Development Status of China's Outdoor Sports and Countermeasures Based on SWOT Analysis

Headnote

Abstract: The outdoor sports industry in China is in the stage of rapid development. The paper, based on the SWOT strategic analysis, analyzes the current situation of outdoor sports in China and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges it faced in details; the paper points out that the strategic development decisions should be considered from various aspects including: to optimize and adjust the industrial layout, promote integrated development among industries, enhance outdoor sports culture comprehensively and actively shape local brands.

Keywords: SWOT Analysis -Outdoor Sports and Countermeasures -SWOT strategic choice

1.Introduction

China's outdoor sports industry includes many areas: sporting goods industry, sports tourism, sports sponsorship industry, sports stars economy, sports gaming, fitness and entertainment, competitive performance industry, technology training industry and intangible assets as well as others. At present, the outdoor sports industry in China starts taking shape and forms a sports market encompassing more than 20,000 operating organizations of sports industry and with a total investment volume more than 200 billion Yuan and an annual turnover of over 60 billion Yuan. Developing China's outdoor sports industry can not only resolve the sub-health problem of Chinese people currently, but also stimulate consumption and domestic demand (Darling et al., 2003). With China's economic growth, the consumption structure of urban and rural residents gradually turns to recreation; the number of people participating in physical fitness, recreation and tourism increases at an annual rate of 20%.

SWOT analysis method is also known as trend analysis, and is proposed by a Management professor at the University of San Francisco in the early 1980s. It is used to analyze and study the given internal conditions of business operations to identify business strengths and weaknesses and core competitiveness. SWOT matrix is shown in Table 1, wherein, S represents strength, W for weakness, O for opportunity and T for threat. S and W are internal factors while O and T are external factors (Yao, 2014).

In accordance with the overall concept of competitive strategy, the strategy should be an organic combination of what an enterprise "can do" (ie, strengths and weaknesses of the organization) and what it "may do" (ie opportunities and threats of the environment) (Lee et al., 1999). Accordingly, four different strategies can be formed based on S, W, O and T, and they are as follows:

1. SO strategy: pioneering strategy. It focuses on the advantages and opportunities, aiming to maximize the two factors. SO strategy is a strategy relying on internal strengths to seize external opportunities.

2. WO strategy: supporting and guiding strategy. It focuses on the factors of weaknesses and opportunities, aiming to minimize weaknesses and maximize opportunities. WO strategy is to take advantage of external opportunities to improve internal weaknesses.

3. ST strategy: overcoming and strengthening strategy. It focuses on the strengths and threats, aimed at maximizing strengths and minimizing threats.

4. WT strategy: improving and defensive strategy. It focuses on weaknesses and threats, aiming at minimizing both factors. WT strategy is to directly overcome internal weaknesses and avoid external threats.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of China's outdoor sports industry? What are the opportunities for and threats to the development? After SWOT strategic analysis, what kind of decisions should be made on development strategies? This paper analyzes the above questions and hopes to offer some references to the decision-making of development strategy in China's outdoor sports industry.

2. SWOT analysis of China's outdoor sports industry development

After analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of China's outdoor sports industry are shown in Table 2:

2.1. Strengths of China's outdoor sports industry (S)

Outdoor sports is conducive to good physical and mental state and to the recovery of sub-health. Colorful outdoor sports includes hiking, fishing, climbing mountains, fitness and bodybuilding; when all these combine together, it can both restore people's physical strength and energy and make people maintain a pleasant mindset, being helpful to prevent mental illness and relief the sub-health state and posing as a new sports lifestyle. The development of outdoor sports industry can meet people's needs for fitness in their leisure time and aspirations for recreational sports, and meet people's a variety of psychological demands in participating in sports activities' on the other hand, participating in outdoor sports can alleviate physical and mental stress caused by heavy work, create a harmonious atmosphere improving relationships and enhance exchanges. Studies have shown that the accumulation of people's healthy capital are dependent on outdoor sports, nutrition and health care means currently, and outdoor exercise can promote people's physical and mental health and its sound development, being a way to gain a thorough relaxation after getting rid of all labor restrictions (Germann et al., 2012). When compared with other industries, the outdoor sports industry has a series of strengths, including low cost, quick start, strong penetration and wide radiation. Outdoor sports industry can not only produce considerable economic benefits itself, but also stimulate other industries such as garments, tourism, catering, transportation, communications and construction.

