The Market Responses of Ice and Snow Destinations to Southerners’ Tourism Willingness: A Case Study from China

Abstract

Since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, China has been promoting ice and snow tourism, mainly to domestic tourists from southern China. Thus, ice–snow tourism operators in the north need to know what Southerners want. Respondents from south of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province were administered a questionnaire about candidate national parks in Inner Mongolia as tourism destinations. A qualitative method based on picture material was used to summarize the categories of ice–snow tourism activities. Based on questionnaire data by OLS (ordinary least squares) and quantile regression, respectively, this study identified the average and differential (by the difference of respondents’ willingness level) inducing effects of different tourism activities on Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness. With the supply–demand comparing method, the impacts of the tourism activity availability on the fulfillment of Southerners’ ice–snow tourism desire were revealed. For formulating sound market positioning to expand the southern market, suggestions for promoting the preferred activities and complementing the supply shortage were put forth based on Southerners’ willingness. The results provide meaningful lessons for developing, operating, and marketing ice–snow tourism destinations in the north in response to Southerners’ willingness to travel.

1. Introduction

The intangible legacy left by the Winter Olympics can bring out the diversity of ice–snow tourism products [1] and set an example for future environmentally friendly development of ice–snow destinations in the host country [2]. In particular, Chinese citizens’ enthusiasm for ice–snow tourism was stoked by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics [3]. Therefore, the Chinese government is capitalizing on the Winter Olympics to develop ice–snow sports tourism [4]. The winter of 2021–2022 saw 305 million ice–snow tourism trips across China, a year-over-year increase of 20.08% [5]. Given that China’s ice–snow tourism market remains relatively small [4], it has enormous development potential [6]. Southerners of China are the main domestic tourist source. By 2020, Southerners accounted for 60% of the Chinese population [7], being among the country’s highest per capita income earners. Seven out of the top ten tourist source regions in 2022 are southern provinces [8]. For ice–snow tourism, four-fifths of the top tourist source regions are in the south [9]. So, understanding Southerners’ ice–snow tourism demand is of vital significance for taking advantage of the Winter Olympics to develop ice–snow tourism in China. Related research indicated that Southerners’ interest in traveling north for winter recreation is growing [10], and the Winter Olympics heightened their interest [6]. Further quantitative assessment of Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness after the Winter Olympics aids operators of ice–snow destinations to make more pertinent market response strategies. However, related research is scarce. Therefore, this study attempts to address this gap.

Although there are various ice–snow tourism activities [11] and ice–snow tourists’ demands are also heterogeneous [12], most destination operators mainly place emphasis on skiing and do not attach more attention to differentiation strategies [13]. The ice–snow tourism demand of non-skiers is easy to neglect, though most winter tourists are non-skiers [14]. Even in the famous winter destination of the Alps, tourism products also lack diversity [15] and focus on skiing. Perhaps the current cognitions on destination attractions are too limited [16]. A destination’s monotony and lack of variety frequently make visitors less satisfied [17]. Correspondingly, the existing studies also mainly focus on ice–snow sports [15]. Actually, the number of skiers worldwide was only about 130 million [18], but in China alone, the number of ice–snow tourists reached 305 million in 2022 [5]. In order to better respond to non-skiers’ diversified tourism willingness, we need to be clear about what people want from ice and snow tourism. Additionally, lots of ski area operators will be forced to change their businesses due to climate change [19]; seeking alternative services also heavily relies on insight into tourists’ diversified willingness. Thus, we need to know potential tourists’ demand for various ice–snow tourism activities to provide different operators with different advantages to make proper market positioning according to consumers’ willingness and to facilitate diversified development of ice–snow tourism. However, this is still under-researched, leading to another objective of this study, which is to bridge this gap.

Whether the supply corresponds with tourists’ demand is crucial for the successful operation of destinations. Nevertheless, in reality, a significant gap exists between ice–snow tourism supply and demand [17]. This would result in offering products that occupy more resources but are less valued by tourists [20] and services that fail to meet tourists’ diversified willingness [21]. The potential tourists’ economic statuses (influencing their demand) are also ignored by some ice–snow tourism operators [22]. Many tourists experience boredom when visiting destinations because the available activities do not correspond with their ice–snow tourism willingness [23]. A destination not responding to tourists’ diverse willingness also leads to fierce market competition [15] and can result in its failure in the market [24]. Therefore, we need to determine whether the available ice–snow tourism activities in northern destinations correspond with major target customers’ willingness to engage, and if not, more effective market strategies should be adopted. Currently, less research has provided theoretical support in this aspect. Addressing this gap also motivates this study.

As previously mentioned, the present study aims to address the above gaps. Southern respondents, who are key consumers of ice–snow tourism in China [17], were chosen from south of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province; candidate regions for national parks in Inner Mongolia, which is believed to be an ideal ice–snow tourism area [11], were selected as destinations. This study mainly consists of five parts: the Introduction, Literature Review, Research Method, Results and Analysis, and Discussion and Conclusion. (1) The Introduction mainly lays out what led to this study. (2) In the Literature Review, relevant important concepts, findings, opinions, and research clues for this study are overviewed. (3) The Research Method primarily provides the investigation and analysis process: first, to summarize the main types of ice–snow tourism activity in the study areas; second, to investigate respondents’ ice–snow tourism willingness and analyze how different types of activities induce their willingness; and third, to explore whether the ice–snow tourism supply corresponds with respondents’ demand. (4) In the Result and Analysis Section (Section 4), the findings and relevant inferences are presented. (5) In the Discussion and Conclusion Section (Section 5), this study’s significance, main viewpoints, theoretical and managerial implications, and limitations are concluded; among them, market response strategies for south–north ice–snow tourism destinations are proposed.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Ice–Snow Tourism

Ice–snow tourism refers to tourism that uses ice and snow natural resources generated by a region’s cold weather to attract tourists to seasonal cultural activities related to winter [25]. It is categorized as ecotourism and involves a wide range of activities [11]. Ice–snow tourism has a unique charm; it alters the landscape seasonally, calms the mood [26], facilitates solitude [27], promotes physical health [28], and so on. It is developed in ice–snow destinations. According to UNWTO [29], “a tourism destination is a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight; it is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism; it is also intangible with its image and identity which may influence its market competitiveness.” Accordingly, an ice–snow destination is a cluster of ice–snow tourism components. A variety of activities are helpful in reducing the vulnerability of ice–snow destinations [15]. From this, we can conclude that a variety of attractive activities in the ice–snow background are key elements of ice–snow tourism and are deservedly the main content of ice–snow marketing. Therefore, making consumers aware of ice–snow tourism activities at a destination is crucial for marketing. Research that systematically summarizes relevant activities in northern destinations of China is still insufficient. In this context, this study consolidates the research in this regard, which first explores the ice–snow tourism activities and then further reasons out the market strategy.

