2016It is destined to be a big year for sports. In the coming hot summer, besides the highly anticipated2016Rio de Janeiro Olympics, there will soon be another visual feast of athletic competition—8August28, the 3rd China·Inner Mongolia International Equestrian Festival will open in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia (hereinafter referred to as the “International Equestrian Festival”).
2016In5August15, a press conference for the International Equestrian Festival was held in Beijing by the Sports Bureau of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
In2014, Inner Mongolia hosted its first Equestrian Festival. This year marks the third edition, but it is an unusual one and also a brand-new start. That’s because Inner Mongolia has given the Equestrian Festival a comprehensive upgrade.
Whether in terms of integrated resources, innovation, market-oriented approaches, or execution, it can be called a pioneering move, and it is a massive and innovative project led by the government in the realm of the sports industry.
Firstly, it shows “foresight and bold innovation” in planning.
Tan Jingfeng, Director of the Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, said at the press conference: The 3rd Inner Mongolia Equestrian Festival will expand its scope and depth, inviting equestrian enthusiasts from neighboring countries and regions to participate together. A series of events will organically blend international quality with ethnic characteristics to create an international equestrian brand for Inner Mongolia.
The eight words “expand its scope and depth” mentioned by Director Tan actually encompass a huge integrated volume and forward-thinking innovative thinking, which can be said to be unprecedented.
First, this Equestrian Festival integrates almost all competitions and activities related to equestrian sports in the autonomous region, including the Inner Mongolia Equestrian Competition, Ordos International Nadam Fair, International Speed Horse Grand Prix, and China Horse Capital Racing Festival. Moreover, the time span of the Equestrian Festival runs throughout the year, which means that the festival is no longer just a typical carnival in the conventional sense.
At the same time, cultural activities have been planned around the equestrian sports industry, such as the Equestrian Industry Summit Forum, Equestrian Festival Fashion Design Competition, Photography Competition, Calligraphy, Painting and Sculpture Competition, and Equestrian Equipment Exhibition.
At the press conference, Director Tan expressed the vision for the development of Inner Mongolia’s equestrian sports industry: With the theme of “showcasing the charm of equestrian competitions, promoting the progress of ethnic sports, and driving the development of the sports industry,” this year will focus on competitions, adopting a “sports industry+& equestrian industry” development model to build a strategic brand group led by the Inner Mongolia International Equestrian Festival, and establish a development framework covering horse breeding, selection, training, racing, appreciation, equestrian industry development, and the promotion of horse culture.
This is a new approach to developing the sports industry by integrating current realities with future prospects and leveraging mutual strengths for common growth.
At the same time, based on this, a clear and well-defined implementation strategy has been formulated. Li Zhiyou, Deputy Director of the Autonomous Region Sports Bureau, summarized this as a strategic direction of “popularization, internationalization, digitalization, and diversification.”
Popularization: Besides professional equestrian competitions, the International Equestrian Festival also incorporates many mass-oriented sports events and activities, aiming to allow the public to not only watch the events but also participate, turning spectators into participants.
Internationalization: The plan is to introduce more international teams in the future, include some international competitions, adopt relevant international competition rules, and so on. In the future, it is also planned to add branches outside the autonomous region and even abroad, bringing ethnic sports to the international stage and forming a unique equestrian sportsIP.
Digitalization: Gradually improve the strategic plan of “equestrian sports+& internet,” leveraging the advantages of internet communication, big data management, and cross-regional convenience. Truly realize the perfect integration of the International Equestrian Festival with “internet+& sports.”
Diversification: While featuring a variety of exciting sports events, it will also incorporate cultural and industrial development activities related to the equestrian industry.
On the basis of this comprehensive, well-structured, and clear-minded equestrian sports industry development plan, the autonomous region has demonstrated “swift action and decisive implementation” in the specific operation of this year’s International Equestrian Festival.
Regarding the specific measures and progress in the market-oriented operation of this International Equestrian Festival, Fan Chunyang, Director of the Inner Mongolia Shooting, Archery, and Equestrian Sports Management Center, stated: First, a comprehensive brand upgrade, design, and packaging were carried out for the International Equestrian Festival, unifying the visual identity system, event philosophy, and service slogans, with the goal of incorporating the region’s events under a unified brand; second, the launch of “internet+The strategy of "Equestrian Internet" aims to establish a comprehensive online communication platform, including the official website of the International Equestrian Festival, WeChat public account, Weibo, and other online channels, to disseminate information about the festival’s competitions and equestrian culture, thereby achieving full integration between the online internet system and offline events. The next step is to deeply explore big data related to the International Equestrian Festival, collecting and developing operational data on all competition information, athlete profiles, horse data, and more. The goal is to fully develop the International Equestrian Festival into a benchmark for “Internet+Sports.”
Currently, the official website of the International Equestrian Festival, featuring a unified brand identity, along with its WeChat public account and Weibo, have been officially launched.
As the organizer of this edition of the International Equestrian Festival, Inner Mongolia Weibu Sports Industry Co., Ltd.CEOXu Jin stated: For this International Equestrian Festival, the autonomous regional government has built a well-structured sports industry platform, creating an excellent environment for promoting the market-oriented development of the festival. This enables companies engaged in event operations to rely on the leading role of the government during the initial stages of the festival’s operations, while fully leveraging the competitive advantages of private enterprises in the market, thus establishing a positive development space for the future comprehensive commercialization of the International Equestrian Festival.
In fact, the reason why the autonomous region can carry out such large-scale planning and layout for the International Equestrian Festival is the inevitable result of converging many favorable factors—it is truly a case of the right time, the right place, and the right people.
2014Year10month, the State Council issued the "Several Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption" (commonly referred to as:46Document No. ), elevating the sports industry to a national strategy. Inner Mongolia, with its unique natural environmental resources, possesses significant advantages and potential in the development of the sports industry. Seizing this major strategic opportunity to enter the fast track of economic development and achieve leapfrog progress is the right time.
The right place goes without saying—Mongolians are a people of the horseback, possessing unparalleled advantages in the development of equestrian sports. Therefore, in response to the spirit of46Document No. , in2015year9month, the autonomous region’s Sports Bureau issued the "Implementation Opinions of the People's Government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Accelerating the Development of the Sports Industry and Promoting Sports Consumption," which proposed the "Horse" sports brand as one of the key development projects of the autonomous region’s sports initiatives.
The right people is evident from the strategic planning and execution capabilities of the autonomous region’s leadership regarding the International Equestrian Festival. Today, the autonomous region’s Sports Bureau presented the new plan for the "International Equestrian Festival" at the press conference, fully demonstrating the bold reform resolve of its leadership. This is because it represents a completely government-led, systematically comprehensive, large-scale, innovatively advanced, swiftly implemented, and well-organized reform initiative in the sports industry—an extraordinary transformation. It will have a profound impact and serve as a benchmark for the development of Inner Mongolia’s equestrian sports industry, the entire Inner Mongolia sports industry, and even China’s sports industry as a whole. It is worthy of sustained attention and anticipation in the future.