Go to Pingtan to meet "blue tears", go to Wenchang to "chase rockets", and go to Quanzhou Pupu to experience hairpins...... This year's "May Day", the "sudden rise" of county tourism has attracted attention.
According to data from OTA platforms, during the May Day holiday, the year-on-year growth rate of travel orders in first- and second-tier cities was smaller than that of third- and fourth-tier cities, and the growth rate of third- and fourth-tier cities was smaller than that of county-level markets. "Small counties outperform metropolises" has become a highlight of this year's tourism market.
According to data from Jin Jiang Hotels (China), the overall occupancy rate of hotels in third-tier cities and below during the May Day period exceeded that of the domestic market, reaching a record high. Typical areas such as Jishou in Hunan, Zhuji in Zhejiang, Chuxiong in Yunnan, Changji in Xinjiang, Yanji in Jilin, Kangding in Sichuan, Delingha in Qinghai, Shishi in Fujian and other areas are difficult to find a house during the peak period.
The market is a mirror, and the popularity of every new thing reflects the change in public demand. Behind the bustle of the county, it essentially reflects the new round of consumer demand transformation that China is currently experiencing, which is affected by the intergenerational population and income distribution. Recently, Shi Yuanjing, General Manager of the Marketing Communication Department of Jin Jiang Hotels (China), mentioned the above views in the theme sharing of the National Conference on New Quality Productivity and Cross-border Innovation of Hotel Brands.
Shi Yuanjing, General Manager of Marketing Communications Department of Jin Jiang Hotels (China), delivered a keynote speech on "New Accommodation under New Consumption".
Generation Z and middle-class consumer groups have risen strongly, and "new hostels" have become a rigid need for a better life
Jinjiang Hotels (China)'s Wenchang Luneng Yunju Hotel is close to the Wenchang Satellite Launch Base in Hainan, and the hotel is equipped with aerospace-themed rooms, where you can "lie flat" and watch the rocket take off. This "May Day" coincided with the launch of the "Chang'e-6" in the local area, so it became the first choice for the "rocket chaser" family.
Wenchang Luneng Yunju Hotel aerospace theme rooms
Experiencing the "Flowers" tour and feeling the customs of ethnic minorities is the highlight of this "May Day" young people to check in the "Flower City" Kunming. The rose wall at the entrance of the Jinjiang Metropolo Kunming Dianchi Wanda Plaza Hotel has attracted many tourists to stop and take pictures, and its special Dali Bai tie-dye special theme room was booked early before the "May Day" came.
Jinjiang Metropolo Kunming Dianchi Wanda Plaza Hotel Bai tie-dye special theme room
"Nowadays, there is a growing trend of travel consumption that pays for emotions and experiences that pay for experiences. Watching a rocket launch or concert, eating a barbecue, and spicy tang may become a reason for young people to go to a city. Shi Yuanjing said that this phenomenon shows that Generation Z has begun to lead the change of consumer trends and plays an increasingly important role in the consumer market. By 2030, Gen Z will be between the ages of 21 and 35, and as they enter the workforce, their incomes will gradually increase, which will become a strong growth point for the market in the future. "Seizing the consumer demand of this part of the population is equivalent to taking the lead in the market."
In 2017, China's middle-income group exceeded 400 million, with about 140 million families. Driven by the mainland's income distribution system, which is "lowered" and "expanded", more and more people are moving towards the middle class. "The world's largest middle-class consumer group is rising on the mainland, which will unleash the long-term potential of consumption upgrading and accelerate the growth of new consumer demand." Shi Yuanjing said that the travel has gradually changed from a "luxury" to a "standard" of life, and has put forward higher requirements for the quality of accommodation.
The continuous increase in the total number of domestic tourism trips on May Day, as well as the popularity of county tourism, all confirm this view. Compared with the crowded metropolis or popular attractions, people are more keen on "reverse tourism", finding a niche place, away from the hustle and bustle, enjoying the beautiful scenery, breathing fresh air, experiencing different customs, focusing on a casual, leisure, and relaxation. The rise of experiential tourism, to a certain extent, reflects the advancement of high-quality accommodation, which contains the bottom-up consumption upgrade, which is constantly creating new momentum for cultural tourism consumption.
"The 'new hostel' has become a necessity for a better life. In the era when travelers define the hotel industry, the mainland hotel industry has entered a high-quality development stage of pursuing richness, diversity, refinement and quality, and new definition of hotel products are emerging. According to Shi Yuanjing, since the end of last year, Jin Jiang Hotels (China) has successively established an independent vacation apartment division and a mid-to-high-end business department, and continues to increase the vacation and mid-to-high-end tracks, all of which are forward-looking layouts for this new trend.
The supply of accommodation in the sinking market is becoming more and more perfect, following the consensus of "Jinjiang".