From the relevant literature, some advantages of ice–snow tourism can be found. First, it has a unique charm. Ice–snow destinations are always quiet, lack crowds, and are certainly beautiful [30], and some destinations are characterized by a distinctive ice and snow culture [31]. Ice–snow tourism alters the landscape seasonally, calms the mood [26], facilitates solitude [27], and promotes physical health [28], etc. Second, it is of significance for a destination. Ice–snow tourism is helpful in activating and inheriting the local folk culture [32] and can also explore the service potential of the tourism facilities in northern areas [33]. Meanwhile, according to some studies [30], it is believed to have relatively fewer negative effects on the environment due to the land being protected by ice and snow. Third, there are many interesting ice–snow tourism activities. Snow tourism activities include dogsledding, snowmobile touring, snowshoe hiking, snow-kiting, trophy hunting, different kinds of skiing, snow kayaking, speed flying, and many others; ice tourism activities include ice-climbing, ice-fishing, ice go-karting, ice yachting, ice diving, ice hockey, and others [34,35,36]. Given the above, marketing ice–snow tourism in major tourist source regions is a very worthy topic to discuss, being of great significance for both consumers and destinations. However, ice–snow tourism marketing strategies that target Southerners have not been fully explored yet. This study attempts to probe into this issue.

Relevant articles also reveal some problems of ice–snow tourism. First, climate change makes ice–snow tourism unstable because of the uncertainty of snow [21], and snow reduction caused by climate change is a challenge for ski services [37]. Additionally, the rough climate conditions stifle self-reliance, making guided activities preferred but weakening tourists’ participation willingness for activities requiring more self-reliance [38]. We suppose that for sustainable operation, even under unfavorable climate conditions, the operators also need to make some tourism activities available, which should be tourists’ preferred activities. Second, some studies indicate that tourists stay for shorter periods in ice–snow destinations compared with summer tourism locations [30,39]. Therefore, one task for operators is to extend the length of time tourists stay. We suppose that a better-matched ice–snow tourism supply with tourists’ demand could contribute to this. Third, on the one hand, the demand for ice–snow tourism is on the rise, and alternative activities of ice–snow sports are increasing [40]. On the other hand, some studies show that worldwide, the number of ski tourists has not increased appreciably in the past 10 years [41]. So, we can infer that new growth points of ice–snow tourism lie in non-athletic activities. However, the reality goes against this. Operators in many winter resorts still consider skiing the key experience for ice–snow tourists [15], and more than 2084 ski resorts operate in 67 countries worldwide, although ski participants occupy a small portion of people, with 60% of them being under 35 years old [18]. Moreover, first-time skiers, amateurs, and professionals have different demands for skiing [42]. This demonstrates that many operators do not know what new growth points of ice–snow tourism they should supply. Coping with the above issues relies on optimizing ice–snow tourism supplies on which many previous pieces of research focus. Nevertheless, research on optimizing supplies for Southerners (the major tourist source in China) is still insufficient. Therefore, this study explores how to optimize supplies based on Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness.

2.2. Willingness to Participate in Ice–Snow Tourism

Based on previous research, we can conclude that more ice–snow tourists are interested in non-athletic activities and show a strong willingness to relax. For example, the interest of German tourists in skiing is declining while other activities are arousing their interest [19]; most of them prefer more relaxing ice–snow tourism activities such as hiking, sightseeing, and enjoying hot springs [14]. In Italy and France, even in ski resorts, almost half of the tourists ski only a little or not at all; they instead spend their time relaxing, experiencing local food and customs, and engaging in other activities [43]. Many tourists are more interested in experiencing the lifestyle in the northern area [16] or pursuing comfort and are less interested in skiing [44], and many individuals are highly interested in experiencing authentic nature [10]. Additionally, tourists prefer ice–snow destinations offering diversified activities [18]. In Norway, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing can only explain 24.47% of potential inbound tourists’ willingness to choose ice–snow destinations [45], and the rest need to be explained by other diversified items. Knowing the preferred activities of ice–snow tourists can provide a basis for the operational positioning of ice–snow destinations, and many relevant studies contribute to this. Furthermore, we suppose that comparing consumers’ willingness for different ice–snow tourism activities can provide a more adequate basis for the positioning (choosing activities to offer and promote). Given that we cannot easily find related research, this study does some exploration in this aspect to supplement previous research.

Existing research reveals some factors that promote consumers’ ice–snow tourism willingness. Relative price is considered as a critical factor [46]. For example, for potential inbound ice–snow tourists in Norway, when the price of ice–snow tourism decreases by 1 unit (on a scale of 1–7), their willingness to visit increases by 9% [47]. In the Chopok Mountain of Slovakia, cheap food and ridiculously cheap beer provoke tourists’ desire to engage in ice–snow activities [48]. The volume of snowfall is another critical factor. According to Lapland’s data, over many years, the overnight stays of tourists from neighboring countries will increase by 5–7% if the number of days with a snow depth of above 30 cm increases by 10% [46]. Data from Austria from many resorts show if the snow thickness increases by 10%, the total overnight stays of tourists increase by 0.5% [49]. Other factors include individuals’ interest in ice–snow culture or skiing [47], awareness of potential benefits from ice–snow tourism [50], sense of immersion in a destination [51], etc. Existing studies analyzed influencing factors on ice–snow tourism. However, we find that as the essential factors, different ice–snow tourism activities’ influences have not been fully compared. Therefore, this study compares the inducing effects of different activities on consumers’ ice–snow tourism willingness, specifically comparing their inducing effects on the willingness of those who are more likely to travel for ice–snow tourism. From this aspect, this study consolidates the theoretical basis for the positioning of ice–snow destinations.

2.3. Meeting the Market’s Willingness for Ice–Snow Tourism

Meeting tourists’ willingness is the key operational goal of ice–snow destinations. Relevant articles also show lots of influencing factors on ice–snow tourists’ willingness, for example, snow resource instability and degradation caused by climate change [35], current temperature and wind speed [52], environmental conservation requirements [48], ice–snow training institutions [21], destination amenities [53], and the length of ski slopes [54], among others.

