Go first and plan later, "advisory travel" has changed independent travel

Explore the novel model of "advisory travel" to solve the desire of young people for personalized travel experience, recommend it to readers who love free travel and seek real travel strategies, and provide new ideas for part-time travel bloggers and free travel enthusiasts who pursue personalized travel experience.

With the arrival of the May Day holiday, the tourism market has once again seen a big boom. While cultural and tourism bureaus across the country are busy taking photos and editing videos to attract foreign tourists, "advisory travel" has become popular among young people.

Different from the past travel method of "looking for travel guides online and traveling independently offline", "advisory travel" focuses on being unprepared and spontaneous: many young people will first confirm a destination, buy tickets and get on the bus, and then post a message on the social media platform saying "I'm going to XX soon, please recommend local food and fun places, please advise!", and then quietly wait for local "natives" or other tourists to appear in the comment area to give travel advice.

According to the Jingzhe Research Institute, the topics related to "listen to advice on tourism" on the Douyin platform have covered most of the popular tourist destinations in China, among which the topic "Listen to advice on Weihai travel guide" has been played more than 91.571 million times. According to the "2023 Travel Trend Report" released by Xiaohongshu at the beginning of the year, the notes related to "listen to advice + travel" increased by 86,268% year-on-year in the past year, and on average each note of listening to advice received 43.9 replies from enthusiastic people.

From "making travel plans in advance" to "listening to advice when traveling", what new opportunities does this new way of traveling popularized by this generation of young people bring to the cultural and tourism industry?

1. Listen to advice when traveling and travel as you wish

A week before the May Day holiday, Bu Xi Zhang Yang, a construction engineer working in Yichang, Hubei, suddenly decided to go to Wuhan alone for a "special forces tour". This time, Bu Xi Zhang Yang did not bring too much luggage with him, nor did he carefully plan a detailed travel guide of "where to go and what to do" every hour for 48 hours according to the two-day travel time.

Only after checking the seat number on the high-speed rail ticket and sitting down safely in the carriage did "Bu Xi Zhang Yang" calmly take out his mobile phone and post a note titled "Arriving in Wuhan soon!! Special Forces Two-Day Tour!!! Listen to advice!!!"

* "Listen to advice" posted by "Don't like to be public"

"It was a sudden idea to publish the notes. This is also the first time I went on a trip without making a guide." "Bu Xi Zhang Yang" told Jing Zhe Research Institute that although there are many "Wuhan Travel" guides on the Internet, he wanted a different experience this time. "In addition, I also wanted to listen to the suggestions of locals. I thought I could see where everyone checked in in the comment section, and then decide where to go on the spur of the moment."

According to "Bu Xi Zhang Yang", he did not expect to get many replies at first, but with the accurate recommendation of big data, this note received 248 comments as of May 1. According to the observation of Jing Zhe Research Institute, most of the comments were specific suggestions for travel plans, such as visiting Hubei Provincial Museum, eating beef fried noodles, and riding in East Lake... Some netizens even threw out their own 3-day and 2-night travel guides, as well as the "private collection restaurant" recommended by local "natives".

*Travel tips shared by netizens in the comment section

"Bu Xiaoguang" said that he had experienced group tours and also tried traveling alone, but these were all "check-in-style tours" that followed routes planned in advance by himself or others. But this time, he just went out and read netizens' comments about where he went and what he did.

"Go wherever you see, this is what attracts me the most. Everything is unknown. In an unfamiliar city, I feel confused at first, not knowing where to go, what to eat, or what to play. But after reading the comments, I can go wherever I am told. Every time it is an exploration and challenge of the unknown, and it feels very exciting." said "Bu Xi Zhang Yang".

In fact, through "advisory travel", you can not only get recommended ways to travel to the destination and unlock "hidden strategies", but also avoid pitfalls in time through feedback from netizens. For example, before departure, you can learn about the weather conditions at the destination through real-time comments from local netizens, or learn about the flow of people at popular attractions through messages from other tourists who have already arrived at the destination city, so that you can adjust your travel plans in time and avoid bad travel experiences.

