Why can Quan Hongchan boost the tourism industry in her hometown?

Although the Paris Olympics has ended, the afterglow is still there, especially in Maihe Village, the hometown of athlete Quan Hongchan, which has become a tourist hotspot due to her outstanding performance. This shows how personal achievements can quickly be transformed into social influence and a driving force for local economic development.

The Paris Olympics has ended, but the topic about the Olympics is still not over. A quick look at Weibo shows that among the top 20 hot searches, at least 6 are related to the Olympics. As the athletes return home one after another, it seems that the related popularity will continue for another week.

Among the many Olympic topics, the most eye-catching one is Quan Hongchan's hometown - Maihe Village in Zhanjiang City. With her outstanding performance in the Olympics, Quan Hongchan not only won countless applause, but also made her hometown a new tourist hotspot.

Crowds of tourists flock to this small village, with nearly a thousand people coming to check in and take photos every day. Maihe Village has transformed from an unknown small village into the focus of national attention.

As the number of tourists surged, Maihe Village's infrastructure began to adapt to new demands. The village built a parking lot overnight and widened the road to accommodate the large number of visiting vehicles. The doorstep of Grandpa Quan Hongchan's house was also turned into a "snack street", attracting many vendors to set up stalls, and the atmosphere in the village was very lively.

It can be said that Quan Hongchan single-handedly made an entire city (village) popular.

1. One person brings a city to life

The phenomenon of "one person making a city famous" has become more and more frequent in recent years. With the rise of social media, the influence of personal IP is expanding.

For example, this year Guo Youcai successfully made Heze, Shandong popular through the theme of nostalgic music, while Wang Po made Kaifeng, Henan a popular tourist destination with the theme of blind dates for young people.

This phenomenon is not limited to Internet celebrities, but is also common in the sports field. Successful athletes, due to their huge traffic and social influence, can instantly attract the public's attention and bring tangible economic and social benefits to their hometowns. In this regard, they actually have a greater advantage than Internet celebrities.

At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Yang Qian became famous for her gold medal in the women's 10-meter air rifle shooting and became the first gold medalist of this Olympics. This achievement not only made her the focus of national attention, but also turned her hometown, Yangjia Nong Village, Jiangshan Town, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, from an unknown small village into a popular tourist destination.

Yang Qian's competition moves were drawn into cartoons by her fellow villagers and painted on the walls of the village, becoming a place where tourists rushed to take photos. During the Olympic cycle, thousands of tourists flocked to the village every weekend, which not only promoted the development of local tourism, but also made the village's cultural atmosphere more profound.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, 17-year-old Huang Yuting and 19-year-old Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal in the shooting event with their calm performance. The success of the two "post-00s" young players once again attracted widespread attention to their hometown.

Huang Yuting is from Taizhou, Zhejiang, and Sheng Lihao is from Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. The media in both places quickly seized this opportunity to promote their city brands by publicizing the stories of these two Olympic champions.

For example, the article published by Taizhou introduced Huang Yuting's hometown to showcase the local natural scenery and cultural characteristics; while Zhangjiagang promoted the city's spirit and cultural heritage through the story of "Sheng Lihao winning the first Olympic gold medal."

These actions of the local government are obviously intended to allow the influence of the Olympic champions to bring economic benefits to the city.

Quan Hongchan has made her hometown, Maihe Village, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, popular. This phenomenon has many similarities with other athletes' success stories, but it is also unique because of Quan Hongchan's personal characteristics.

2. Quan Hongchan’s Champion Effect

The champion effect refers to the extensive and positive impact that a champion or leader has on his hometown, brand, industry, or even the entire country through his personal achievements. This effect is usually reflected in enhancing personal business value, promoting local or national tourism, and strengthening the image of a country or region.

For example, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is a classic example of the champion effect.

Bolt has become one of the most famous athletes in the world by winning gold medals in sprint events in many Olympic Games, which has led to a surge in his commercial endorsement value. He has become the spokesperson for many international brands, such as Puma and Hublot watches, with a total endorsement contract value of tens of millions of dollars.

Bolt is regarded as a symbol of Jamaica's national spirit - tenacious, optimistic and energetic. The Jamaican government and related institutions have used Bolt's image to create a vibrant and passionate national brand, which has made this small Caribbean country known to the world.