Through relevant articles, we can find that ice–snow tourism activities availability is the crucial factor for meeting tourists’ willingness. There are many negative examples of this. The tourism activities in many destinations are mainly snow sports [53], so the tourism demand of those who accompany their children or spouses cannot be satisfied [23]. A total of 42.3% of German tourists who choose the Alps as their destination in winter prefer non-athletic activities; however, their desire cannot be accommodated in destinations that mainly provide ice–snow sports services [15]. The limitation of recreational activities leads some northern destinations to not attract enough tourists in the winter, resulting in seasonality [55]. Therefore, to respond to the ice–snow tourism demand of different market segments, numerous and diverse activities should be available [23]. If various ice–snow tourism activities that arouse tourists’ interests and do not pose difficulties to participating are offered [37], and affordable no-skiing services are available when the ski destination can no longer meet skiers’ demand due to climate change [56], the diverse ice–snow tourism demand of consumers can be better met. Nevertheless, ice–snow tourism activities in many destinations are monotonous [17]. Therefore, we can suppose that the operators need to clearly know whether the availability of activities corresponds with the target consumers’ tourism willingness, and research needs to provide information for them. However, finding relevant information is still not easy. This study is devoted to providing some bases for operators responding to consumers’ willingness by setting appropriate activities.

3. Research Method

3.1. Theoretical Framework

Market response is a process that consists of obtaining information from market and, on that basis, developing products, conveying product information to potential consumers, understanding their consumption willingness, and, on that basis, perfecting the product and further enhancing their consumption willingness with higher quality products [57]. So does market positioning, which is the underlying process of utilizing and transforming the information [58]. This study focuses on the market responses to ice–snow destinations. This requires the study to answer to whom, to what demand, and through what are the responses. These are closely related to the customer, demand, and service positioning. Here, we refer to market positioning theory. According to the theory [59], through implanting a proper product positioning into the prospect’s mind, the prospect’s consumption willingness can be induced; then, operators need to understand the prospect’s actual willingness to optimize the products, thereby enhancing the prospect’s willingness. Building a position in the prospect’s mind and then enhancing it is the most essential [60]; this can effectively foster a competitive advantage of the products [61]. Acquiring the prospect’s consumption willingness can provide strong support for managers to make or optimize positioning strategies [62]. For the study areas, a variety of ice–snow tourism products exist, and market positioning will steer operators to put emphasis on some at the expense of others [63] to better meet potential tourists’ willingness. Following the market positioning theory, this study addresses the question of how to increase visitors to ice–snow destinations through appropriate positioning, responding to the demand of promising potential markets.

Proper market positioning raises consumption willingness of potential consumers [63]. In the study areas, the current market positioning is diversified, and this reflects the diverse tourism activities and service prices. Exploring to what degree the current positioning induces the prospect’s tourism willingness when the positioning information is conveyed to the prospect contributes to finding out if the expected effects of positioning are being attained [64]. Identifying which positioning can induce the prospect’s more ice–snow tourism willingness helps to optimize the market positioning to form optimal structures of ice–snow tourism activities and service prices in the study areas. Furthermore, the more optimal, the more the market positioning enhances the prospect’s tourism willingness in turn. Thus, the market response of the destination achieves improvement. Therefore, we set up a framework for analyzing the market response of the destination to promising potential tourists’ willingness (Figure 1).

3.2. Selecting Study Areas

The annual snow cover in northeast Inner Mongolia lasts more than 160 days, which is the highest in China. Inner Mongolia also has the largest area of snow depth above 20 cm [65]. Overall, its ice–snow period can reach seven months of abundant snowfall [66]. Inner Mongolia has diverse climates and ecosystems, providing a wide variety of ice–snow tourism resources [67] and good traffic [11]. Arxan in Inner Mongolia was one of China’s first ski destinations [65].

However, Inner Mongolia generates only three million ice–snow tourist visits annually [66]. This number is relatively small compared to nationwide tourist visits of 305 million. Thus, we investigated how to increase visits to this region. We focused on tourists from China’s more affluent south, who may visit more often and stay longer. National parks have great potential for ice–snow tourism due to their ecological and landscape value. China is currently demarcating and establishing national parks, and Inner Mongolia has at least five candidate national parks (CNPs) (Figure 2). These five regions have different ice and snow landscapes and tourism experience potential. This study adopted them due to their ecological diversity.

3.3. Summarizing Ice–Snow Tourism Activities

To preserve memories, tourists take photos at the destination [68]. The picture classification method is effective in analyzing basic information on tourism destinations [69]. From the official websites of the study areas and the tourism websites of Ctrip, Mafengwo, and Sohu, the authors found and downloaded 461 pictures with clear geolocation information, showing distinct ice–snow tourism activities in the same or different sites or the same kind of activities in different sites. Then, based on the images, ice–snow activities depicted were classified into 10 main categories and 51 subcategories. Figure 3 shows examples of images representing ice–snow tourism. One hundred more pictures from the above websites were classified to ensure data saturation. Five more subcategories of ice–snow tourism activities were newly discovered (

Table 1. The categorizing results of ice–snow tourism activities.

Main Category	Subcategory/Number of Pictures	Total Number of Pictures
Ice and snow sightseeing (X′1)	(1) Appreciating natural snowscape/125; (2) appreciating architecture in snowfield/62; (3) appreciating ice and snow sculptures/49; (4) appreciating animals in snowfield/27; (5) appreciating natural ice–snow scenery/25; (6) appreciating natural icescape/10; (7) appreciating other distinct scenery in ice and snowfield/8; (8) appreciating artificial landscape decoration in snowfield/2; (9) appreciating manufacturing facilities in snow-fields */2	310
Ice–snow entertainment (X′2)	(1) Gliding in snowfield with unpowered equipment /26; (2) snowmobiling/24; (3) gliding on ice with unpowered equipment/17; (4) playing with snow/15; (5) ice gaming/7; (6) making snowmen/5; (7) roaming on ice/3; (8) snow gaming/3; (9) playing with hovercraft on ice */2; (10) touching ice/1; (11) other entertainment in snowfield/9	112
Watching ice and snow performance (X′3)	(1) Watching ice and snow folk show/35; (2) watching ice and snow art show/14; (3) watching ice and snow sport skill show/8; (4) watching fireworks display in ice and snow field/3	60
Doing ice–snow sports (X′4)	(1) Snow skiing/18; (2) snow hiking/8; (3) playing ball game in snowfield/6; (4) skating/3; (5) winter swimming/3; (6) playing ball game on ice/2; (7) other ice and snow sport/3	43
Ice–snow custom experience (X′5)	(1) Enjoying livestock sledding/19; (2) feeding animals in snowfield/4; (3) enjoying folk game in snowfield/3; (4) riding horse in snowfield/3; (5) riding camel in snowfield/2; (6) taking part in bonfire party in snowfield/2; (7) experiencing unique living facilities in snowfield/2; (8) experiencing opening up ice path */1; (9) experiencing other folk customs in snowfield/6	42
Experiencing ice–snow events (X′6)	(1) Experiencing ice and snow sports events/17; (2) experiencing local traditional ice and snow festivals/10; (3) experiencing ice and snow tourism cultural festivals/9	36
Posing for photographs in frigid air (X′7)	(1) Posing for photographs with snowscape/20; (2) posing for photographs with icescape/4; (3) posing for photographs with ice–snow scenery/2	26
Gourmet experiences in snow (X′8)	(1) Having hot pot in snowfield/5; (2) having a picnic in snowfield/4; (3) tasting ethnic cuisine/2; (4) enjoying frozen fruit */1	12
Enjoying ice–snow hot spring (X′9)	(1) Enjoying open-air hot spring in snowfield/8; (2) enjoying semi-open-air hot spring in snowfield */2	10
Other recreations (X′10)	(1) Experiencing unique ice and snow facility /5; (2) experiencing logging in snowfield/3; (3) camping in snowfield/1; (4) creating ice and snow artwork/1	10

