Tourism changes: from outbound to county-level, no more high-end games

With the end of the 2024 May Day holiday, the tourism market is once again booming. Many scenic spots across the country are crowded with people, and tourism data has increased significantly. May Day is one of the most important festivals in China and the golden period of the tourism market. During the May Day holiday, many scenic spots across the country were crowded with people again.

For example, on the first day of the May Day holiday, Shandong had a hot start. The province's 200 key monitored tourist attractions received 3.577 million tourists that day, a year-on-year increase of 33.8%; ticket revenue and operating income also achieved double growth, reaching 59.609 million yuan and 202 million yuan, respectively, up 42.1% and 35.2% year-on-year. For another example, according to Shanghai Tourism Big Data Monitoring, during the May Day holiday, Shanghai received a total of 16.2394 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 3.77%; Shanghai's major tourist attractions (spots) received a total of 7.32 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 15%.

It is worth mentioning that the tourism market underwent structural changes during the May Day holiday in 2024: the growth rate of outbound tourism was higher than that of domestic tourism. At the same time, "county tourism" became a new trend, and niche tourist destinations rose rapidly.

Although Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xi'an and other cities are still popular tourist cities, the barbecue in Zibo, Shandong, the "Wang Po" in Kaifeng, Henan, the spicy hot pot in Tianshui, Gansu, and the "Village BA" in Taijiang, Guizhou have also attracted a large number of tourists, and even the year-on-year growth rate of tourism orders has exceeded that of hot tourist cities. With the explosion of "county travel", the tourism market seems to be in the midst of a major change.

1. “County tourism” ushered in “huge wealth”

During the May Day holiday, a notable change in the tourism market was that the trend of tourism sinking became more obvious.

Data from OTA (online travel platform) confirms the popularity of "county travel". The "2024 May Day Holiday Travel Summary" released by Ctrip pointed out that the year-on-year growth rate of tourism orders in county markets and third- and fourth-tier cities has exceeded that of first- and second-tier cities. During the May Day holiday, Yangzhou, Luoyang, Qinhuangdao, Weihai, Guilin, Kaifeng, Zibo, Huangshan, Tai'an, Shangrao and other popular third- and fourth-tier destinations, with an average increase of 11% in tourism orders. The average growth of tourism orders in popular county tourism destinations such as Anji, Tonglu, Dujiangyan, Yangshuo, Mile, Yiwu, Wuyuan, Jinghong, Kunshan and Pingtan reached 36%.

The "May Day Holiday Travel Consumption Report" released by Tongcheng Travel shows that during the May Day holiday, the popularity of "niche" related tourism searches increased by 172% month-on-month, and the popularity of "unpopular" related tourism searches increased by 113% month-on-month. Hotel bookings in domestic third-tier and below cities increased by more than 150% compared with the same period in 2019.

Fliggy data also shows that the average growth rate of travel bookings to destinations such as Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Liupanshui, Ali Prefecture, Jiayuguan, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Ulanqab, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Anshun, Jingdezhen, and Shuozhou has doubled compared with last year.

Behind the trend of tourism sinking is the change in tourism consumption demand, that is, "tourism" has been upgraded to "vacation", and experience tours are replacing check-in tours.

Zhang Xuefei, who gave up the "special forces"-style tourism in Beijing and chose to go to Weihai for vacation, told DoNews that compared to the crowded scenic spots in Beijing, Weihai is more suitable for relaxing and spending a happy vacation. Moreover, Weihai is more cost-effective in terms of food, accommodation, and entertainment.

Liu Yang, who works in Beijing, told DoNews that Shanghai, Wuhan and other cities are definitely crowded, and during the May Day holiday, he just wants to find a beach to lie down, stroll around and relax. "I have already booked a homestay in Lianyungang. I have rarely had the opportunity to travel since I started working, and this holiday, which is suitable for a seaside vacation, must not be wasted."

In fact, more and more tourists have new demands for tourism, especially in terms of personalization, differentiation, relaxation, etc. For example, they want to pay more attention to the uniqueness of regional culture, which can bring different cultural experiences, while having a lower degree of commercialization so as to retain some marks of the development of the times. In addition, it must have local characteristics so that people can feel unique and novel.

A tourism industry insider told DoNews that "in-depth travel and experience are the biggest highlights of 'county travel'. Tourists can simply go to a music festival, take a city walk along narrow streets, or chat with locals to learn about local customs. Overall, 'experience' is replacing 'destination' and becoming the first demand for travel."

2. Outbound tourism market is booming

Since 2023, many countries including Georgia, Thailand, Tunisia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have announced visa-free entry for Chinese tourists. Under the influence of the visa-free policy, the demand for outbound travel by Chinese tourists has increased significantly. During the May Day holiday, outbound travel has heated up again.

The "2024 May Day Holiday Travel Express" released by Fliggy shows that during this year's May Day holiday, outbound tourism recovered faster, and based on last year's sharp rebound, it continued to grow at a rate nearly doubling. Among them, outbound hotel bookings increased by about 1 times year-on-year; car rental and self-driving tours became popular from domestic to overseas, with booking amounts increasing by more than 3 times year-on-year; international cruise supply recovered rapidly, and cruise tourism ushered in a big boom, with bookings surging by more than 15 times year-on-year.

