“Not So Thoughtful” Interview – But with a Thoughtful Guest: ALOCS’ Guo Haitao

It’s true—sometimes chasing down interviews with guests can be exhausting, but the moment you receive their reply, all the waiting feels worth it: because what ALOCS General Manager Guo said really moved me, especially since my copy of the Tibet edition of Lonely Planet has been sitting on my bookshelf untouched. — Xiao Niu, Editor

ALOCS

A high-end domestic outdoor cooking and dining brand

By 2010, ALOCS had completed its nationwide distribution network, creating quality products with innovative concepts, high-standard raw materials, and user-friendly designs. Currently, the ALOCS product line is divided into five major categories: cookware, stoves, tableware, campfire gear, and flashlights; in terms of application, it is categorized into three series: hiking, road trips, and leisure travel.

But then, the thoughtful Guo General Manager...

Guo Haitao, General Manager of ALOCS

From an industry insider’s perspective, we at ALOCS hold two views on the relationship between outdoor activities and tourism:

1]Shared origins, interdependent existence

Essentially, both outdoor activities and tourism are about people exploring and discovering the unknown and the new.

Looking at the development process of the two,the outdoor industry places more emphasis on developing individuals’ skills to adapt to the environment, while the tourism industry focuses on commercial services.The development of the tourism industry began with serving the general public, whereas the outdoor industry evolved from the hobbies of some niche early adopters into a full-fledged industry. From the very beginning, the two industries have shared a mutually dependent relationship—like a long train, where the outdoor industry is the locomotive driving progress. Take tourist destinations, for example. When we open a Lonely Planet guidebook to its recommended sights, many of the tourists crowded at those spots were initially drawn by the accounts of lone backpackers. And those backpackers were precisely the early pioneers of the outdoor industry.

Therefore,the growth of the tourism industry stems from the rigid demand of mass consumption, while the development of the outdoor industry is the driving force behind meeting that demand.'Microsoft YaHei',

In recent years, as the outdoor industry has evolved,outdoor sports activities have become increasingly specialized.Originally, outdoor was a broad term dominated by mountaineering, but it has now transformed into a diverse collection of activities—such as rock climbing, canyoning, skiing, hiking, road trips, camping, kayaking, and more. Mountaineering itself has become a widespread fitness activity across the country, no longer just the pursuit of early enthusiasts or a national-level endeavor. Extreme mountaineering has also been commercially operated for many years.

Many once-niche activities have suddenly become mainstream sports.This spontaneous expansion of the industry’s breadth has made the need for greater industry maturity extremely urgent.Meanwhile, the tourism industry already had a higher level of maturity compared to the outdoor industry. Under the pressure of growth, the tourism sector needs to continually develop in the direction of deeper experiential travel. Promising outdoor activities will evolve toward tourism models, andthe tourism industry will integrate mature outdoor activities as a branch of in-depth travel.

Guo Haitao, General Manager of ALOCS:

This will be an event of milestone significance!The Asia Outdoor Trade Show (Asia Outdoor) has sent a clear signal to the domestic industry at just the right time.

From the very beginning, ALOCS was founded with the hope of creating“EASY OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE”an easy and enjoyable outdoor lifestyle for people. In the initial market environment where lightweight gear was paramount, we faced many challenges along the way. It is precisely because we have remained committed to our original philosophy that we have won the love of the public. Especially since early 2015, we were the first in China to launch a series of original outdoor travel equipment products for freshly ground coffee, such as “Caffa,” “I-Café,” and “Mocha,” which received widespread acclaim and further strengthened our belief.

We are very grateful to Asia Outdoor for its efforts in advancing the development of the industry,

and we also look forward with great anticipation

to taking a fresh perspective