2.2. Weaknesses of China's outdoor sports industry (W)

1. Laggard business philosophy

Influenced by the planned economy system, China's sports cause has long been regarded as public welfare, tainting with a strong color of government actions. The existing sports operating mechanism is mainly to set up institutions and allocate resources surrounding competitive sports, and pays insufficient attention to people's growing consumption demand for outdoor sports, which results in the separation between sports cause and sports industry, hindering the cultivation and development of China's outdoor sports industry market to a certain extent.

2. Unsound business model

The market business model of China's outdoor sports industry is not flexible. Because of deviation on the cognition of outdoor sports industry, the capital investment in outdoor sports industry depends largely on government's sports funding and sponsorship and other forms, and investors can not directly participate in the management' club management does not implement in the form enterprises, greatly limiting the investors' passion. The capital investment is relatively limited, so that certain sports or activities can be temporarily operated regarding specific conditions, which cannot develop the outdoor sports industry fundamentally.

3. Lack of operating personnel

The operating talents in China's outdoor sports industry cannot meet the current needs in the industry in terms of both quantity and quality (Sun and Ji, 2014). Due to the closure of the sports talents chain, it is difficult for other sporting to enter the outdoor sports industry; there are few training institutions for the training of professional sports personnel in China and colleges and universities only started to encompass outdoor sports industry related professions in enrollment plan only a few years ago

2.3.Opportunities of China's outdoor sports industry (O)

1. Vigorous advocate of national policies

In the mid-1990s, China promulgated the Outline for the Development of Sports Industry, Program of Striving for Olympic Glory and the Outline of National Fitness Program subsequently. So far, the three outlines are still the core of China's sports development. Outline for the Development of Sports Industry published in 1995 clearly states that "the revitalization and development of sports industry poses an important significance to the implementation of Program of Striving for Olympic Glory and National Fitness Program". In the On Further Strengthening and Improving the Sports Efforts in the New Era issued by CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 2002, it is stated that "enhancing people's health and improving the overall quality of the whole nation" serve as a fundamental objective of the sports cause in new era.

2. The rapidly growing demand for sports brought by steady and rapid growth of economy and continuous improvement in consumption level

The steady and rapid growth of economy and continuous improvement in consumption level is a major opportunity for the development of China's outdoor sports industry. The development of outdoor sports industry has a direct relationship with the country's macroeconomic environment. The economic development brings about improvement in consumption level. According to the statistics in 2007 National Statistical Yearbook, the total household consumption expenditure reaches 6.38335 trillion Yuan in 2004 and 8.01205 trillion Yuan in 2006, in which the spending in cultural, educational and entertainment products and related services is increasing every year (see Table 3 and Table 4). Meanwhile, people's demand for sports also evolves from the original single demand in the past to more diversified needs. People are no longer satisfied with simple sport supply such as broadcast gymnastics and work-break exercises; instead, they turn to pursuing entertainment, fitness, recreation, adventure sports demands in line with their own conditions and consumption level, such as holiday sports, tourism and sports, family sports and so on. The rapidly growing demand for sports becomes the main driving force for the development of outdoor sports industry, and the development of outdoor sports industry will be one of the significant factors that meet people's growing consumer demand for leisure and promote the socio-economic development.