Note: * represents that the activity is increased in the process of saturation test.

). Since the previous categorization results had been incomplete, another 100 pictures were gathered, and no new categories were identified, indicating saturation.

3.4. Investigating Respondents’ Ice–Snow Tourism Willingness after the Winter Olympics

This study sampled respondents from residents south of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province. The survey covered the respondents’ interest in participating in each ice–snow activity (mentioned in Table 1) in the study areas (X1, X2, …, X10); their overall willingness to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism (W1); how they were affected by the Beijing Winter Olympics (E); their willingness to pay for ice–snow tourism in the study areas (W2); and demographic information such as gender, age, and occupation. Respondents were asked to assign subjective values for the first three items and choose from options for willingness to pay for the fourth. Referring to relevant research [70], a 10-point linear scale with equidistant and subjective values was used.

In March and April, after the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, a survey was conducted among residents of Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang, south of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province. First, 40 student volunteers in 6 classes who were, respectively, from the above-mentioned places (eight students for each place) were selected and mobilized to implement the survey among their voluntary family members and relatives. Ten questionnaires were allocated to each student. In order to explain the questions, procedures, requirements, and voluntariness of this survey, an explanation session was held in advance. Ten questionnaires completed by each student were required, which differed in respondent’s age, gender, or career. The students were asked to conduct the survey one-on-one when they went home on the weekend or during the Qing Ming holiday. Meanwhile, necessary subsidies were provided for the student volunteers. Second, we randomly selected voluntary respondents and conducted a one-to-one survey mainly in parks and food courts of the above places on the weekend, under the condition that the respondents had relatively more free time. During surveying, we also explained the background, questions, and objectives of the survey as much as possible. A total of 150 questionnaires were obtained (30 for each place). Third, after prior communication, we also delivered and received 50 questionnaires (10 for each place) through E-mail, WeChat, and QQ. We tried to improve respondents’ willingness and effectiveness in filling in the questionnaire as follows. The on-site surveys were conducted in respondents’ spare time, and some small gifts (for example, refrigerator magnets, mobile phone accessories, nail scissors, mini staplers, portable disinfectants, and others) were provided, of which respondents were allowed to choose one. Before the survey, the investigator briefly introduced the 10 main categories of ice–snow tourism activities according to the prepared statements to partly arouse respondent’s interest in the survey. For those who received and submitted the questionnaire online, corresponding brief introduction and an explanation of the survey’s importance for us were also sent to them as an attachment with the questionnaire. In total, 120 questionnaires were collected from each city, and 509 valid questionnaires were obtained. Figure 4 shows respondent demographics. The subjective scale reliability coefficient (α value) was 0.863, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test value was 0.913, and the p-value of Bartlett’s test of sphericity was less than 0.001. The survey results passed reliability and validity tests.

3.5. Analyzing the Effects of Tourism Activities on Inducing Respondents’ Willingness

(1) First, with Stata 17, OLS regression was performed using Equation (1) to analyze the average effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable.

$$W{1}_i=C+{\lambda }_{1}X{1}_i+{\lambda }_{2}X{2}_i+\cdots +{\lambda }_{10}X{10}_i+{\epsilon }_i.$$

(1)

In Equation (1), W1_i represents the ith respondent’s overall willingness to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism; C is the constant of the regression model; X1_i, X2_i, …, X10_i separately represent the ith respondent’s willingness to participate in the first, second, …, tenth category of ice–snow tourism activity (expressed as X′1, X′2, …, X′10, as mentioned above); and ε_i is the stochastic disturbance.

(2) Quantile regression analysis reflects the different effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable when the value of the dependent variable is different [71]. For this reason, at the quantiles of 0.1, 0.2, …, 0.9, the quantile regression was made through Equations (2) and (3) to analyze differences in the inducing effects of each category of ice–snow tourism activity on ice–snow tourism willingness for Southerners with either higher or lower initial willingness.

$$Quan{t}_p\left(W{1}_i|F_i\right)={\beta }^p{F}_i$$

(2)

$${\beta }^p=argmin\left\{{\displaystyle \sum }_{i,W{1}_i\ge F_i{\beta }^p}p\left|W{1}_i-F_i{\beta }^p\right|+{\displaystyle \sum }_{i,W{1}_i<F_i{\beta }^p}\left(1-p\right)\left|W{1}_i-F_i{\beta }^p\right|\right\}$$

(3)

In Equations (2) and (3), Quantp(W1_i∣F_i) represents the value of the dependent variable W1i, given the independent variable Fi, at the p quantile. F_i = (X1_i, X2_i, …, X10_i) is the set of independent variables. β^p is the regression coefficient vector at the p quantile in the regression model (10 × 1 row vector).

