Hot Chinese New Year's Eve business: B&B daily income is 20,000, and balloons sell 8,000 a night

Image source@Visual China

文｜定焦，作者 | 苏琦，编辑 | 金玙璠

For many people, 2023 is not an easy year. Towards the end of the year, young people are ready to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new with a sense of ceremony.

Many young people have planned a trip to the Northeast, queuing for four hours to jump in the ice and snow world, while soaking in hot springs and watching the aurora.

For those who don't want to go far, they buy balloons in advance, write down their wishes, and prepare to release them with the people around them when the clock rings at 0:00 on New Year's Day. Or grab your friends to the camp, sing and dance around the campfire, and make a wish together after the countdown to midnight.

According to data from online travel platforms, overall travel bookings for the New Year's Day holiday increased by 4 times year-on-year, of which air ticket bookings increased by 4 times year-on-year, and hotel bookings increased by 5 times year-on-year. Hot springs, chasing the aurora, music performances, outdoor mountaineering, watching fireworks, etc., are the most popular travel themes during the New Year's Day holiday.

The New Year's Day holiday not only brings happiness to tourists, but also brings business to practitioners. A number of B&B and camp practitioners told "Fixed Focus" that this year, tourists will generally book one to two months in advance, "for fear that they will not be able to grab it". B&Bs, restaurants, and livehouses in some popular tourist cities, even if they are several times the premium, are still in short supply. Wholesalers of balloons and fireworks have also opened reservations on social platforms, "the earlier you buy, the cheaper".

For many people, New Year's Day in 2024 is more like a long-lost reunion with fireworks, learning to "play", learning to find happiness, and learning to reward themselves. Many practitioners expressed the hope that this boom will continue in 2024.

Tourism New Year's Eve: The daily income of the homestay is 20,000, and the ice and snow world queues for 4 hours

This winter, people still love to go to cold places for New Year's Eve, which has brought fire to Harbin, Mohe and other cities.

Mohe is the northernmost and highest latitude city in the mainland, and in 2023, affected by the "magnetic storm" phenomenon, there will be two fantastic red and green auroras, attracting countless tourists to chase the light.

"As New Year's Day approached, most of the B&B rooms in Arctic Village were full, and the 15 rooms in my hand had already been sold out. "The owner of a homestay in Mohe" Arctic Village Store "couldn't hide his excitement, "There are too many people, so I can only introduce tourists who can't be received to other homestays, and I sent out more than 40 rooms a day." ”

On New Year's Day 2024, the enthusiasm of tourists to travel is particularly high, and in previous years, the peak season was booked half a month in advance, but this time it is necessary to start grabbing rooms one to two months in advance. Xinxin, the manager of Mohe Shiye Zhiyou B&B, said that his 8 rooms have been booked until February 2024, and the rooms for New Year's Day have been booked as early as November 2023.

Harbin also topped the list of the most popular homestay destinations for the first time in 2023, with data from the Tujia platform showing that the number of homestay bookings in Harbin for New Year's Day in 2024 increased by 27 times compared to 2023. Some tourists told "Fixed Focus" that they "jumped" with 10,000 people in Harbin Ice and Snow World, and queued for 4 hours to start, which was more than an hour at most in previous years.

The sudden flow has brought a fruitful New Year's Day to tourism practitioners in Northeast China.

A friend of the Arctic Village store runs a homestay near Harbin Central Street, with more than 80 properties in hand, and the current daily turnover exceeds 20,000 yuan, and the price and turnover will rise on New Year's Day and New Year's Eve. In his own B&B room in Mohe, his income increased by nearly 50% on New Year's Day. According to Xinxin, its off-season house price is about 400 yuan, rising to 7800 yuan in December, and about 1,000 yuan on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Due to the cold and slippery roads in Mohe and the long distance between scenic spots, tourists almost all charter or carpool travel. With the influx of a large number of tourists, the capacity of local drivers is insufficient, "the total number of chartered drivers in Mohe is about 1,000 people, and a normal group is three days and two nights, which is equivalent to only more than 300 drivers a day, and the service is not available at all." The second little boy of the Arctic Village store said.