3. Increase in citizens' leisure time and enhancement of leisure concept

Increased leisure time has changed people's concept of leisure. In the past, people's income was low, and has not much leisure time, so their recreation way is quite single-mainly watching television, visiting friends, shopping and so on. With the increase in income, the way of recreation also constantly enriches, thus citizens have experience a tremendous change concerning leisure concept. Recreational ways focus both on leisure and body health, so that more and more people choose sports, with a high degree of freedom and strong arbitration, as their own way of leisure

2.4.Threats of China's outdoor sports industry (T)

1. Imbalanced development of regional economy and industrial structure

The regional economic development in China poses an imbalanced mode (Panei, 2014), the soft and hard environment for the development of outdoor sports industry in the eastern, southern and northern coastal regions present a certain degree of strengths. The Bohai Bay region centering on Beijing and Tianjin, the Yangtze River Delta centering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the Pearl River Delta centering on Guangzhou and Shenzhen are economically developed areas, so that most major matches are held in these areas. Since in these areas, the economy is developed, demands for outdoor sports are large and the development outdoor sports industry starts early with large-scale investment, so that these areas have many established leisure institutions wither higher service level. However, the more economically backward southwest, northwest and northeast have a long way to go concerning the true commercialization of outdoor sports even though they have actively developed outdoor sports. China's outdoor sports industry structure currently is that the development of outdoor sports noumenon industry obviously lag behind the development of sporting goods. In current stage, the industries related to outdoor sports that develop well include sporting goods industry and sports lottery industry, while the main businesses including competitive performance industry, sports tourism, and sports media industry do not develop in an ideal way - the integration among industries are not enough, the scale effect is not obvious and a complete industrial system does not come into being (Lin et al, 2014).

2. Low cultural and enjoying consumption of urban and rural residents

As can be seen from the table below, in the consumption structure of urban and rural residents, routine expenditure still accounts for a large proportion, while the ratio of cultural consumption and enjoying consumption is low, which limits the market size and development pace of outdoor sports industry in general.

3. SWOT strategic choice of outdoor sports industry development

Based on the above analysis, strategic decision-making in the development of outdoor sports industry should be made considering the following aspects.

3.1. Optimizing and adjusting industrial layout, promoting integrated development among industries

There is a huge difference in economic, social, cultural, natural resources and sports capital stock among different regions, thus each region should develop the regional outdoor sports industry projects with regional characteristics based on comparative advantage theory. For example, the Mission Hills area in Shenzhen founded in 1992 has developed into the Mission Hills sports and leisure industry complex centering on golf industry; Qinghai Province focuses on the traditional ethnic sports entertainment events and creates the "national sports circle surrounding Qinghai Lake" led by "Tour de Qinghai Lake". At current stage, China's outdoor sports industry should take the development sequence of point - axis - section - first develop competitive entertainment industry in the eastern, southern, northern coastal cities and and some socially and economically developed cities and then gradually move to other regions.

3.2. Enhancing outdoor sports culture comprehensively and actively creating national brands

Outdoor sports culture is an integral part of social culture. Participating in outdoor sports is both a kind of cultural experience leisure and the dissemination of culture (Hararik and Gabriel, 2014). To this end, the development of outdoor sports industry should focus on three dimensions-the first is to pay attention to the heritage and diversity of sports culture, making the outdoor sports activities fashion connect with traditions; when introducing new sports activities, we must continue to tap the traditional local sports projects to promote local culture, and make use of local sports event to promote the local cultural characteristics. The second is to constantly inject cultural connotation into sports activities, so that people can experience cultural molding and improve the overall quality in the process of participating in sports activities. The third is to create well-known brands through the cultivation of sports projects.

3.3.Establishing the investment and financing system for development of outdoor sports industry

To encourage the investment from all kinds of social capital into outdoor sports industry, it is necessary to deepen reform and change the restrictions posed by sports event management centers and associations to the investment from non-sports system and nonpublic economic sectors into industrial projects. Concerning the investment and financing body structure of outdoor sports, it should be expanded from the single government administrative subject to the pluralistic investment and financing bodies including government, enterprises, nonprofit organizations, community groups and the general public (such as monetary funds for outdoor sports industry, sports investment companies, etc.). On the investment and financing ways of outdoor sports, it should be transformed from the single type of government funding to the three-dimensional investment and financing operations including sports fund, sports lottery, sports ventures, sports bonds, sports stock, sports investment fund, the low-interest or subsidized loans from policy banks.