In addition, the previously criticized "photo-deceptive" scenic spots and Internet celebrity restaurants can also be identified in time through the comments of "failed" tourists. To some extent, "advisory travel" increases the freedom and personalization of destination tourism on the one hand, and on the other hand, it demystifies "travel guides" through real comments on social networks, and provides valuable suggestions for travel with more authentic content. This is also the main reason why young people are keen on "advisory travel".

2. Young people fall in love with the upgraded version of “free travel”

"Travel by listening to advice" is not something that has only appeared this year. In 2023, when popular travel methods such as Citywalk and special forces travel became popular, many users began to post on social media to seek travel advice, which also inspired a large number of users to organize and share their own "hotel whitelists" and "travel avoidance posts". At that time, netizens spontaneously shared travel experiences and made travel plans according to the comments under the "help posts", which was called "mutual assistance travel".

Judging from the choice of destination and specific travel methods, "advisory travel" usually focuses on first- and second-tier cities in China, or third- and fourth-tier cities with natural scenery and historical sites. The core travel content includes city walks, exhibitions, and tasting local food, and the general travel time does not exceed 3 days. Combining the specific travel content and the duration of the trip, we can also see the new market trend behind "advisory travel".

First of all, the basic condition that can support young people to start a "persuasion-based trip" is that the transportation to the destination city is convenient enough. Putting aside the standard airplanes and high-speed trains in first-tier cities, direct trains are the practical basis for going on a whim, and popular help posts on social networks often use live photos or videos taken on trains as covers. Secondly, the scale of the tourist attractions does not have to be large, but the experience must be novel and rich.

Last summer, Jingdezhen became popular on the Internet with a "silent Buddha". In the hot search terms for the cultural and tourism industry released by Xiaohongshu (August 2023), Jingdezhen ranked second in the "TOP30 Cultural Attractions" list, while Disney and Universal Studios ranked first and third respectively. By the end of the year, on the Meituan and Dianping platforms, the number of notes with Jingdezhen as the keyword increased by 3 times year-on-year, and the number of tourism consumption bookings increased by 181% compared with 2019.

*Hot search terms in the cultural and tourism industry released by Xiaohongshu platform (August 2023)

From the travel check-in content publicly released by netizens, we can see that the main tourist attractions for most people who visit Jingdezhen include the China Ceramics Museum, the Imperial Kiln Factory Museum, the Sculpture Porcelain Factory and Taoxichuan Cultural Street. Among them, you can visit the "Silent Bodhisattva" at the China Ceramics Museum; the Imperial Kiln Factory Museum and Taoxichuan Cultural Street are very unique in their architectural style and are suitable for checking in and taking photos; at the Sculpture Porcelain Factory, you can buy various souvenirs such as bracelets and porcelain. In addition to sightseeing, various local catering stores such as noodle shops and food stalls near the destination have also become one of the targets for foreign tourists to check in.

Third, freedom of itinerary and controllable expenses are major advantages of "advisory travel", so the consumption level of tourist destinations and the comprehensive ticket prices of scenic spots also show certain similarities.

Taking Jingdezhen as an example, all kinds of ceramic museums and cultural streets are free except for reservations. At the same time, the average per capita consumption of ordinary local restaurants is basically less than 100 yuan. Including accommodation and tickets, the average per capita expenditure for 3 days and 2 nights does not exceed 500 yuan.

Therefore, the travel experience most people get in Jingdezhen is that they can save the money for buying tickets and use it specifically to taste local food, so that the money can be spent on places that can be seen, which also enhances the overall sense of achievement of the tour. In addition, the tour itinerary is controllable, and there is no need to check in at each attraction one by one. Therefore, "advisory travel" is essentially an upgraded version of free travel, and because the overall cost of spending is reduced, the "freedom" of travel is greatly improved.

3. How to seize the “advice-listening economy”?

If we simply regard "advisory travel" as a collective behavior occurring on social media, it may be difficult to draw valuable analysis and judgments on the consumer market. However, if we combine people's collective performance on social media with the level of cultural tourism development in the destination city, we can actually see that a new development trend is emerging in the cultural tourism market.

In the past, young people’s free travel plans usually started from travel communities such as Mafengwo. But now, social applications have taken on more functions in daily life. Therefore, young people today are more accustomed to obtaining the information they need through content communities.

