Chao News client reporter Jiang Xiaorong
The May Day holiday is getting closer and closer. Where are you going this holiday season?
According to a number of tourism platforms, compared with core cities, the popularity of tourism products in third-tier cities and below has increased relatively more. According to the 2024 May Day Travel Trend Insight Report released by Ctrip, more and more niche tourist destinations are gaining popularity, with cities such as Xuzhou, Hefei, Nanchang, Diqing, Jingdezhen and Shijiazhuang becoming the cities with the fastest growth rate in hotel bookings during the May Day holiday.
Photo source: Ctrip Travel
In young people's travel notes, "niche" may be a key word. Get away from the hustle and bustle, find a niche place, enjoy the beautiful scenery, breathe fresh air, feel the customs, and focus on a casual and relaxed.
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Niche travel, different charm
In recent years, more and more people are leaving their travel to a "small place". On social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, there are many "niche destination" travel strategies out of the circle - go to Jingdezhen to "knock on porcelain bowls", Luoyang draft mats, Shangrao rice cakes, Taizhou "glutinous" ...... When it comes to travel, young people have their own ways of playing.
Last weekend, three post-95s Hangzhou girls came on a walk-and-go trip, and their destination was Jingdezhen, Jiangxi. After work on Friday, I took the high-speed train, drove more than two hours to Jingdezhen, and started shopping and eating early on Saturday morning.
Like most visitors, their first stop was the Chinese Ceramics Museum. There are often long queues in front of the "Silent Bodhisattva" booth here, with young people taking pictures one by one, uploading them to social media, laughing and turning to leave, all in one go in more than ten seconds.
"Speechless Bodhisattva". Source: Jingdezhen Chinese Ceramics Museum public account
Then to the Taoxichuan Cultural and Creative Market, where people come and go, all kinds of stalls are endless. "I can't finish shopping, I can't finish shopping at all. One of the girls, Xiaoqing, said that the good-looking bracelet costs 10 yuan for 3 strings, and the exquisite dishes are more than 10 yuan each, which is too cost-effective. Knocking on porcelain bowls, blowing glass, homemade ceramics...... There are many studios that can be found everywhere, and there are a variety of hands-on activities. In their opinion, compared with other trips, Jingdezhen has a kind of cultural atmosphere, and it is a completely different travel experience.
"I'm a little tired at work, but I want to go out for a walk on weekends. Guo Jie, a post-90s Hangzhou guy, travels almost every weekend, and his destinations are usually some small counties around him. In Shengzhou, Shaoxing, he visited the Yue Opera Museum and tasted Shengzhou snacks; in Taizhou Linhai, he climbed the Great Wall of the Yangtze River and visited the ancient streets of Ziyang, and naturally he could not taste the "glutinous" food. In his opinion, small cities have a special charm, and walking on the streets, the pace will naturally slow down and be very relaxed.
"Nowadays many country houses have beautiful surroundings and a lot of space for children to move around, and you can climb mountains during the day. Zhong Xiao, a post-80s mother, often takes her children to homestays in the surrounding countryside with her friends. In her opinion, away from the city and into the countryside, what she is looking for is inner peace.
Xuzhou Yunlong Park. Photo source: Visual China
In the travel notes of young people, there is also a popular saying: it's not that big cities can't afford to go, but that small cities are more cost-effective. Compared with large cities, the cost of consumption in these places is lower, and the tourism infrastructure such as accommodation, transportation, and guided tours is naturally not so perfect. However, in the eyes of young people, choosing a niche destination itself also reduces the expectation in this regard, and looking for more is another feeling.
The growing popularity of niche destinations is essentially in line with the changing consumer needs of the younger generation – not following the crowd, pursuing individuality, valuing value for money, and caring more about emotional value.
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The "traffic password" to attract tourists
What makes "small places" attractive?
Taking stock of these "small places", there are usually some commonalities, such as rich resources, beautiful environment, not crowded and expensive, delicious and fun.
Grinding, pressing, extracting...... In Anji, Huzhou, Zhejiang, the air is filled with the aroma of coffee. "Drinking coffee in front of a beautiful mountain forest is not the same as drinking coffee in the city against a high-rise building. Many tourists from Shanghai sighed. As the "spiritual charging station" of urbanites, where can the café sink? In Anji, the answer is mountains, fields, lakes, waterfalls, forests, and mines. This small county, with a permanent population of about 590,000 people, is home to more than 300 cafes, surpassing Shanghai in terms of population density.
In Yanji, a small city in the northeast, different folk customs open up another possibility of "small places". In the China Korean Folk Park, visitors dressed in traditional Korean costumes and immersed themselves in traditional folk customs. In front of the Internet celebrity barrage wall of Yanbian University, tourists are holding a cup of coffee with the word "Yanji" in their hands to take photos and check in, which has become a new fashion.
As more and more "small places" become popular, it can be seen that on the one hand, these "small places" are trying to dissipate the siphon effect of metropolitan consumption, and on the other hand, they are also trying to create unique consumption scenarios and needs with the help of differentiated resource endowments and regional characteristics, and stimulate consumption momentum.
Tourists check in to the Yanji Internet celebrity wall. Source: Yanji Tourism Official Account
There are also many young people who choose to follow film and television dramas to check in to "small places". Last year, with the popularity of TV series such as "Hurricane" and "Long Moon Embers", many filming locations in Jiangmen, Guangdong, Bengbu, Anhui and other cities quickly became popular and became popular check-in points. According to the report, due to the empowerment of film and television IP, the search volume of these destinations on a homestay platform increased by more than 6 times year-on-year.
In recent years, social platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Kuaishou have also promoted the rapid popularity of many niche cities. Zibo in Shandong, Tianshui in Gansu, Liuzhou in Guangxi...... One small place after another is trying to catch the "pouring wealth". The Internet has brought more possibilities to these "small places".
As the "small places" continue to come out of the circle, there are still some deficiencies behind the heat, such as the imperfect tourism supporting industry, the lack of choice of amusement and leisure projects, and the lack of service and reception levels. When more and more tourists flock to "small places", perhaps what needs to be done more now is to embrace, greet and retain tourists with full sincerity.
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