On the Ctrip platform, during the May Day holiday, Chinese tourists' outbound travel covered nearly 200 countries and over 3,000 towns around the world. Short-distance countries such as Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are popular outbound destinations, and long-distance destinations are mainly the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. The growth rate of outbound travel to Middle Eastern countries such as Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait is relatively high, increasing by more than 3 times year-on-year. Among long-distance countries, outbound travel to Spain, Turkey, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Georgia and other countries is relatively high, increasing by more than 1.5 times year-on-year.

"The popularity of outbound tourism has continued from the Spring Festival holiday to the May Day holiday. The current popularity of outbound tourism has far exceeded expectations. This year's May Day holiday should set a new record for transactions." The above-mentioned tourism industry insider revealed to DoNews, "A very obvious phenomenon is that airlines are still continuing to increase the supply of international routes, and most of the new flights are concentrated in Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Europe."

For example, China Southern Airlines plans to add more than 900 extra flights from April 30 to May 6, and plans to operate nearly 19,000 flights. In terms of international routes, it focuses on increasing flights from Guangzhou to Bangkok, Phuket, and Ho Chi Minh City, and increasing the frequency of flights from Guangzhou to Nha Trang, Manila, etc.; China Eastern Airlines has recently added and resumed many international and regional routes, including flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Lanzhou, Xi'an, Qingdao and other cities to Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Riyadh, Moscow, etc.; Air China also announced 4 new and resumed international routes before the "May Day" holiday, among which Beijing-Madrid-Sao Paulo is the first domestic airline to reach Brazil in South America, crossing three continents and is also one of the longest routes in the world.

It is worth mentioning that compared with the past, tourists refuse to rush to "buy, buy, buy" or check in with a group tour when traveling abroad, but hope to have the opportunity to experience the authentic local lifestyle. Fliggy data shows that among the options for outbound travel, the proportion of group tours has decreased compared with last year, while the proportion of independent travel has continued to rise. The number of bookings for Fliggy's overseas car rental services has increased nearly four times year-on-year.

3. Travel groups of people of the same age become the top trend

Young people are becoming the main consumer group in the tourism market.

The 2023 Tourism Big Data Report released by Mafengwo shows that in 2023, the proportion of "post-00s" and "post-90s" has reached 68%, and young people have become the main force of travel. According to Ctrip data, during the "May Day" holiday, young tourists born in the 2000s, represented by college students (18-22 years old), were very active, and the proportion of travel orders from "post-00s" reached 31%, an increase of 20% year-on-year.

The post-2000s generation has officially taken over the tourism market, which means a shift in tourism consumption concepts and a dramatic change in the tourism market. The post-2000s generation is more inclined to pursue individuality and uniqueness, emphasizing aesthetics and personal characteristics. This consumption concept makes them pay more attention to experience and quality when choosing tourism products, rather than simply price factors.

For example, during the May Day holiday, "new Chinese-style" tourism ushered in a consumption boom. "New Chinese-style" tourism refers to a travel method that focuses on new cultural and tourism experiences such as checking in ancient cities and towns, experiencing intangible cultural heritage, museum exhibitions and checking in traditional costumes. Tongcheng Travel data shows that during the May Day holiday, the booking popularity of popular museums and ancient cities and towns increased by more than 4 times year-on-year. The Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum, the Palace Museum, the Guanghan Sanxingdui Museum and the Luoyang Museum are the most popular museums for holiday tourism. The ancient cities of Zhangzhou, Lijiang, Luzhi, Kashgar and Nanxun have attracted the attention of tourists with their respective cultural customs and architectural features.

In addition, during the May Day holiday, tour groups of peers, which mainly target young people for travel, also became the new top stream and became the "favorites" of the "post-00s".

Peer tour groups do not require shopping or getting up early. Not only can they customize their tour routes, but they also provide professional travel and aerial photography services, turning travel into a social game.

"People in the same age group are looking for comfort because they are all young and there is no generation gap in communication. They also have no worries when traveling with strangers, which creates a more open and free travel atmosphere." The above-mentioned tourism industry insider told DoNews, "This generation of young tourists is more willing to pay for the experience, which also provides new ideas and directions for the transformation of the tourism consumption market."

Minsheng Securities pointed out in its research report that young people's tourism can be summarized as basic needs as the driving force of tourism, spiritual resonance anchors tourism goals, and destination factors determine tourism behavior. This means that if you want to capture the young group, you need to work hard in three aspects: price and cost-effectiveness, destination service system and reputation, and novelty.

Overall, the tourism market has undergone many changes during the May Day holiday, which also reminded the tourism industry that when the post-2000s become the main force of tourism consumption, the previous market framework, business model and direction of development will face adjustments and reshaping. Whoever can seize the opportunity will be able to lead the new trend.

Author: Zhang Yu; Editor: Yang Bocheng

Source: WeChat public account "DoNews (ID: lovedonews)"