摘要：3月29日，在国内唯一一座三面环海的专业足球场——梭鱼湾足球场，大连英博海发队迎来2025赛季中超联赛首个主场比赛，吸引了60126名球迷到场助阵，现场气氛热烈。
5月3日
《中国日报》报道
“Dalian chased soccer carnival goal”
聚焦大连全力打造
全国“足球之旅”首选城市
这座海滨城市
以其深厚的足球底蕴
丰富的足球赛事和
火热的现场观赛体验
开辟出独具特色与优势的
文体旅商融合发展赛道
3月29日，在国内唯一一座三面环海的专业足球场——梭鱼湾足球场，大连英博海发队迎来2025赛季中超联赛首个主场比赛，吸引了60126名球迷到场助阵，现场气氛热烈。
赛前，“大连足球嘉年华”启动仪式在场外举行。“大连足球嘉年华”主题IP创建培育工作由大连市委宣传部指导，大连市文化和旅游局、市商务局、市体育局联合启动，旨在发掘“足球城”城市底蕴，发展新质生产力，打造全国“足球之旅”首选城市。
据大连市文化和旅游局局长单美娜介绍，今年将以大连英博海发足球队和大连鲲城足球队在中超、中甲各15场主场赛事及“连超”（大连市足球超级联赛）赛事为基准，吸引外地球迷和游客来大连体验足球之旅，把大连的美景、美食、人民的热情好客展示给全世界。
赛事期间，梭鱼湾足球场周边设置六大主题区域，球迷游客可以在附近的海滨公园主题沙龙与解说嘉宾交流互动，在主题市集游览特色商户、欣赏街头艺人表演，还可参与互动体验赢取专属福利，或在附近的购物中心通过“第二现场”的大型LED巨幕观赛。此外，户外广场设有乐队驻唱和球迷打卡区，周边商家联盟推出“票根优惠”活动，涵盖餐饮、购物、住宿等多个消费场景。
据介绍，大连市计划用两年时间逐步打造特色鲜明、“一区一品”大连足球嘉年华IP板块。推出多元主题消费、衍生消费场景，开发足球、海洋等主题文创产品，让球迷和游客随时随地感受到足球城浓郁氛围和赛前赛后消费体验。还将推出一批特色线路和集吃住行游购娱为一体的宠粉大礼包，提供一揽子优惠举措和暖心服务，吸引更多人来大连看球赛、赏美景、品美食。
“足球城”大连
有深厚的足球文化底蕴和
一流的足球基础设施
2024年，大连市先后承办了4项国际级、25项国家级足球赛事，吸引国内外参赛者超1.8万人次，观众人数突破80万人次。数据显示，2024赛季职业联赛中超、中甲、中乙球员中大连籍或大连青训培养的球员达到142人（占全国总量的9.4%）。
▲2024年梭鱼湾足球场的上座率持续攀升，多次刷新中甲联赛历史纪录。
▲2024年11月2日，2024大连市足球超级联赛圆满落幕！
去年，大连英博全年中甲联赛主场创下632805人次的观赛纪录；2026世界杯亚洲区预选赛中国对阵沙特的比赛，4.8万名球迷涌入梭鱼湾足球场；国际中体联中学生足球世界杯，吸引了来自五大洲、33个国家和地区的55支球队、千余名足球小将齐聚大连；“连超”首次举办，校园、职工和社会三个组别参赛球队总计达7600余支，参赛总人数接近20万，创大连市业余足球赛事历史之最。
▲2024年国际中体联足球世界杯女子组决赛在大连梭鱼湾足球场举行。
▲2024年国际中体联足球世界杯在大连圆满落幕。
全文如下
Dalian chases soccer carnival goalBlending sea and sports with its famed sports culture, the coastal hub is carving a space for itself by cashing in on grassroots matches, professional events and fan experiences
Some 60,126 spectators, the second-highest attendance record in the history of the Chinese Super League, watch Dalian Yingbo team's first home game in the new CSL season at the Dalian Suoyuwan Football stadium in Dalian, Liaoning province, on March 29. LI SHUAI/FOR CHINA DAILY
As sports tourism gains momentum worldwide, Chinese cities are not lagging behind, with many cities trying to become sports and competition-themed tourist destinations.
Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China's Liaoning province, is one such place, trying to position itself as a first choice destination for soccer enthusiasts.
"Sports tourism has become a new engine to drive high-quality development in the tourism sector, shape the city's image, and boost the local economy," said Shan Meina, head of the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
"This year, our focus is on the 30 home games of Dalian Yingbo Football Club and Dalian K'un City Football Club in the Chinese Super League and China League One, alongside the booming grassroots soccer matches, all aimed at nurturing the 'Dalian soccer carnival' brand," she said.
On March 29, Dalian Yingbo team's first home game in the new CSL season attracted 60,126 spectators, the second-highest in the league's history.
Before the match, the Dalian soccer Carnival's inauguration took place right outside the Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium, the only professional soccer stadium in China surrounded by the sea on three sides.
