With a whistle, the originally calm swimming pool was splashing with water and bustling with excitement. Little athletes bravely advanced in the water, creating beautiful postures. Not long ago, the Youth Swimming Competition of the 16th Municipal Games was held, and the young players demonstrated full vitality with their outstanding performance.
The Asian Games Hangzhou is around the corner, and the sports atmosphere in our city is becoming increasingly strong. With the theme of "Welcoming the Asian Games and Enjoying Health", our city plans to hold more than 30 large-scale sport events this year, and initially constructs a new integrated development pattern of "sports events- tourism development- cultural promotion- market consumption". The "Sports Plus" brand helps to improve economic quality and efficiency.
High-standard competitions have always been a popular "magic weapon". From the opening ceremony, opening matches, and home matches of the China Football Association's Five-player Football Super League 2023 to the National Chess Men's League One, this year, our city has introduced 10 high-level competitions, attracting more than 529,000 online and offline audiences, continuously promoting the high-quality development of the sports industry and stimulating the potential of sports consumption. "I watched the opening game of the five-player football match onsite and it was exciting. It's so great that we can watch such a game at our doorstep." Mr. Wang recalled this game with excitement.
Regional events are based on events as a medium to promote the integration of the Yangtze River Delta region and empower the integrated development of "sports plus tourism" events. As of now, regional events such as the Athletics District Invitational Tournament (Yangtze River Delta Station) 2023, the U-Series Athletics League Qualification Tournament, and the Level Reaching Tournament (Zhejiang Region) 2023 have attracted over 2,500 professional athletes from both inside and outside the Zhejiang Province but within the Yangtze River Delta region to participate. The three events directly contributed to income of over 1.5 million yuan for the accommodation industry, igniting new vitality in regional development through the "new benefits" of sports economy.
There are competitions every month and activities every week. The normalized sports event mechanism provides more people with the opportunity to participate in matches and games. Whether it's the "dual enjoyment" of participating in competitions and enjoying the beautiful sceneries during rural marathons and scenic happy running activities, or showcasing one's style in public events such as fitness yoga and mini marathons and so on, the enthusiasm of everyone's participation and enjoyment in national fitness has boosted the vitality of the city.
"For the next step, there will be multiple events, including the 16th National Games of the city, and other exciting events. Citizens and friends are welcome to continue to pay attention to the coming activities and actively participate in these activities, cheering for the arrival of the Asian Games Hangzhou!" A relevant person in charge said.