3.6. Analyzing Tourism Activities’ Availability Effects on Meeting Respondents’ Willingness

3.6.1. Analyzing the Effects of the Number of Available Tourism Activities

We interviewed 10 clients from Yutong, Dongfang, Hengda, Mengzhiqing, and Kanghui Travel Agencies in person; 4 clients from Lantian and Damofengqing Travel Agencies; and 6 self-employed guides online during the 2022 summer vacation season. The interviewees were asked to rank the above ten categories of ice–snow tourism activities according to the number of each category of activities in the study areas. For each category of activities, the mean of the ranks given by all interviewees was used to measure the availability of the corresponding tourism activities. Referring to relevant research [72], Equation (4) was used to calculate the consistency degree between the availability of specific categories of ice–snow tourism activities and respondents’ willingness to participate in the corresponding activities. Based on the calculated results, this study judged the supporting effects of the availability of ice–snow tourism activities on meeting respondents’ ice–snow tourism willingness.

$$M_j=1-\frac{\left|x_j-w_j\right|}{10-1}(j=1,2,\dots ,10).$$

(4)

In Equation (4), M_j represents, for the jth category of ice–snow tourism activities, the consistency degree between the availability of this category of activities and the respondents’ willingness to experience the corresponding activities; x_j is the availability rank of the jth category of activities; and w_j is the rank of respondents’ willingness to experience the jth category of activities.

3.6.2. Analyzing the Effects of the Expenses for Available Tourism Activities

The necessary expenses support individuals traveling to destinations and gaining experiences. The analysis took the average cost of respondents traveling to the study areas for a relatively satisfactory ice–snow tour as respondents’ per capita common expenditure standard. The typical required expenditure consists of round-trip transportation expenses and expenses at destinations. By querying the prices of discount airline tickets and other related expenses through Ctrip, separately from the region where the respondents live to Hulunbuir, Xingan League, Ordos, and Alxa Left Banner, the average round-trip transportation cost, which includes airfare and connection charges, was estimated. Every interviewee mentioned above provided an estimated value of per capita basic expenses for a satisfactory stay at destinations. The average value among the interviewees’ estimates was calculated as the essential standard for per capita expenses at destinations. By comparing the required expenditure with respondents’ payment willingness (W2), this study analyzed the supporting effects of respondents’ payment willingness on their tour to study areas and getting prospective experiences.

4. Result and Analysis

4.1. Respondents’ Willingness to Travel to the Study Areas for Ice–Snow Tourism

The Winter Olympics has been encouraging Southerners to travel to the north for ice–snow tourism, and the correlation coefficient between E and W1 is 0.16 (p < 0.001). The mean value of the respondents’ overall willingness to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism was 6.52, at the upper–middle level. Enhancing the willingness of Southerners to engage in ice–snow tourism while promoting its nationwide development is certainly possible.

Table 2. The respondents’ willingness to experience different activities and associated coefficients.

Variable	Willingness	Dispersion Coefficient of Willingness	Correlation Coefficient with E	OLS Regression Analysis Result Taking W1 as the Dependent Variable
				Coefficient	Std. Err.	T Value	VIF
X1	5.778	0.494	0.097 **	0.127 ***	0.023	5.49	1.63
X2	5.686	0.498	0.072	0.083 ***	0.022	3.85	1.39
X3	5.124	0.557	0.089 **	0.117 ***	0.021	5.57	1.34
X4	5.458	0.510	0.142 ***	0.078 **	0.023	3.31	1.58
X5	5.923	0.477	0.073 *	0.144 ***	0.022	6.64	1.41
X6	5.141	0.545	0.080 *	0.121 ***	0.022	5.62	1.36
X7	4.809	0.578	0.073	0.056 *	0.023	2.40	1.56
X8	6.175	0.459	0.132 ***	0.148 ***	0.023	6.39	1.61
X9	6.159	0.476	0.059	0.183 ***	0.023	7.97	1.69
X10	4.528	0.583	0.091 **	0.037	0.023	1.63	1.36
Constant	-	-	-	0.340 *	0.166	2.05	-

Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001; R² for OLS regression is 0.7583; E represents the degree to which the Winter Olympics influenced the respondent; W1 represents the respondent’s overall willingness to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism.

displays the respondents’ preferences for different categories of ice–snow tourism activities. Their average willingness to experience gourmet food in the snowfield is the strongest, followed in turn by their average willingness to experience hot springs, folk customs, scenery, and entertainment. However, their average willingness to engage in ice–snow sports, experience events, and watch performances is weaker. Moreover, their interest is weakest in traveling specifically to photograph themselves in creative poses in exotic ice–snow scenery and engaging in other special recreation (such as logging or camping in snowfields). For specific categories of ice–snow tourism activities showing a higher mean willingness to participate, the dispersion coefficient degree of respondents’ willingness to experience was also smaller, and vice versa, demonstrating that different individuals’ preferences for these activities are relatively consistent.

4.2. Effects on Inducing Respondents’ Ice–Snow Tourism Willingness

4.2.1. Effects of Each Category of Activities in General

The OLS regression analysis showed that the VIF (variance inflation factor) value of each variable was less than 5, as shown in Table 2. The results confirm no multicollinearity between the independent variables. Therefore, this regression analysis was reliable. The OLS regression model explained 75.83% of the variation in the respondents’ willingness to experience ice–snow tourism.

The following conclusions were drawn from the OLS regression analysis results, as shown in Table 2. (1) As mentioned in relevant research, most tourists focus on pursuing leisure and enjoyment [73]. Leisure and enjoyment, cultural experiences, and scenery appreciation were the main factors driving respondents to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism. Among the 10 categories of tourism activities, the above factors are better reflected in the following activities: enjoying ice–snow hot springs, experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, experiencing ice–snow folk customs, appreciating ice–snow scenes, being involved in ice–snow events, and watching ice–snow performances. (2) Ice–snow entertainment often has the characteristics of a micro-experience (an impromptu or relatively brief experience), for example, snowtubing and snowball fighting. Thus, ice–snow entertainment is less effective in encouraging Southerners to spend time and money traveling to the study areas for tourism. Posing for photographs in ice and snow fields has prominent micro-experience characteristics, and a driving effect on respondents’ ice–snow tourism willingness is not apparent. (3) Although the Winter Olympics have promoted Southerners’ willingness to engage in ice–snow sports, skill difficulties and psychological fear of difficulty still hinder their participation [74]. At present, ice–snow sports weakly drive Southerners’ willingness to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism. However, some tourism projects lacking entry thresholds for tourists to participate can drive Southerners’ willingness more effectively, such as experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, enjoying ice–snow hot springs, and experiencing ice–snow customs. (4) Other noteworthy ice–snow recreation avenues are non-mainstream and cannot yet effectively drive Southerners’ tourism willingness—for example, camping in a snowfield and icehouse lodging are only niche activities at present, not the primary travel purposes of most tourists.