During the event, six themed areas came up around the stadium, offering a variety of activities for fans and tourists, including interactions with commentators, buying mementos sold at the thematic market, watching street performances, having interactive experiences, and shopping at a nearby commercial complex.
Additionally, the outdoor plaza featured live band performances and a fan photo area, while local businesses offered discounts for dining, shopping, accommodation, and other consumer services.
"We aim to showcase the beauty, cuisine, and hospitality of this beautiful coastal city through soccer fans and tourists engaging in soccer festivities," Shan said.
The activities, guided by the city's publicity department and jointly launched by the city's bureaus of culture and tourism, commerce, and sports, seek to leverage Dalian's identity as a "soccer city" to promote the integrated development of culture, sports, tourism, and commerce.
Over the next two years, Dalian plans to develop diverse themed consumption sections to build the "Dalian soccer carnival" brand.
This will entail the creation of soccer and marine-themed cultural and creative products, offering fans and tourists a dynamic soccer experience and pre — and post-match consumer activities at any time and location.
The Dalian soccer carnival inaugurated right outside the Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium on March 29. ZHU LONG/FOR CHINA DAILY
"We will also introduce a series of special routes, offer comprehensive fan packages integrating accommodation, dining, transportation, shopping, and entertainment, and provide a range of preferential measures and heartwarming services to attract more visitors to Dalian to watch matches, enjoy the scenery, and savor the cuisine," Shan said.
Dalian boasts a rich soccer heritage, with a robust soccer culture and top-tier soccer infrastructure.
In the 2024 professional league games, including the Chinese Super League, China League One, and China League Two, 142 players, accounting for 9.4 percent of the national total, either came from Dalian or were trained in Dalian's youth development system.
In 2024, Dalian hosted four international-level and 25 national-level soccer events, drawing over 18,000 participants from home and abroad, while spectators exceeded 800,000.
Particularly, the International School Football World Cup organized by the International School Sport Federation brought together 55 teams and over 1,000 young soccer players from 33 countries and regions to Dalian.
In March, the General Administration of Sport unveiled a list of 30 pilot cities to promote sports consumption and event economy, with Dalian being among them.
The administration underscored the importance of enriching product offerings and enhancing service levels to meet the diverse consumption needs of the populace.
According to the city's bureau of sports, Dalian's sports industry has made remarkable progress, since being named one of the first national pilot cities for sports consumption in 2020.
In 2022, the total scale of the sports industry in Dalian reached 508.5 billion yuan ($69.5 billion), with an added value of 174.9 billion yuan, accounting for 2.07 percent of the GDP of the city.
Chen Yilin, a professor of tourism economics at Beijing Sport University's Alberta International School of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, emphasized the importance of integrating sports and tourism to meet the evolving demands of sports and tourism enthusiasts, transforming sporting events into economic catalysts.
He underscored the direct and indirect role of sports events in stimulating urban economic development with a multiplier effect.
Large-scale events necessitate coordination among various departments, with government policy drive and promotion being pivotal for their success.
"Sports events are often short-lived, but the professional conduct on the field and the warm local services can leave a lasting impression on visitors, enhancing the city's reputation," Chen said.
He suggested that each city should accentuate its unique characteristics to avoid being generic, focusing on regional features, distinctive local flavor, historical and cultural heritage, local cuisine, natural landscapes, and other resources.
By integrating regional resources with sports events, cities can offer visitors a unique sense of participation and experience.
"To establish a city's event brand, efforts should be made to make events regular, establish fixed festivals and customs, making it easier for visitors to plan their itineraries," Chen recommended.
In Rongjiang county of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture in Guizhou province, the "Village Super League", or cunchao in Chinese, has gained immense popularity since its inception in May 2023.
The influx brought by cunchao has vitalized Rongjiang, unleashing vibrant energy.
Xu Bo, the county's Party chief, revealed at a provincial cultural tourism industry investment promotion meet on April 11 that in 2024, Rongjiang added 6,761 new market entities, with comprehensive tourism income reaching 10.8 billion yuan, hosting 9.46 million tourists.
In Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, the massive influx of people during the Chengdu International Table Tennis Federation Mixed Team World Cup, in December, gave the local economy a substantial boost. Fans from across the country flocked to Chengdu not only to witness the games but also to partake in various activities.
Data released by the ITTF show that only 23.4 percent of ticket buyers for this event were from Chengdu, with the rest coming from outside the city, driving a total consumption of 380 million yuan. The event also boosted the total revenue of over 200 businesses around the venue by approximately 48 million yuan, with an average increase of 220 percent.
Seizing the opportunity of hosting the 9th Asian Winter Games in 2025, Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, focused on a series of winter sport events, connecting competition venues, ice and snow events, and ice and snow scenic areas to create 10 exquisite themed tourism routes for "traveling with sports events".
The "Harbin ice and snow tourism development report (2025)" outlined Harbin's ambition to become the top choice for ice and snow tourism in China and an international ice and snow tourism destination.
The report highlighted that Chinese ice and snow tourism is entering a new stage of globalization. Harbin aims to enhance international exchanges and cooperation in ice and snow tourism.
来源：经纬张颖