Under the boom, there are also hidden worries. A number of tourism practitioners in Northeast China said that there is a ceiling on the local capacity and the reception capacity needs to be improved. At the end of November 2023, the well-known blogger "Mrs. B" broke the news on social media, saying that she had signed up for a tour group to go to the snow town in Harbin, and found that the travel agency had two price points, 550 yuan and 1180 yuan, but except for the difference in the car, the itinerary and service were the same. For a time, topics such as "chaos in snow town tour groups" rushed to the hot search.

Xinxin observed that the requirements of customers on New Year's Day will generally be higher than before, and "customers are particularly worried about stepping on the pit". To this end, Xinxin and his colleagues made a "pit avoidance guide" for guests, and improved the overall hygiene standards and increased staff allocation - 6 staff members in 8 rooms, and only 2 to 3 people in the off-season.

In addition to watching the snow and chasing the light, the hot springs that have both health and leisure are also a popular choice for many young tourists to travel on New Year's Eve, which also directly drives the boom of the business of Tangquan hotels and bathing centers.

According to Tongcheng Travel data, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Beijing, Fuzhou and Nanjing are the most popular hot spring tourist destinations during the New Year's Day holiday. According to data from Meituan and Dianping, since December 2023, the number of online orders for bathing centers across the country has increased by 249% year-on-year, and the number of orders in Shenyang, Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, and Suzhou ranks among the top five in the country.

"Fixed Focus" opened Dianping and Ctrip and found that in Beijing, the price of B&Bs and hotels containing "private soup", "soup springs" and "hot springs" on New Year's Chinese New Year's Eve Day in 2024 is about 1,000 yuan to 3,500 yuan a night, and almost all room types are fully booked.

Huahua, who plans to soak in the soup in Nanjing for the New Year's Eve, said that she plans to make an appointment with her girlfriend to go to the scenic spot for a vacation, soak in a private soup by the way, eat and drink, relax and relax, and then come to a health SPA after taking a bath, "The fatigue accumulated for a year can be swept away."

New Year's Eve party: Turnover is twice as high as on weekends, and New Year's Eve tickets are all up to grabs

Young people who don't want to go far choose to spend the New Year's Eve on the spot, and entertainment projects such as bonfire parties, livehouses, and parties are popular. Compared with long-distance travel New Year's Eve, this kind of activity is mainly crowded and varied.

The New Year's Eve event at the Wild Freedom Camp in Chengdu was fully booked 10 days in advance. Its manager, Lu Jian, said that he specially carried out staggered peak publicity, and when his peers were promoting Christmas, he began to bet on the publicity of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. In the days leading up to the event, there was a steady stream of calls every day.

As the highlight of the New Year's Day holiday, the organizers of various activities did their best to make the guests have a more ceremonial New Year's Eve. Aranya Community B&B has prepared a fireworks countdown event by the sea, and Zhejiang Shanli B&B has prepared a viewing terrace for tourists to welcome the first sunrise in 2024.

The presumptuous wild takes "playing with fire" as the core concept, adding elements such as picnics, chopping wood, making torches, roasting "Liangguang kiln chicken", and bonfire parties to attract users. This New Year's Eve event will run from 4 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. "When guests come to the camp, they all come for activities or special experiences, so operators have to constantly iterate the content of activities to give users a sense of freshness. Lu Jian said.

With differentiated gameplay, the sales of Unbridled Wild in December have increased significantly compared with the off-season. Lu Jian calculated an account for "Fixed Focus", and the number of people who have booked on Chinese New Year's Eve is about 180, and the price is about 300 yuan / person, of which regular customers account for less than 20%. He expects Chinese New Year's Eve to be at least twice as much turnover as on a normal weekend.

Chartering a villa party is also the first choice for many people. On the Tujia platform, the number of homestay bookings with the label of "multi-residence/whole house" has increased by more than 5 times compared to New Year's Day 2023.

Compared with the camp, the party hall pays more attention to privacy, security and decoration style, and will also provide billiards, billiards, KTV, mahjong, etc., and users can choose their own entertainment activities.

"The New Year's Day holiday is relatively short, and the children have to take final exams, so they don't go far away. It is appropriate for a few friends to rent a small courtyard in the suburbs. Ms. Wang, from Beijing, said that children can play together and do homework, while adults can soak in the soup, play cards and sing, "a very relaxing holiday, everyone can enjoy their own happiness."