However, the content community has a business ecosystem centered on influencers, which has led to a considerable number of users having experienced or seen the phenomenon of "photo-deceptive" content in various travel guides to attract foreign tourists. Therefore, this generation of young people is no longer interested in ready-made "travel guides", and the "anti-threat posts" shared by other tourists have become a reverse reference for young people when making travel plans.

In addition, compared to making a travel plan in advance before departure, "advisory travel" does not mean being unprepared.

A Fei, who lives in a fourth-tier city, has been using his weekends to travel to nearby niche cities since 2023. "Although I don't have a detailed travel guide before each trip, I still have a general idea of ​​what attractions and food are available at the destination before I go. Otherwise, it would be very risky to book tickets and hotels at the last minute and not know what to do when I get there."

*Quanzhou temples photographed by Ah Fei

A Fei also told the Jingzhe Research Institute that traveling may be "just a matter of time", but the destination is definitely not "groundless". "It may be that you have seen other people's photos of the local area before, and you are attracted by the beautiful scenery. It may also be that you have seen store exploration bloggers and food bloggers post local store exploration videos, and then you are attracted by the delicious food. I don't know when, I suddenly have the idea of ​​traveling, and then I just go, buy tickets and get on the bus. It's just that in addition to the attractions and food that have been recommended before, everyone also wants to know if there are other places that are also worth visiting, so I use persuasive copywriting to solicit netizens' opinions and suggestions."

In addition to the subjective factors of tourists themselves, the lack of travel guides for some niche attractions and the lack of cultural and tourism publicity in some "reverse tourism" cities are also one of the objective reasons for the birth of "advisory travel". The "2024 May Day Tourism Trend Insight Report" released by Ctrip previously showed that more and more niche tourist destinations are becoming popular, and cities such as Xuzhou, Hefei, Nanchang, Diqing, Jingdezhen, and Shijiazhuang have become the cities with the fastest growth in hotel bookings during the May Day holiday.

However, the tourism resources of these niche tourist destinations are generally lacking in publicity, and the reason why they have become so popular is almost entirely due to the attention brought by individual attractions or cultural and tourism activities. For example, Diqing became popular because in recent years, hiking enthusiasts have begun to go to the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Shangri-La to take "life photos", and Shijiazhuang became popular because it will hold the "Rock City" original music festival during the May Day holiday.

*Photo source: @Shangri-La-Tiger Leaping Gorge Scenic Area Weibo

It is not difficult to understand that when foreign tourists go to these niche destinations with a common motivation to stay for 1-2 days as a "passing tourist". In order not to waste tickets, hotels and their own time, they will naturally want to know what other places are worth visiting in order to get an in-depth travel experience. However, the lack of local cultural and tourism publicity has failed to provide "passing tourists" with suitable travel guides. Fortunately, they can also consult local "natives" through social media. Over time, "advisory travel" has become a popular phenomenon.

However, "persuasive travel" is not without its pitfalls.

According to the Jingzhe Research Institute, most of the "listen to advice and help posts" can get some comments from the destination IP. However, it is difficult for users to directly judge whether the travel suggestions in the comments are mixed with advertising content, and the platform algorithm cannot define it. And judging from the account names, there are also businesses that leave comments on "listen to advice and help posts" to achieve the purpose of attracting customers to their stores. In the travel notes shared by a few users, there are also mentions of "recommendations that step on mines".

In short, "advisory travel" is somewhat similar to the phenomenon that netizens from all over the country have previously made suggestions for the publicity work of local cultural and tourism bureaus, reflecting the serious disconnection between cultural and tourism publicity and the ever-changing market demand. As early as 2022, in the article "The Rise of Reverse Tourism, Are Niche Attractions Ready?" , the Jingzhe Research Institute mentioned: Today's young people are beginning to pursue the process experience of travel, so more people are beginning to choose free travel and self-driving tours. In the era of social media, even the smallest city may become the "poetry and distance" that people pursue.

From the popularity of "advisory travel", we can see that when the younger generation travels, they no longer pursue famous mountains and rivers, Internet celebrity attractions, and even when they go to popular tourist cities, they hope to get a more localized travel experience beyond "advertisements". In the past, young people were keen on independent travel, but today's young people have a deeper understanding that to travel, you must first be "free".

Author: Chuxia; Source public account: Jingzhe Research Institute (ID: 1080045)