4.2.2. Activity Category Effects by Respondent Willingness Level

We drew an important conclusion based on the quantile regression analysis results, as shown in Figure 5. To further drive the primary target customers to visit the ice–snow destinations, tourism operations, and marketing in the study areas should primarily focus on the following five categories of tourism activities: enjoying ice–snow hot springs, experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, experiencing ice–snow customs, watching ice–snow performances, and experiencing ice–snow events. Figure 5e–h shows that for those whose ice–snow tourism willingness is moderate to strong, the above five categories of tourism activities more prominently drive their willingness to travel to the study areas specifically for ice–snow tourism. These individuals account for a considerable proportion of the respondents and are more likely to travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism. They are the primary target customers for ice–snow tourism operators trying to expand southern markets. Similarly, services for tourists playing ice–snow sports, engaging in ice–snow entertainment, and appreciating ice–snow scenery should be regarded as ancillary in tourism operations and marketing in the study areas. For those who have the strongest ice–snow tourism willingness, the driving effects of most activity categories are not significant, and the effects of a few categories approached significance (Figure 5i); these individuals perhaps have other prominent personalized demands for ice–snow tourism. As it is difficult to identify and satisfy the varied personal demands of tourists, operators in the study areas cannot easily consider such individuals as major target customers and implement corresponding marketing strategies. For those who have weaker ice–snow tourism willingness, ice–snow sightseeing has a relatively prominent driving effect (Figure 5a–d); the possibility that these kinds of individuals will travel to the study areas for ice–snow tourism is smaller. Therefore, enhancing their corresponding willingness is more important. For long-term development while expanding the ice–snow tourism market in the south, operators may deliver ice–snow landscape images and tourism activities information to them to promote their ice–snow tourism willingness.

4.3. Effects on Meeting Respondents’ Ice–Snow Tourism Willingness

4.3.1. Effects of the Number of Available Tourism Activities

Table 3. Consistency between activities availability across types and respondents’ willingness to experience corresponding activities.

Tourism Activities	Ranking Supply	Ranking Market Willingness	Ranking Consistency Degree	Adjustment Direction
X′1	1	4	0.667	↓
X′2	2	5	0.667	↓
X′3	3	8	0.444	↓
X′4	4	6	0.778	↓
X′5	5	3	0.778	↑
X′6	6	7	0.889	↓
X′7	7	9	0.778	↓
X′8	8	1	0.222	↑
X′9	9	2	0.222	↑
X′10	10	10	1.000	→

Note: ↓ represents service supply for this kind of activities being relatively abundance; ↑ represents corresponding supply lagging behind relatively; → represents corresponding supply being roughly moderate.

shows the rankings of different activities’ availability and respondents’ willingness to participate in them. Based on the ranking results, the following conclusions were drawn. (1) In the study areas, the availability of the following three categories of tourism activities comparatively lags behind respondents’ tourism willingness: experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, enjoying ice–snow hot springs, and experiencing ice–snow customs—the availability of the first two categories lags largely. This factor will detract Southerners from fulfilling their desire to participate in the above three categories of activities. Thus, operators should strengthen the availability of these activities to attract them. (2) Regarding the willingness of Southerners to participate, the availability of the following six categories of activities is relatively sufficient: watching ice–snow performances, appreciating ice–snow scenes, experiencing ice–snow entertainment, doing ice–snow sports, posing for photographs in ice and snow fields, and experiencing ice–snow events. Thus, increasing service quality rather than expanding service availability should be the focus of these activities. (3) Other “special” ice–snow recreations generally correspond to small niche markets, low availability, and weak desire. In these areas, managers need not focus on expanding supply but should first identify promising areas and foster the demand for them.

4.3.2. Effects of Required Expenses for Available Tourism Activities

(1)

Required expenses per capita

Concerning the method mentioned above, the average round-trip transportation cost from respondents’ places of residence to the study areas was found to be approximately 2050 CYN. Based on the interviewees’ opinions, in a per capita travel duration (4.91 days) of nationwide ice–snow tourists [9], for a satisfactory tourist experience at destinations, about 10 tourist activities should be engaged in, and over half of them should be generally preferred activities. Based on the ranking of respondents’ willingness for different categories of activities, each interviewee estimated the generally required per capita expenses covering the costs of participating in tourism activities, accommodation, internal transportation, and other costs of living at a basic level. The interviewees’ average estimate was 2,880 CNY. This figure represented the typical required expense amount per capita at the destinations. The sum of the generally required expenses per capita for respondents traveling to the study areas for ice–snow tourism was approximately 4930 CNY.

(2)

Respondents’ willingness to pay

The investigation results demonstrate the following breakdown of respondents across levels of willingness to pay (W2): for W2 < 2000 CNY, 2000 CNY ≤ W2 < 4000 CNY, 4000 CNY ≤ W2 < 6000 CNY, 6000 CNY ≤ W2 < 8000 CNY, 8000 CNY ≤ W2 < 10,000 CNY, and W2 ≥ 10,000 CNY, respectively, 15.91%, 23.38%, 28.49%, 15.91%, 9.63%, and 6.68% of all respondents. During the 2021–2022 ice–snow season, Chinese ice–snow tourists spent approximately 4,490 CNY per capita on each trip, and 39% of the tourists spent more than 5000 CNY per capita on one ice and snow trip [9]. Respondents’ willingness to pay was relatively close to the actual per capita spending shown in the above data.

(3)

Effects of a reasonable composition of expense levels for available tourism activities

The findings were as follows. (1) The standard of per capita expenses for satisfying experiences in the study areas is beyond, around, and below the payment willingness of 39.29%, 28.49%, and 32.22% of respondents, respectively. To better meet the interests of the southern market, based on the current supply, ice–snow tourism services requiring different expenses can be developed according to the above payment willingness. (2) To further expand the southern market, some ice–snow tourism activities should be available by spending less than the current typical expenses. Ice–snow tourism experiences relying on traditional villages could decrease tourist expenses due to lower land, material, and labor costs. (3) A 0.366 (p < 0.001) correlation was detected between the levels of respondents’ willingness to pay (indicated by ranking value) and their overall ice–snow tourism willingness, showing that respondents willing to pay more (32.22%) are also the potential tourists most likely to travel to the study areas. A corresponding proportion of ice–snow tourism activities with high-quality services for appropriately high fees should also be available to meet the experience demand of those willing to pay more.

5. Discussion and Conclusion

5.1. Discussion

5.1.1. Marketing Ice–Snow Tourism to Vitalize Winter Destinations in the North

A positive impact of the Winter Olympics on potential tourists’ ice–snow tourism willingness was found in this study. This also provides more evidence for previous research results [75]. In order to make full use of the mega-event’s legacy, marketing ice–snow tourism based on its impact is required [1]. Understanding potential tourists’ willingness is vital to make effective market strategies [76]. This study focuses on this and is conducive to addressing the prominent issues in the ice–snow tourism development in the north, i.e., seasonal and sustainable problems [37,54].

