  

Collaboration and co-production with young people is at the heart of the year, and the events and festivals sector are playing a crucial role in providing a wealth of opportunities and valuable experiences for young people to express themselves through culture, sport and a range of other activities. From music festivals to science takeovers, film festivals to touring theatre productions, the sector is putting young people in the driving seat – putting the power into their hands and giving them a wonderful opportunity to bring different generations together as well as showing the world what they are made of throughout 2018.

Host City: How does hosting important conferences such as Host City and your own National Events Conference help EventScotland to achieve its objectives?

Paul Bush OBE: Hosting conferences like Host City and our own National Events conference are extremely important to us as it is an opportunity to bring the industry together to share best practice and look at the challenges and opportunities we’re facing, both on a local and global scale. Doing this helps us achieve our aim of developing a strong and dynamic events industry that is producing a portfolio of events and festivals that delivers sustainable impact and international profile for Scotland.

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In 2015, Beijing and Zhangjiakou jointly won the bid for 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Beijing therefore became the first city that will hold both the summer and winter Olympic Games.

As the biggest, most influential and comprehensive sports event in the world, the Olympic Games has great importance for development. The Olympic legacies have provided resources and momentum for the city’s development.

In order to continue the success after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, we specifically established Beijing Olympic City Development Association (BODA) and a specific fund to develop of the city and our facilities.

Physical Games legacies

The broadcasting centre from the 2008 Olympic Games was converted into the China National Convention Centre after the Olympic Games, hosting more than 7,000 conferences including the Belt and Road Forum and the APEC summit. This conference centre is one of the Olympic Games legacies.

Other facilities like the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube have become landmarks of Beijing; these places are also hosting other major events. Eight facilities in Beijing will serve as venues for the Winter Olympic Games.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games also brought forward the construction of our metro system. Carrying more than 10 million people every day, it is the city’s biggest transportation system. During the organising of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games we did a lot to control pollution and traffic; we have made this a long-term effort in Beijing.

We continue to work on the sustainability of our facilities. We plan to use 25 facilities [in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou] for the Winter Olympic Games and are working with other organisations to comprehensively utilise these facilities, both for the Games and for future functions.

Our design and construction teams are all engaged in this process of making plans for legacy. For example, the Wukesong Arena can be transformed into the venue for ice hockey from basketball within six hours.

We will also promote the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei area. The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and Zhangjiakou will become very important drivers for economic development in the region. The coordinated development in this region will be closely related to the Olympic Games and they will be mutually beneficial. They will have better transportation and industries will also be boosted.

We will also work on environmental protection; public services will also be further enhanced and this will be a pilot project for the coordination of this region. More benefit to welfare will be brought to this region and its people.

The Olympic spirit

The Olympic Games influence people to participate in sports activities as part of the daily routine. In Beijing, people benefited greatly from the spirit of the Olympic Games. More than half of our citizens are frequent participants in sports activities. Our people are constantly improving their health.

We’ve also got the legacy of talent from the Olympic Games. Beijing 2008 cultivated a large number of high quality organisers of sporting events who have gone one to work on, for example, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games; and in 2019 we are hosting the Military World Games and other major international events, all reflecting the talent.

More than half of our staff for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games will be from the 2008 summer Olympic Games organising committee.

We place great importance on legacy, making a very inclusive model for our organising work so that all people can engage in the Olympic Games and share its benefits.

We will also continue to work on education, volunteering and spreading the Olympic spirit, so that the general public will be more active and healthy in their lifestyle.

With the leadership of the Chinese government we want to conduct a wonderful and excellent winter Olympic games and fully implement green ideas and cost reduction.

We pay special attention to winter sports in China. In China, winter sports are mainly concentrated in the northern area. With the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, we hope to ignite the torch of winter sports in China and we try to engage more than 300 million people to participate in winter sports, at the same time trying to cultivate a high professional level and give us a good legacy of winter sports talent.

We will also endeavour to promote equipment manufacturing in winter sport and create great momentum in this global industry.

We will also work hard on the cultural legacy. The world will witness the Olympic Games, which will be held during China’s Spring Festival, a very important traditional festival in China. With this integration of Chinese culture and the Olympic Games, we can provide a unique cultural experience for Chinese and global audiences.

*This article, based on a presentation by Mr Zhang Jiandong at World Winter Sports Expo (WWSE) in Beijing in September 2017, first appeared in the Winter 2017 Issue of Host City magazine. Host City was the only foreign media reporting from WWSE

This article follows our involvement on a panel discussing the topic of “Creating entertainment hubs and cultural meccas” at the Host City conference and exhibition in November 2017.

The debate at the conference emphasised the importance of location integrity and matching strategic local cultural goals to event goals in the creation of successful “go to” events, wherever they are located in the world.

Our experience in all we do proves these conclusions. First up, Cirque was formed from within the long-established Montreal creative street entertainment community. This gave us artistic credibility and sector integrity from day one for our Circus inspired shows. This allegiance to Montreal and the strong “alternative street-scene” there has been core to our offer as we expanded and grew.

Our Head Office is still based in Montreal. As an Englishman when visiting this HQ, it also helps when immigration officials ask, “reason for your visit”. When replying I always mention, “work with Cirque”, which causes the officials to visibly swell with pride and wave me through!

Cirque has definitely added to Montreal’s cultural reputation. It often appears on lists of ‘the World’s most reputable cities’, vying for top 10 positions with cities that are far larger.

All Canadians, (not just those handling immigration,) now see the city as what Forbes magazine has termed the “cultural epicentre of the country.”

This claim for culture may not be so easy to extend to our other important entertainment hub– Las Vegas!

We have over 3,000 staff located there, running up to eight shows more suited to the unique “local cultural goals” that only Vegas can deliver. Our ‘Michael Jackson One’ musical plays to packed houses twice a day at the Mandalay Resort & Casino.

In the decade we have been in Vegas, Cirque has definitely contributed to the city’s long established “Big Show” entertainment reputation, even if this may seem at odds with the more bohemian Montreal hub.

Another core part of the Cirque offer is our touring shows. We have between six and eight shows on the road, at any time, performing shows all over the globe.

According to our twitter feed today (January 2018) we have shows in Rio, Beijing, London, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Dubai and Panama City.  They will remain in a city for between one week and six months and continually tour the globe for up to eight years.

These are a mixture of arena-based shows, such as the Albert Hall when in London, and performances under the big top. We have recently added ice skating arenas to this roster with our newest show based on ice, “Crystal”.

Every show is a self-contained mini village – a mobile entertainment hub, if you will.

Most recently Cirque has added a new provision to our offer - one that builds on our ability to create, stage and sell entertainment that is relevant to today’s media savvy and entertainment hungry consumers.

We are developing partnerships with locations, entertainment organisations or rights holders who wish to develop their own experiences, whether branded or not.

The NFL X on Times Square in New York is our most recent example of this offer. We have developed, in close co-operation with the NFL a four story, 40,000sq foot, interactive and immersive series of exhibits. Check out https://www.nflexperience.com

NFL X confirms those panel discussion conclusions. Firstly, the importance of location integrity and secondly, matching strategic local cultural goals to event goals.

The NFL X adds to the Times Square integrity by adding to its status as a “must-see” destination within one of the World’s most famous cities. It also fits within New York’s unique cultural offer – being brash, loud and original.

Nick Prichard is part of the Cirque du Soleil Global Alliances team. He is currently developing the new Experiential provision with a number of Host Cities, Sports Rights Holders and Brands. To find out more please contact him on nick.prichard@cirquedusoleil.com