On the evening of May 1st, tourists watched and played on the Jialing River Bridge in Chongqing. Photo by He Penglei, reporter of China News Agency
Text/Liu Wenwen
The holidays are coming to an end. This year's "May Day" seems to be more "crazy" than ever.
Although the May Day holiday is shorter than the Spring Festival, the enthusiasm of tourists to travel is much higher than that of the Spring Festival, and the scene of "people following the crowd" in tourist attractions across the country has returned. While the demand for holiday travel is blowing out, some new trends are also emerging.
What's different about May Day this year?
"Special forces tourism" is sought after
Turn on the rampage mode during the day and don't stop at night. Change cities every day, check in more than a dozen attractions a day... Since the beginning of this year, "special forces-style tourism" characterized by fast-paced check-ins has gradually emerged, and it is especially sought after during the "May Day" holiday.
The so-called "special forces tourism" pursues more attractions and popular experiences in a short period of time, and young people embark on the journey in a limited time in accordance with the principle of "rather than wronged themselves than holidays".
Tourist Wang Yao said: "The main focus of special forces is a crazy check-in." She posted her one-day "special forces" itinerary in Beijing: arrived in Beijing in the early morning, watched the flag raising in Tiananmen Square at 6 o'clock, and then clocked in all the way to the Forbidden City, Jingshan, Beihai, Shichahai, Drum Tower, Lama Temple, Old Summer Palace, Summer Palace and other attractions, and then took the train to return overnight.
During the May Day holiday, many "tourist special forces" like Wang Yao carried out "marching" and "assault" tourism throughout the country. With this way of travel, the long-standing travel demand of tourists has also been greatly released.
Tongcheng Research Institute believes that "special forces" tourism is a concrete embodiment of the changes in the tourism market after the epidemic. The biggest feature of this type of travel is that it takes a short time and is very frequent. During the pandemic, people used to travel on weekends, driving the development of local and peripheral travel markets. As the impact of the epidemic gradually fades, convenient transportation provides objective conditions for tourists to extend their travel radius, and the demand for "special forces" tourism has emerged.
Long-term travel breaks out, camping fever "low tide"
On April 30, in the Kumtag Desert Scenic Area in Shanshan, Turpan City, Xinjiang, tourists were riding camels. Photo by Liu Jian by China News Agency
This year's "May Day" holiday domestic tourists are enthusiastic, and the demand for "long-term tours" is high. According to Ctrip's data, the average travel radius of users during the May Day period increased by 25% compared with the same period last year, of which the average distance traveled by air was 1,638 kilometers, which was about the same distance from Shanghai to Hohhot, and basically recovered to the same period in 2019.
According to data from Ctrip's FlightAi market insight platform, the number of domestic flights exceeded 80,000 during May Day this year, an average daily increase of about 15% over the same period in 2019.
Domestic flight capacity has fully returned to normal, demand has climbed even faster, and the search popularity of "May Day" air tickets this year has increased by 162% compared with 2019.
Outbound travel is equally popular. Fliggy data shows that the number of outbound travel bookings during the May Day holiday increased by more than 10 times year-on-year. Internationally, holiday international flights recovered to about 40% of the same period in 2019, and search popularity increased by more than 60% compared with 2019.
In addition to airplanes, the travel distance of "high-speed rail tours" has also increased significantly. According to Ctrip's data, users traveled an average of 389 kilometers each way, recovering to 80% of the 2019 level, which is about the one-way distance from Shanghai to Huangshan.
However, at the same time as the outbreak of long-term travel, the camping economy ushered in a "low tide". A report previously released by Jinlu Consulting pointed out that the overall market size growth rate of the camping economy will peak in 2022, and as the impact of the epidemic gradually eases and the market gradually recovers, the overall growth rate of the camping market slows down and shows a downward trend.
There are no unpopular destinations on May Day this year
Driven by the high travel sentiment during this year's May Day holiday, both popular cities and niche destinations have ushered in a surge of people.
On the one hand, the popularity of popular city tourism continues to be hot. Qunar's big data shows that the number of hotel bookings in popular cities during this year's May Day holiday exceeded 1.9 times before the epidemic. According to Fliggy data, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Nanjing are the most popular destinations on May Day; Shanghai Disney Resort, Universal Beijing Resort, Hangzhou West Lake, Guangzhou Chimelong Tourist Resort, Zhuhai Chimelong International Ocean Resort, Hengdian Film and Television City, Putuoshan Scenic Area, etc. are the most popular attractions on May Day.
On the other hand, there are no unpopular destinations for May Day this year. On the eve of the holiday, many tourists have already foreseen the scene of "crowds" in big cities and popular scenic spots. "Minority" and "unpopular" have become the most concerned travel keywords for young users.
Tongcheng travel data shows that the search popularity of "niche" related travel during the "May Day" holiday increased by 172% month-on-month, and the search popularity of "unpopular" related travel increased by 113% month-on-month. The number of hotel bookings in domestic third-tier cities and below during the May Day holiday increased by more than 150% compared with the same period in 2019.
Qunar platform data shows that in previous years, relatively unpopular cities such as Dehong, Zibo, Gannan, Yili, Kashgar, Huai'an, Yancheng, Zigong, Weihai, Rizhao, Jieyang and other relatively unpopular cities increased by more than 10 times this year's "May Day" hotel bookings compared with 2019, of which Dehong hotel bookings increased the most, reaching 22 times, and Zibo increased by 20 times. Niche tourist destinations such as Shannan, Lincang, Tacheng, Yanbian and Qamdo are in short stock in the week leading up to the festival.
In addition to Zibo becoming the "top stream" of "May Day", driven by many offline performances, festivals and local characteristic experiences, emerging tourist destinations are also emerging. In addition, barbecue, panda, blue and white porcelain, snail powder... All kinds of tourism labels have become the key to stimulating the consumption potential of tourist cities during this year's "May Day" holiday. A Zibo barbecue, a "flower" meeting, a blue and white porcelain cultural and creative product, and even a bowl of snail powder have all become the reason why everyone "must go" to this city. It can be said that all tourist cities are crowded with people, and all those who can choose to travel are also enjoying their holidays to the fullest.
There is still huge potential for tourism to be unleashed after the holiday
This year's "May Day" holiday national tourism demand blowout, handed over an excellent report card. Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Research Institute, said that from the forecast data, this year will be the best "May Day" labor holiday tourism market since 2020, and it is also the first turning point for the recovery of the tourism market and industrial revitalization after Category B management. According to the forecast data, more than 240 million people will travel during this year's five-day holiday, which will recover to 104% of 2019. In terms of tourism revenue, it is expected to create more than 120 billion yuan of tourism revenue, recovering to more than 83% in 2019.
Guo Lechun, vice president of Qunar Big Data Research Institute, said that there is still huge potential to be released on the demand side of the tourism industry this year, and the Dragon Boat Festival, Summer Vacation, and November will usher in waves of peaks.
After the festival, how to maintain the long-term momentum of tourism consumption? Wu Ruoshan, special researcher of the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and president of the New Era Cultural Tourism Research Institute, believes that all localities must continue to increase the supply of business innovation, implement more accurate brand marketing and personalized tourism brand building, and continue to upgrade service standards, so as to release more vitality in tourism and better realize the role of tourism consumption in promoting economic growth.
From: The country is through train
Editor: Chen Haoxing
Responsible editor: Wei Xi