First, the harsh winter in the north is actually long, and many tourism facilities only run in summer [33]. As previously mentioned, this brings difficulties to destination operation. Therefore, ice–snow tourism is of great significance for northern destinations [32]. However, compared with summer tourism, the marketing of winter tourism lags behind. This study attempts to aid northern destinations in forming effective market strategies based on potential tourists’ willingness. Existing research shows that tourism seasonality caused by the limitation of tourist activities and more opportunities for various tourist activities contribute to alleviating seasonality problems [55]. This study provides insight into the ice–snow tourism activities that can be conducted at the destinations (Table 1) and the Southerners’ demands for them (Table 2), which can provide references for operators in northern destinations diversifying their services to cope with seasonality to some degree.

Second, the sustainable operation of some ski resorts is threatened by climate change or by ski resorts of greater size [54]. If they are unable to continue operating, do they have other alternatives? Through the analysis in this study, we can draw a similar conclusion to previous studies [77,78]: a wide range of activities are helpful in dealing with the problems of sustainable operation. In fact, some ice–snow tourism activities are more suitable to be carried out in warmer and less snowy conditions, for example, scenic driving, hiking, and wildlife viewing [12]. Various activities presented in this study can provide alternatives for operators who need to change their business to achieve sustainable operation.

5.1.2. Marketing to Induce Southerners’ Ice–Snow Tourism Willingness

This study found that Southerners’ willingness to engage in ice–snow tourism is not yet prominent (the mean value was 6.52 in a range of 1 to 10), with a relatively large promotion space. As mentioned above, southern China is the primary source of domestic ice–snow tourists. Meanwhile, the development of ice–snow tourism mainly depends on the domestic market [18]; even in the world-renowned ice–snow tourism destination of Voss in Norway, inbound tourists account for only 13% of the total number of tourists [79]. Therefore, further inducing Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness is very necessary. This study contributes to this in the following aspects.

The inducing effect of different activities on Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness is discerned in this study (Figure 5). This provides the basis for ice–snow tourism operators positioning their service. (1) Enterprises need mainly focus their operation and marketing on the following tourism activities to expand the southern market: experiencing ice–snow hot springs, gourmet food in snowfields, ice–snow customs, ice–snow performances, and ice–snow events, which are more closely related to leisure, enjoyment, and cultural experiences, and have prominent driving effects on the ice–snow tourism willingness of those Southerners who are more likely to travel to the destinations. An unexpected finding is that gourmet food in snowfields has a salient inducing effect on Southerners’ willingness to experience. This is consistent with an existing research result: dining experience is the most outstanding demand of tourists [80]. (2) When marketing in the south, publicizing ice–snow tourism activities characterized by micro-experiences (such as ice–snow entertainment mentioned above) and non-mainstream experiences (other recreations mentioned above) may be less productive because they have no prominent effects on Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness. (3) This study indicates that ice–snow sightseeing has less driving effect on those Southerners who have stronger ice–snow tourism willingness. Perhaps we can find an explanation for this in related research [38], which indicates that the harsh climate stifles demand for independent travel. Given that static sightseeing produces lower carbon emissions [81], operators promoting ice–snow sightseeing in southern markets is still meaningful.

This study finds that the inducing effect of ice–snow sports on Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness is weaker. In reality, most ice–snow tourists are non-skiers, and non-skiers expect relaxing activities in ice–snow environments and prefer passive relaxation [14]. Previous research also indicates that more tourists seek a composite experience of leisure, enjoyment, culture, and other activities at ice–snow tourism destinations [43]. The present study confirms these research results again. Therefore, taking ice–snow sports as the major positioning at present to attract Southerners will be ineffective. However, many northern destinations present ice–snow sports as their primary operational content. For example, among the study areas, Arxan and Hulunbuir are being presented as “the township of ice–snow sports” and “the internationally famous city for ice–snow sports,” respectively. Furthermore, non-athletic ice–snow tourism activities have received less attention from researchers [15]. This study is helpful for ski resort operators to diversify services to enhance their attractiveness to Southerners. This contributes to partly reducing homogeneous competition among ski resorts. On the other hand, the proportion of skiers in the Chinese population is small relative to other countries [4,82]. Hence, winter sports also have huge market potential in China [83]. The status of Southerners’ willingness to engage in ice–snow sports shown in this study helps to arouse the operators’ awareness to cultivate Southerners’ demands for ice–snow sports. The market strategy may include lowering thresholds by extending ice–snow sports training and organizing services southward, promoting ice–snow sports culture, and holding ice–snow sports exhibitions.

From this study, we can posit that compared with ski resorts, potential tourists’ preferred projects need less investment in fact. This is helpful for many small enterprises to position their development and operation. According to Southerners’ preferred activities mentioned above, we can posit that leisure and distinct life experience in ice–snow background is charming for them. As mentioned in existing research, participating in a unique life is one of tourists’ favorite experiences [16]. The destination can establish its winter living culture relying on a different environment [84] to induce Southerners’ ice–snow tourism willingness well. This study helps to arouse operators’ cognitions, thereby contributing to addressing the following problems: local ice–snow cultural characteristics have not been fully reflected, and ice–snow tourism products are homogeneous in different destinations [31].

5.1.3. Market Strategies for Meeting Southerners’ Ice–Snow Tourism Willingness

Properly positioning product structures (adjusting supply as appropriate and configuring activities appropriately for a corresponding market segment) is conducive to better responding to the market demands of Southerners, but this requires a reference basis. This study can partly provide such a basis. Accordingly, operators should increase the selection of services experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, enjoying ice–snow hot springs, and experiencing ice–snow customs, as, compared with Southerners’ demands and other ice–snow tourism services, their supply is currently lagging behind (Table 3). However, for the objects of experiences that are supplied relatively sufficiently, including performances, scenery, entertainment, sports, and events, operators instead need to improve the quality of the corresponding supplies to meet target consumers’ tourism willingness well, inducing positive feelings of them. The strategy will contribute to improving the service efficiency of ice–snow destinations, enable Southerners to achieve preferred experiences, and attract more Southerners. Nevertheless, the mismatching between supply and demand would result in resource waste [20]. This strategy will also contribute to addressing this problem.