During the three-day holiday on New Year's Day in 2024, six time slots for the Beijing Yijia Party Hall were booked out. Its manager, Miss Yu, said that in previous years, winter itself was also a peak season, and the company had more team building and family gatherings. This type of venue is in high demand on weekends and holidays because of the high vacancy rate on weekdays, and it is generally necessary to book a month in advance.

There is also a difference between the New Year's Eve customers who go out to travel and the New Year's Eve customers who are on the spot.

Like most campsites, the wild customers are mainly families and company team building, and there are few individual customers. The company's team building is mainly concentrated on Thursdays and Fridays, and family users are arranged on weekends to complement each other. Lv Jian said that most operators are reluctant to receive individual customers, such as couples, generally two pairs together, 4 people will occupy 1 tent, if it is to receive family customers, 1 tent can accommodate 2-3 family members, space utilization and service efficiency will be higher.

"Although the slots are fully booked, the overall feeling is not as sought-after as before. Ms. Yu observed that in the three years of the epidemic, the reason why the party hall is so popular is that most people can only celebrate the New Year on the spot. After the resumption of travel, there is a serious diversion of tourists, and young people have more and more popular choices, "they are more willing to go to some new places".

Another microcosm of the popularity of New Year's Eve themed events is the Livehouse New Year's Eve performance, as well as the New Year's Eve events of some theme parks.

Beijing's old Livehouses, such as School, Jiangjin Wine, MAO, Music Space, etc., have all launched New Year's Eve performances, with single ticket prices between 100 yuan and 200 yuan, and general tickets have long been sold out, leaving only 400 yuan + VIP tickets. Singer Zhao Chuan's New Year's Eve concert in Beijing was sold for 1,280 yuan at full price. In the week before the New Year's Eve, music fans who didn't grab tickets will also ask for tickets and transfer tickets to each other on the second-hand trading platform and the performance group.

According to data released by Mafengwo, Hong Kong Disneyland opened the world's first "Frozen Theme Park" in November, and Shanghai Disneyland's "Zootopia Theme Park" opened on December 20, making Disney the absolute darling of the 2024 "New Year's Eve Season".

Shirley, a white-collar worker in Shanghai, made an appointment to go to Disney New Year's Eve with her roommates. Her reason is that, on the one hand, she should have a sense of ritual, and she gave up her life when she worked overtime, so she wanted to count down the New Year's Eve in a special, fireworks-filled paradise. On the other hand, she also wants to take advantage of the New Year's Eve to give herself a chance to enjoy the name justifiably, spend money on nail and hair, and dress herself, which is very happy, "Ordinary life is gray, and I want to experience the dreamy and colorful world."

New Year's Eve atmosphere group: balloons are sold wholesale for 8,000 yuan a night, and the price of fireworks is rising

In fact, no matter what New Year's Eve it is, balloons and fireworks are very powerful atmospheric weapons. Young people who pursue a sense of atmosphere and ritual have become popular in the wholesale business of New Year's Eve balloons and fireworks.

In previous years' New Year's Eve countdown event, tens of thousands of people collectively released balloons. Those who participate in the countdown will write their wishes on the balloons in advance, and wait for the clock to ring at zero o'clock and all the balloons will be released.

This kind of activity has led to balloon booking, and users can book balloons online in advance and pick them up on site.

Xiao Chen, who works in Wuhan, began to prepare a small business of balloon wholesale in December 2023, and after several tests and product selection, he decided to sell 18-inch aluminum film balloons at an online booking price of 15 yuan/piece, Chinese New Year's Eve on the day of booking 18 yuan/piece, and on-site purchase price of 20 yuan/piece. After he posted a short video on the short video platform accepting New Year's Eve balloon reservations, some people booked balloons, and many people in other cities commented on "begging for a belt".

To be on the safe side, he filled the balloon with more expensive helium, which cost about 4.7 yuan for a balloon and about 1 yuan for a hydrogen balloon. Through online channels, Xiao Chen met a local helium manufacturer and became an agent, and after the price of helium was lowered, his overall profit was also higher.

