Data map: On September 26, the Tianluokeng Tulou Group in Nanjing County, Fujian Province attracted many tourists to visit and take pictures. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Jinchuan
During the National Day holiday, the "people from the crowd" mode was officially opened. In addition to the popular tourist cities, enthusiastic tourists have also entered the relaxed and leisurely county towns.
In the past two years, the county tourism boom has risen, and the niche has begun to become popular. According to the "National County Tourism Development Research Report 2024", in 2023, the average total tourism income of the 1,866 counties in the country will be 4.295 billion yuan, and the average number of tourists received will be 5.0827 million, a year-on-year increase of 41.19% and 35.18% respectively.
This "Ben County" craze continued to this year's National Day holiday. According to data from the tourism platform, during the National Day, the tourism popularity of small towns in the county continued to rise, driving the number of cultural tourism orders in many counties to double.
"Ben County" is very popular
Different from the previous "special forces travel", county tourism is more like a life sojourn, the pace is slower and more relaxed, and it has a strong attraction to people in big cities who live a long-term fast-paced life.
According to the "2024 National Day Tourism Forecast Report" released by Ctrip, during the National Day, tourists from first- and second-tier cities drove a year-on-year increase of more than 60% in rural travel orders, and county-level travel orders increased by 20% year-on-year.
From a regional point of view, counties and cities located in central cities or around well-known scenic spots have a higher degree of attention. These areas are either rich in tourism resources, or have a high direct rate of transportation stations, or are in the economic circle and economic belt, and have good infrastructure construction.
Ms. Zhang, who works in Nanjing, plans to use this year's November holiday to visit the county and towns in her hometown of Anhui. She told the country that her hometown of Anhui is developing rapidly, and some county towns have also undergone earth-shaking changes. Compared with popular tourist cities, going to a county seat or small town can not only escape from the city "people follow the crowd", but also have more local characteristics and fun, "each county has its own characteristics and stories".
Like Ms. Zhang, there are not a few people who reverse "Ben County", and county tours are becoming the new favorite of cultural tourism consumption. Taking the recent summer vacation as an example, Ctrip's "2024 Summer Travel Market Forecast Report" shows that this summer, travel orders in fifth-tier cities increased by 34% year-on-year, and county-level travel orders increased by 22% year-on-year, both higher than the growth rate of first-tier cities and new first-tier cities.
Data from multiple tourism platforms show that although first- and second-tier cities are still the main destinations for tourism, niche cities, cities below the third-tier level, county towns and central towns have gradually become new growth points for domestic tourism.
The accommodation industry is a microcosm of the tourism market, and the hot wind of county tourism has unsurprisingly blown to county homestays. Hu Yang, senior vice president of Tujia B&B, said that more and more people are willing to explore the county. Since the beginning of this year, county-level homestays have shown the characteristics of both supply and demand, and the number of bookings and supply have exceeded the market average.
Multiple factors boost county-level tourism
The popularity of county tourism is not accidental.
"In the context of more and more diversified tourism methods, the tourism industry will definitely develop to the regional tourism with the county as the core, and it is inevitable that the county tourism will become popular." Li Mingde, academic adviser of the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China News Service that the country is through train.
Compared with traditional mass tourism destinations, counties with fewer people and beautiful scenery are more attractive and more cost-effective. With the improvement of the infrastructure of county-level scenic spots and the optimization of accommodation services, more and more consumers who pursue personalized tourism experience are more willing to choose to explore the county.
Data map: Shanbei Village, Gezhuping Town, Lipu County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province: "Four Good Rural Roads" help the development of rural tourism. Photo by Tian Wenguo, China News Service
The substantial improvement of traffic conditions is an important prerequisite for the rise of county-level tourism. According to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., it is expected that by 2025, the mainland high-speed rail will cover 98% of cities with an urban population of more than 500,000, and the coverage of the high-speed rail network will continue to increase.
Li Mingde pointed out that a series of favorable measures launched by the government and the policy direction of rural revitalization have boosted the upsurge of tourism in the county. In 2023, the Ministry of Commerce and other nine departments jointly issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for County Commerce (2023-2025)", proposing to build high-quality routes such as rural tourism, leisure agriculture, farm stays, and self-driving tours. Many county towns and central towns have found new opportunities for development.
"Under the favorable policy, tourism has become an important industrial development direction for some counties with conditions and resources, and it is the embodiment of the county's initiative and active exploration of its own development path." Li Mingde said.
McKinsey predicts that by 2030, more than 66% of China's personal consumption growth will come from lower-tier markets. Li Mingde believes that county-level tourism will create opportunities and provide opportunities for the all-round development of the county.
With the surge in tourism demand, how can the county take the exam?
The upsurge of "Ben County" has brought rare development opportunities for county-level cultural tourism, and has also brought multi-dimensional tests.
When you go to the county seat to check in, not all tourists get a comfortable experience. On the Internet, there is no shortage of young tourists who "complain" about the trip to the county, such as imperfect supporting facilities, non-standard tourism market, high fees, dirty environment and other problems.
In the face of the sudden surge in tourism demand, it is clear that not all counties are ready.
Li Mingde pointed out that if the county wants to catch the "wealth and wealth" of cultural tourism, it needs to learn to go to the market and strengthen marketing thinking. At the same time, we will strengthen the construction of infrastructure, tourism reception facilities and other hardware, and enhance the supporting facilities of related commercial and service industries.
In addition, we should also actively create a soft environment for high-quality services, strengthen the sense of service, and create a harmonious, civilized and integrated tourism atmosphere.
The China Culture Media Group Research Institute pointed out that for small county towns, improving the quality of tourism public services is a top priority. It is necessary to establish a normalized supervision mechanism and make more efforts to improve the tourism experience of tourists. More importantly, small cities should remain rational when introducing cultural tourism projects, pay attention to the excavation and inheritance of local culture, and avoid blindly following the trend and building large-scale construction, laboring people and losing money.
Although there are still problems to be solved, in Li Mingde's view, the development of county-level tourism is the trend of the times, and the future growth potential is huge, which will drive the development of the overall cultural tourism industry.
Source: Guoshi through train Editor: Li Yu