"It's not that popular cities can't afford to go, but small cities are more cost-effective." The consumer market has developed rapidly to move forward steadily, and behind the release of pent-up enthusiasm for tourism, consumers are becoming more and more rational. The improvement of high-speed rail transportation infrastructure has improved the direct connection between the third and fourth lines and county markets and central cities, and the supply of accommodation in sinking markets is also constantly improving. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 1,000 county-level scenic spots have been added to Ctrip's platform. According to incomplete statistics, since December 2023, a total of 127 4A-level scenic spots have been added in 10 provincial-level administrative regions, of which 65% are distributed in county towns and county-level cities.
In terms of hotels, Jin Jiang Hotels (China) said that at present, its more than 10,000 brand hotels have been stationed in most counties in mainland China, and since 2023, most of the newly signed hotels and newly opened hotels have been distributed in the "sinking market", and most of them are concentrated in mid-range and above brands, becoming an important force in the improvement of accommodation products and services in various places.
People are eager to explore destinations that are richer, more distinctive, or full of human fireworks. Jin Jiang has been in the resort market segment for many years, and has resort brands such as Pavilion Pavilion, Yunju Series, Huiyu Series, and Ou Xian Series. Whether it is Sanya, Urumqi, Changbai Mountain, Wuyi Mountain and other tourist destinations, or the backyard garden of first-tier cities such as Shanghai Chongming, or even distant border areas and villages, such as Nujiang Gongshan, Kashgar Shache, etc., there are already Jin Jiang Hotel resort series stationed, and the number of stores in operation and contracted projects is close to 200.
Shanghai Chongming Xinlan Tiandi Hui Ting Yunju Hotel
This year, it will give full play to the resource advantages of the cultural and tourism industry chain, focus on the integration of wine and tourism, change from the original hotel brand thinking to the future hotel product thinking, and launch the big IP of "Follow Jin Jiang Tour China" - on the one hand, the existing characteristic hotels will be used as different points through the tourism route; On the other hand, the hotel will be laid out according to the new routes explored, forming a more diversified and personalized product matrix. "I hope that everyone can follow Jinjiang to deeply understand the great rivers and mountains of the motherland."
"Our vision is to be able to open our resorts all over the country in the future." Shi Yuanjing introduced that the future of Jin Jiang Hotel Resort Series is a national resort brand - affordable to the people, diversified products and experiences, and cost-effective, and will focus on the layout of popular self-driving routes, major tourism provinces, and core economic circles, and is expected to achieve a scale of 500 by 2026.
Tengchong Pavilion Banshan Hot Spring Hotel introduces local hot spring resources into every room, allowing guests to enjoy natural private baths without leaving home
Social media helps more niche destinations to be seen
"#淄博烧烤", "#开封王婆", "#反向旅游" ...... The development of social platforms has allowed the beautiful scenery and food resources hidden in the county to be seen by more people, and online traffic can easily be converted into offline tourism actions, attracting more people to experience and becoming a new "Internet celebrity check-in place".
According to the 2023 Cultural Tourism Content Insights Report, most young users have formed the habit of going to Xiaohongshu to check strategies before making travel decisions. Douyin has become the "creator" of hot topics in wine and tourism, as well as an important trading platform for cultural tourism products. During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, Douyin platform tourism accommodation orders increased by more than 130% year-on-year, and according to the forecast of Bank of Communications International, the GMV of Douyin wine and tourism will reach 90 billion in 2024.
Jin Jiang Hotels (China) follows this trend and enters Xiaohongshu in 2023 and is the first to partner with Douyin Local Life. It is revealed that since the beginning of this year, the scale of its transactions on the Douyin platform has grown rapidly, and the overall GMV in January has increased by nearly 10.8 times compared with August 2023. The cumulative transaction volume and GMV of this "May Day" hit a record high, and Jin Jiang Hotel's redemption products ranked among the top three in the national weekly list of hotel accommodation products.
It is worth mentioning that because the monetization of "talents" is much higher than the average level of the platform, and the talents of wine and tourism are still a blue ocean, Jin Jiang Hotels (China) innovatively launched the "Jin Jiang Talent Creation Camp" project in April this year. Recruit and cultivate the company's own "talent pool" internally, and encourage employees to give full play to their professional advantages in various forms such as bonuses, traffic, and honors, so as to better convey the products they are familiar with, and realize the multi-frequency and high-quality "planting" and transformation of each platform. Also in the past "May Day", some of the "Jinjiang talents" recruited in the first phase have achieved good order conversion through live broadcast & short video.
The government is responsible for creating a better cultural tourism and business environment, and enterprises are committed to operating the market to enrich the supply, and the people can actively spread and share the good experience in the consumption process, forming a cultural tourism content field. Shi Yuanjing said that in the future, Jin Jiang Hotels (China) will rely on the cultural and tourism ecological chain of Jin Jiang International Group and the resource advantages of state-owned enterprises to continuously explore new accommodations under new consumption, and cover the whole region with a diversified and personalized product matrix to meet the accommodation needs of the widest range of people.