After the video was released, two Wuhan colleagues reached a cooperation with Xiao Chen, and everyone divided their labor to find offline stall venues, package helium trucks, play balloons on the spot, and start live broadcasts. Xiao Chen revealed to "Fixed Focus" that the inventory in his hand plus the inventory of the two partners, if all are sold directly through the form of live broadcast, the revenue of a single day on Chinese New Year's Eve is nearly 8,000 yuan, and 80% has been booked at present.

Because it was the first time to sell balloons on Chinese New Year's Eve, coupled with the large number of competitors, Xiao Chen did not dare to enter too many balloons in order to control risks.

At present, plans for light and fireworks shows are being released one after another, such as Shanghai Disneyland's New Year's Eve fireworks, Changsha Orange Island and Harbin Ice and Snow World's fireworks shows, all of which have attracted great attention. At the beach, campsite, and homestay, users will also set off cold fireworks to add a sense of celebration and romance.

It is worth mentioning that regarding the setting off of fireworks, at the beginning of 2023, Guangdong, Shandong, Liaoning and other places changed "prohibition" to "restriction", stipulating that people can set off fireworks at specific times and areas. Just before New Year's Day 2024, the Legislative Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress proposed: a complete ban on fireworks and firecrackers is illegal, and local governments need to revise the ban on fireworks. CCTV also issued an article saying that it is time to end the complete ban on fireworks and firecrackers.

On New Year's Day 2024, fireworks have become traffic passwords. Searching for fireworks on Xiaohongshu, there are more than 6.44 million related notes, and topics such as "stocking up early to buy fireworks" and "are fireworks at this price expensive" ranked first on the search page. On Douyin, the topic of "fireworks" has been played 35.24 billion times.

In these contents, many fireworks wholesalers directly post quotations for consumers to compare prices, and some merchants teach users how to match different prices and different types of fireworks, in the posts posted by users, the general customer unit price is 500 yuan-800 yuan, and said that "get off safely" and "New Year's Eve fireworks are in place".

The demand in the market is hot, and the price of fireworks is also rising. A merchant revealed, "In the period before the Spring Festival, fireworks will rise in price, ordinary Gatling sells for 85 yuan, and blue fire costs more than 200 yuan, and the purchase price is only about 35-40 yuan." ”

In this New Year's Eve carnival, ordinary people reaped surprises and joys, while fireworks and balloon vendors reaped business opportunities and experiences.

epilogue

New Year's Day 2024 hits the psychology of people who need to celebrate, need to take vacations, need to be happy, and need to go out to play, and it has also further spawned a hot New Year's Eve business.

On New Year's Day 2024, the other party sent him a WeChat message, saying, "This time I can finally come, and I will come without snow." ”

For the New Year's Day business boom, practitioners are mixed, happy to see that "business has finally returned to normal rhythm", and at the same time firmly believe that "the market in the past two or three years should not be too bad"; worry is that I don't know how long this boom can last, and the "festival economy" is seasonal, and it is urgent to stabilize old customers, develop new customers, roll content, roll experience, and roll up services, so as to maintain the balance of payments.

Yijia Party House is a 5-year-old store that has had its own stable parent-child customer base. However, Ms. Yu found that in recent years, many new stores have opened in the surrounding area, and the newly opened stores are getting larger and larger, the environment is getting better and better, and the entertainment facilities are becoming more and more abundant, and the competition in the industry is becoming more and more fierce. In 2024, she plans to redecorate the store.

The most popular tourist seasons in Northeast China are winter and summer vacations, with Heilongjiang and Beijing visiting the summer holidays and Guangdong visiting the winter months. Xinxin said that the income of the homestay can double in 2023, and the team is ready to make a new homestay in 2024, focusing on a higher-end model.

The presumptuous field will start operations in March 2023, and by the end of the year, the operating income and expenditure have been leveled. Lu Jian's plan for 2024 is, first, to expand the scale of the camp in the summer, opening up the "direct drive to the camping area", where guests bring their own tents or rent tents for the night, and the second is to expand the area of the farm, planning to let the things produced by the farm be digested in the camp, and then make their own agricultural product brand.

2023 has passed, whether it is young people who want to reward themselves, or businesses who want to seize the peak season of New Year's Day, they are looking forward to 2024 to usher in a new atmosphere and gain more development and hope. The consumption boom on New Year's Day is a good start to the new year.