China’s plan to reveal the difficult problems of venue operation in the post-Olympic era

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 10th Question: What is the secret of "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube"? — — Revealing China’s Solution to the Problems in the Operation of Venues in the Post-Olympic Era

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiao, Wang Yong

　　Olympic venues are an important foundation for hosting the Olympic Games. Looking back on the history of the world Olympic Games, almost all the main venues of the previous Olympic Games presented a wonderful and extraordinary "A" side during the games. However, due to the large amount of construction funds, large construction scale and high maintenance cost, it has become a world problem to solve the "B" aspect of the utilization of Olympic venues after the games.

　　On the 11th anniversary of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, reporters came to the National Stadium "Bird’s Nest", the National Aquatics Center "Water Cube" and the National Speed Skating Hall "Ice Ribbon" under construction, looking for a "China solution" to solve the world’s problems.

　　"Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube" Show "Money Bag"

　　Although it has been 11 years since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, thousands of tourists still come to the core area of Beijing Olympic Park in August. As an Olympic landmark with a population of nearly 1.4 billion, it has never lacked popularity.

　　However, as the iconic venues of the Beijing Olympic Games, the construction cost of the "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube" is high, and it is not a small expense to ensure the high-quality maintenance of the venues. Can the "money bags" of these two Olympic venues hold up under the difficult circumstances of the world’s large-scale Olympic venues?

　　The reporter learned from the National Stadium Company that the operating income of "Bird’s Nest" in 2018 was 268 million yuan, which completely covered the operating costs such as depreciation of fixed assets, operation and maintenance fees, sales and management fees, and achieved independent profits for many years. The National Aquatics Center Company said that in 2018, the "Water Cube" achieved a revenue of 124 million yuan, and the venue broke even for many years.

　　"Three Mysteries" of Managing "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube"

　　What is the management of "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube"? The reporter learned from in-depth interviews that what makes the two Olympic venues truly achieve sustainable development is the innovation of brand activities and the improvement of quality.

　　— — Undertake major international events. After the Beijing Olympic Games, the "Bird’s Nest" and the "Water Cube" launched a comprehensive market-oriented operation exploration. "Bird’s Nest" has become a professional venue for hosting top sports events with its first-class facilities and operational advantages. Many high-level individual events under FINA have settled in the "Water Cube".

　　— — Establish a diversified development system. "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube" have formed a comprehensive business system including large-scale activities, tourism services and commercial development. Take the "Bird’s Nest" as an example. First, strengthen the development of tangible assets. The Bird’s Nest Cultural Center not only becomes a public cultural space in the capital, but also incubates innovative and entrepreneurial projects in the cultural and sports industry. The second is the development of intangible assets, constantly promoting advertising sponsorship and the development of cultural and creative products. The third is to extend the industrial chain of venues, and set up five subsidiaries around the "Bird’s Nest", including ticketing, commerce, activities, media and culture, so that the "Bird’s Nest" has the export conditions for venue management.

　　— — Cultivate independent brand projects. "Water Cube" has built a sub-brand of art exhibition "Art Water Cube" and a sub-brand of cultural performance "Dream Water Cube", and transformed itself from a sports venue into a platform for cultural and artistic exchange. After the country announced the goal of "300 million people participating in the ice and snow sports", the two major venues also created mass sports brands such as "Meet 2022" Ice and Snow Culture Festival, which enabled the Olympic venues to "get on the international stage and enter the people’s lives".

　　According to statistics, after the opening of the two venues, they received more than 56 million Chinese and foreign tourists and visitors, and held more than 3,400 events such as various competitions, performances, exhibitions and national fitness activities.

　　The post-match operation of stadiums and gymnasiums is a process of gradual industrialization and enterprise

　　The "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube" have a bright "report card", which benefits from the strong leadership and scientific judgment of the venue owners.

　　As the earliest state-owned enterprise in Beijing to enter the cultural and sports industry, Beijing State-owned Assets Management Co., Ltd. summed up the "China experience" to solve the problem of the utilization of Olympic venues after the games.

　　"The post-match operation of stadiums and gymnasiums should be a process of gradual industrialization and enterprise, but the post-match operation of many stadiums and gymnasiums is still a pure government act. Once the large-scale event is over, it is difficult for the venue to balance social and economic benefits. " Wu Xiaonan, vice president of Beijing State-owned Corporation, pointed out the crux of the problem.

　　Wu Xiaonan said that the operation experience of "Bird’s Nest" and "Water Cube" proves that super-large stadiums need to introduce large-scale platform enterprises, especially comprehensive investment and financing platforms as venue operators, and bring resources for the integrated development of culture, sports, finance, venture capital and other industries for the development of stadiums, rather than simply turning stadiums into a company.

　　In order to operate the two major venues well, Beijing State-owned Assets Corporation has laid out the layout with the whole cultural and sports industry in mind, and coordinated the advantages of its capital cultural and sports industry flagship enterprises, digital vision technology and service providers and national A-level professional performance institutions on the Olympic venues. At the same time, Beijing SME Credit Re-guarantee Company in the financial sector set up the National Cultural and Creative Experimental Zone Enterprise Credit Promotion Association to promote the long-term operation of the Olympic venues through "combination boxing" with complementary resources.

　　"Facts have proved that this model is conducive to giving full play to the role of large state-owned enterprises. While ensuring the completion of important tasks, it can achieve a double harvest of social and economic benefits through enterprise management and integration of various formats." Wu Xiaonan said.

　　At the beginning of the construction of "Ice Ribbon", the problem of post-game utilization was considered.

　　In order to build the iconic new venue of Beijing Winter Olympics and the National Speed Skating Gymnasium "Ice Ribbon", Beijing established "Beijing National Speed Skating Gymnasium Management Co., Ltd.".

　　Wu Xiaonan, who is also the chairman of the National Speed Skating Hall Company, said that the "Ice Ribbon" was fully considered at the beginning of its construction. In addition to becoming a speed skating competition venue during the games, it can meet the needs of six kinds of ice sports competitions such as speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating and curling, and can also meet the national fitness needs of 3,000 people skating at the same time.

　　At the end of this year, 22 flowing ice ribbons of the National Speed Skating Museum will fly in the Beijing Olympic Park, and together with the majestic steel structure "Bird’s Nest" and the flexible membrane structure "Water Cube", they will form the landmark building complex of "Double Olympic City".

　　Peng Yue, chairman of Beijing State-owned Assets Corporation, said: "Pass ‘ Bird’s Nest ’ ‘ Water cube ’ ‘ Ice ribbon ’ We hope to provide the international community with the Olympic venues after the Games ‘ Repeated utilization, comprehensive utilization and sustainable utilization ’ China’s experience, this is ‘ Four self-confidences ’ A vivid manifestation of implementation in practice. "

　　International Olympic Committee President Bach once commented: "China has every reason to be proud of its Olympic legacy."

　　The insiders believe that the post-games operation and sustainable utilization of Beijing Olympic venues have set a new example of benign interaction and win-win development between the Olympic Movement and cities and regions, benefiting the people for a long time. Continuing this road of sustainable development of the Olympic mega-stadiums with China characteristics will show more wonderful China to the world.