3.4.Introduction of advanced management concept, cultivate management talent

Set up is given priority to with indirect management of leisure sports industry and the market macroscopic management system, form conforms to the leisure sports market regulation and law of development of leisure sports industry market mechanism. At various levels and attached to the sports administrative institution of the production and business operation entity to separate government functions from enterprise management, for-profit and nonprofit, promote leisure sports system operational institution to the transformation of the enterprise. Focus on guide the strengthening of the broad masses of the leisure sports at the same time, should be constant use of various marketing means, improve the interest, cultivate the habit of their leisure, increase the satisfaction of the masses, to attract more potential consumer groups. As for the white-collar workers with higher income, can develop golf products; In view of the working class, bowling, billiards sports product development; Aimed at young people, can be swimming, pulley, ball games product development; National dance for the elderly, but development of tai chi chuan, sports, health care medical operating sports products, etc. To strengthen the training of recreational sports talents and introduced. To fundamentally solve the problem of lack of leisure sports industry in China, formulating a series of policy should be. First of all, should be in the current sports colleges and universities the economic departments of courses in related to leisure sports industry and professional, set up a high level of recreational sports economic enrollments. Again, the establishment of new discipline of leisure sports industry and scientific research institutions, to strengthen the study of leisure sports economic theory, guide the practice of leisure sports industry activities in a timely manner. At the same time, encourage leisure sports business units of the relevant personnel to post training, on-the-job training, training meets the needs of leisure sports industry development in our country is mainly engaged in leisure sports industry.

3.5.The rational allocation of leisure sports resources

Leisure sports venues, sports resources development and utilization. On the one hand, compared with the developed countries, such as per capita in China 16 times higher than that of track and field in the United States, in 73 times higher per capita possession of the basketball court, per capita in 19 times higher than that of the tennis court, China's 28 times higher per capita natatorium. Level of sports facilities in such a huge difference, determines the difference of leisure sports in our country and developed countries. If the track and field, football field, basketball court, volleyball court, tennis court, natatorium 6 class sports facilities construction scale to Japan of a third person, needs to increase investment about 300-40 billion Yuan. The investment from the industry association, pull function on the other relevant departments product demand is considerable. This would require the support of the government and related enterprises and commitment., on the other hand, is rich in outdoor sports resources in our country, this is our country leisure sports fitness activities conducted by the "natural playground", can be use and development. Such as hills, rivers, lakes, forests, grassland, etc., and these resources because of its rich and colorful and naturalness widely favored by urban residents, can develop and utilize the natural resources, can carry out mountain climbing, rafting, swimming, boating, horse riding, outing, leisure sports activities, such not only can enrich the public way of leisure activities, to drive the surrounding area tourism, sports and tourism complementary and mutual harmony, also can reduce the excessive concentration in the center of the city area of traffic congestion phenomenon, is conducive to the long-term development of the leisure sports industry

4. Conclusion

Taking a comprehensive view at the external environment and internal conditions of China's outdoor sports industry, it can be found that in general, the situation faced by China's outdoor sports industry is the one opportunities outweigh threats and weaknesses is greater than strengths. Therefore, the development strategy of China's outdoor sports industry should take a WO strategy, namely, a supporting and guiding strategy. The strategy focuses on the factors of weaknesses and opportunities, aiming to minimize weaknesses and maximize opportunities and takes advantage of external opportunities to improve internal weaknesses. The current outdoor sports industry is transforming from the visible and single competitive goals in the past to the modern invisible and pluralistic humane care goals. Under the social background of sports moving towards the market and achieving sports industrialization, China's outdoor sports industry, as the part and parcel of national economy, possesses promising prospects for development.

Acknowledgements

This paper is supported by National Philosophy and Social Science Fund Project (No. 12BTY022).

References

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