Wanda stages celebrations after Beijing's successful Olympics bid
01.08.2015
When the news came that Beijing and Zhangjiakou had won the joint bid for hosting 2022 Winter Olympics, more than one hundred of Wanda employees cheered thunderously in front of Tongzhou Wanda Plaza in Beijing, and planed a nighttime cycling to celebrate the outcome.
More than one hundred of cycling fans from various departments of Wanda Group and Operations, wearing uniforms printed with the characters of “Wanda Congratulates China’s Successful Bid for Hosting Winter Olympics”, had been waiting quietly for the final results.
At 19:00 on July 31, when the IOC President Thomas Bach announced China as the host country for 2022 Winter Olympics, the cycling team set out on a celebration trip “along Beijing’s most beautiful route for nighttime cycling.”
From Tongzhou Wanda Plaza to Shijingshan Wanda Plaza, they cycled westward on a 40km trip passing by the CBD Wanda Plaza, the Palace Museum, the Great Hall of the People, the China's National Grand Theater, and other landmarks on the way.
As soon as the news of China winning the bid for Winter Olympics arrived, 117 large screens at Wanda Plazas across China put on the congratulatory video simultaneously. The bright red background color and large yellow characters of “Warm Congratulations on China’s Successful Bid for Hosting Winter Olympics” lit the night sky, creating a jubilant atmosphere and attracting numerous customers and passers-by.
The Olympic Games is of a great momentum for the development of the host country’s sports industry. The successful hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing also ushers in a peak for Chinese sports industry development. And now, the right for hosting 2022 Winter Olympics will again offer an excellent opportunity for development of China’s sports industry, especially the winter sports sector.
Earlier this year, Wanda Group acquired Infront Sports & Media AG (hereinafter as “the Infront”), the world’s second largest sports marketing company with EUR1.05 billion, becoming a champion in the world’s sports industry. The Infront maintains a long-term relationship with all seven Olympic winter sport federations, ranking number one in the world’s winter sport industry.
Beijing’s successful bid for hosting the Winter Olympics will certainly makes more visible the ice and snow sports which have enjoyed increasing popularity in China, and deliver infinite business opportunities to Winter Olympics-themed industries to release enormous development space and potential. And the ice and snow sports will undoubtedly become the next “jackpot” of sports industry.
Since the Changbaishan International Resort opened for business in 2012, Wanda Group has owned five Winter Olympics-themed businesses, all of which prosper rapidly.
Changbaishan International Resort boasts the largest ski slope in Asia whose total revenue ranks number one in Asia, creating a legend in the industry. Guangzhou Wanda Theme Park has a state-of-the-art fourth-generation ski slope which is able to accommodate 3,000 people simultaneously for skiing and playing with snow, truly achieve the goal to bring south China snow. Wanda Culture and Tourist Town in Harbin has the world’s largest indoor ski slope. Qingdao Oriental Cinema includes an ice surface of 1,800 square meters. And Wuxi Wanda Mall brings snow-themed entertainment to south of the Yangtze River.
At the mid-year conference of 2015, Mr. Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, formally put forward a plan to establish a sports holding company to make Wanda’s sports division bigger and stronger.