According to existing research, we need to make some extra explanations in the following aspects. (1) Non-mainstream services mentioned in this study are likely to show some novelty, for example, ice house accommodation and creating ice and snow artwork (mentioned in Table 1). Related research shows that some innovative services can meet tourists’ new demands [32] and can be regarded as a pull factor for additional tourists [77]. Therefore, for non-mainstream services, operators should select and develop promising ones to promote new growth points. As mentioned in a related study [23], boredom is a problem in some ice–snow destinations, and the availability of innovative activities is helpful in dealing with this problem. (2) For ice–snow sport tourism, relatively speaking, the market is saturated with homogeneous competitors. Previous research also offers some ways to address this issue. For instance, ice–snow sports tourism could be combined with gourmet food experiences, specialty shopping, and customs in different places to create new and unique experiences for tourists [85]. This strategy is helpful in differentiating ice–snow sports sites and stopping them from becoming interchangeable [86]. (3) According to existing research, Southerners’ ice–snow sightseeing willingness will perhaps be stifled by the rough climate; however, if organizing and guiding services are offered, tourists’ willingness could be better met [38].

Price positioning greatly impacts tourists’ satisfaction with a destination [24]. Operators need to understand potential tourists’ economic status to carry out diverse market segmentation strategies [22]. This study also provides insight into Southerners’ payment willingness, which can offer relevant knowledge to operators. Based on this, effective market strategies in terms of price can be proposed. Operators should set and promote operational content primarily around the expense level (about 4000 CNY, as previously mentioned) so that high fees will not be an obstacle. Those with higher expense expectations account for about one-third, with these being the most likely to become winter tourists. This can provide a reference for operators to choose the proportion of services for high price positioning, and the services should be valuable for money [13]. In order to respond to Southerners’ demands from a price perspective, a strategy for customized services can also be thought of based on the finding that payment willingness differed significantly among respondents and the finding from our field investigation showing that suppliers famous on websites charge more, but those whose quality is unknown and with lower prices are idle. In addition, related research also suggests a dynamic pricing strategy [42] based on facility utilization status. These strategies help to enhance the market adaptability of ice–snow destinations in southern markets and enlarge the market scale of ice–snow tourism.

5.2. Theoretical Contributions

Ice–snow tourism is growing in China [3], and successful development models are highly requested, which depend on whether the ice–snow tourism products satisfy consumer demand [24]. However, the mismatch between product supply and demand frequently happens [20], and many ice–snow tourists’ willingness is not met [14]. The objective of market positioning is to promote people’s consumption willingness with appropriate products and improve the product supply based on consumers’ demand [59]. Therefore, a proper market positioning model helps to match supply with demand. This study contributes to formulating a sound market positioning model for ice–snow destinations. Through inducing consumption willingness and better satisfying it, the model is devoted to appropriately matching ice–snow tourism supplies with promising potential tourists’ demand, thereby promoting market response to ice–snow destinations.

Through exploring the market positioning mode, this study also provokes some contemplations and clarifications. First, numerous studies reveal the threats of climate change on ice–snow tourism. Primarily, the conditions for many ice–snow tourism activities will deteriorate due to a warming climate [35]; skiing services are facing serious challenges [37], and the overnight stays of skiers will decrease greatly [87]. This seems to lead to some pessimism about ice–snow tourism. Meanwhile, existing research indicates that a variety of ice–snow tourism activities contribute to addressing climate change [78]. Based on insight into diversified activities and potential tourists’ willingness for them, this study helps to raise awareness that abundant development opportunities still exist in the background of climate change. Second, ice–snow sports are the main activities in many destinations [53], and the existing studies are also mainly relevant to ice–snow sports [15]; tourists’ willingness for non-skiing activities does not receive enough attention [14]. However, this study indicates that this is not in line with the major demand of potential tourists. The research result may lead to the orientation change of some research in the future. Additionally, cognitive limitation on attractions in ice–snow destinations exists in reality [16]. By comparing the popularity of diversified ice–snow activities, this study helps to broaden relevant awareness. Third, relevant research indicates that winter living based on unique culture endows ice–snow destinations with glamour [84] and provokes tourists’ interest [16]. Furthermore, we find that most tourists seek leisure living experiences in ice–snow environments, and relevant leisure living elements also always reflect ice–snow culture. However, local ice–snow culture has not been fully exploited in many destinations [31]. Therefore, this study is expected to initiate more relevant discussion focusing on local ice–snow culture and more opinions on ice–snow tourism differentiated development based on local unique cultures.

5.3. Conclusions

As the main tourist source in China, Southerners’ enthusiasm for ice–snow tourism has been aroused by the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. This is an important intangible legacy of this mega-event. Candidate national parks in Inner Mongolia were chosen as destinations to investigate available ice–snow tourism activities and, on this basis, explore Southerners’ participation willingness.

There are mainly 10 types of activities in the destinations. Among them, enjoying ice–snow hot springs, experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, experiencing ice–snow customs, watching ice–snow performances, and experiencing ice–snow events have prominent effects on promising potential tourists’ ice–snow tourism willingness. This also indicates that leisure, enjoyment, and cultural experience are the main factors driving Southerners to engage in ice–snow tourism. Ice–snow entertainment, sports, and sightseeing play a limited inducing effect, and posing for photographs in ice–snow fields and other recreations play an inapparent inducing effect on promising potential tourists’ willingness to engage in ice–snow tourism.

Compared with Southerners’ demands and other activities availability, services for experiencing gourmet food in snowfields, enjoying ice–snow hot springs, and experiencing ice–snow customs comparatively lag behind. The availability of other special recreations is low; meanwhile, tourists’ demand for them is equally weak. For other ice–snow activities, the service supplies are relatively sufficient. Currently, the expense requirement of a satisfying ice–snow tourism experience at destinations is roughly beyond, around, and below the payment willingness of four-tenths, three-tenths, and three-tenths of respondents, respectively.

This result can provide valuable references for ice–snow destinations to better respond to market willingness through appropriate positioning.

5.4. Limitations

For ice–snow tourism activities in specific destinations, actual visitors’ willingness to join is perhaps different from the willingness of individuals in tourist source regions who have not visited the site. Selecting respondents among current visitors from the south in the study areas will be essential in future research. Moreover, this study only investigated the willingness of residents living in southern Jiangsu Province to engage in ice–snow tourism. Selecting and comparing respondents from across southern China is required. In addition, ice–snow tourism destinations are also being developed in some mountain regions in southern China because of the lower travel costs for Southerners. Their willingness to travel to these destinations may differ from more distant northern destinations. However, this topic was not discussed and needs to be further explored.