Bolt's achievements have attracted a large number of tourists to Jamaica, especially those sports fans who want to experience the "Bolt spirit". Bolt's training grounds in his hometown, where he grew up, and attractions related to him have become tourist hotspots.

For example, Bolt's hometown of Sherwood and Trelawny Stadium, where he often trains, have become popular places for tourists to check in. The Jamaica Tourism Board has also made full use of Bolt's image and popularity to carry out international promotion to attract more tourists.

Quan Hongchan's championship effect also demonstrates this powerful influence.

The photo of Quan Hongchan wearing a pair of "ugly fish slippers" during the competition went viral, and this lively, simple and down-to-earth image instantly resonated with the public. This pair of "ugly fish slippers" also became a hot-selling product on major e-commerce platforms.

Recently, the turtle played by Quan Hongchan has also become popular.

Market analysis shows that Quan Hongchan's commercial value has skyrocketed since the Olympics. With her increased popularity and influence, the amount of sponsorship contracts with related brands is expected to reach tens of millions of yuan, further proving her huge potential in the business field.

In addition, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, Quan Hongchan's success has made her hometown, Maihe Village in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, a popular tourist destination. Thousands of tourists flock to this once unknown village every day.

3. Innocent and cute personality attracts fans

Quan Hongchan's popularity is not only due to her outstanding performance on the field, but also her innocent and lovely personality has quickly won the hearts of countless fans, which is why she can bring fame to her hometown. From her interviews, we can see that her style during the interview has the following characteristics:

Be direct and honest

Quan Hongchan often shows a very direct and honest attitude when being interviewed by the media.

For example, when asked if she felt tired, she said bluntly, "Who isn't tired?" This honesty made people feel that she was real and did not conceal or deliberately embellish her emotions, thus narrowing the distance between her and the audience.

Refuse routine and stay true to yourself

When it comes to the media, Quan Hongchan doesn’t play by the traditional rules. Many athletes might follow a preset “standard answer” in an interview, but Quan Hongchan chooses to speak her true thoughts.

For example, when talking about why she chose diving, she said frankly that it was because she "didn't want to study." This unconventional answer is not only true, but also full of personalized humor, making her image more vivid and lovely.

Cute and down-to-earth

The most striking thing about Quan Hongchan's personality is her cuteness and down-to-earthness. She often mentions in interviews that she likes to eat spicy noodles, wants to go to the amusement park and other small things in her daily life. These details make her image closer to the public, and many people can see the shadow of ordinary people in her.

This lifelike way of expression has given her a strong sense of involvement and emotional identification among her fans, and many people are deeply attracted to her.

These unique personalities make Quan Hongchan stand out among many athletes. Compared with some stereotyped athletes, Quan Hongchan's frankness, directness and truthfulness make her more vivid and lively, and more likely to resonate with and be loved by the audience.

4. Emotional projection: Quan Hongchan is her ideal self

The reason why Quan Hongchan's hometown, Maihe Village, attracts a large number of tourists is not only because an Olympic champion came from here, but the deeper reason is that they hope to find themselves in Quan Hongchan and achieve an emotional projection.

Emotional projection is a concept in psychology, which refers to an individual projecting his or her inner emotions, desires, or attitudes onto external things or others, thereby finding characteristics in the external world that are similar to his or her own emotional state.

This psychological mechanism enables people to express and understand their inner emotions through contact with external things.

In the case of Quan Hongchan, many people saw themselves in her story. Her success contained many emotional elements, such as innocence, struggle, family love, etc. These elements touched the public's deep emotions and made them have a strong emotional resonance.

Quan Hongchan's story reminds people of their past dreams, efforts and love for family, so visiting her hometown is actually a way for people to find points of resonance with their own emotions.

In addition, Quan Hongchan's success story is full of struggle. Under extremely simple conditions, she finally achieved brilliant achievements through her own efforts and perseverance, which is equivalent to the process of realizing the Chinese dream.

For many people, Quan Hongchan symbolizes their ideal self - although she came from an ordinary family, she overcame difficulties along the way and realized her dreams through unremitting efforts.

By visiting her hometown, visitors hope to draw spiritual strength from it and project Quan Hongchan's spirit of struggle into their own lives.

Quan Hongchan is a symbol, a symbol of a beautiful life that shows that although one comes from a poor family, one can still succeed through hard training and still maintain a pure, lovely and beautiful life after success.

This story wouldn't be unique in competitive sports.