Report released | "2024 Ancient Town Tourism Development Index Report"

In order to further comprehensively understand the tourism attractiveness, market influence and tourism service quality of ancient towns, and to provide a basis for enhancing tourist loyalty and promoting the sustainable development of ancient town tourism, the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and the Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism jointly released the 2024 Ancient Town Tourism Development Index Report.

The ancient town tourism development index is an important indicator for evaluating the level of ancient town tourism development. From the perspective of tourists, the research team constructed an index system from three dimensions: search popularity (before the tour), tourism popularity (during the tour), and tourist satisfaction (after the tour); 70 ancient towns (ancient cities, ancient villages) with high market attention (hereinafter referred to as ancient towns) were selected as samples, and the big data monitoring system, "tourist satisfaction" results, tourism big data platform questionnaire surveys, and relevant data from Baidu, Ctrip, Mafengwo, etc. from November 2023 to October 2024 were comprehensively used to conduct a scientific quantitative evaluation of the level of ancient town tourism development after data cleaning and analysis.

1. Ancient Town Tourism Development Index

Comprehensive tourism development index: The ancient towns and scenic spots in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Shanxi and Xiangxi are relatively high. Among them, Wuzhen and Lijiang Ancient Town are at the leading level with absolute advantages; Fenghuang Ancient Town, Pingyao Ancient Town, Hongcun Scenic Area, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, Dali Ancient Town, Xitang Ancient Town, Nanxun Ancient Town, Ciqikou Ancient Town and other scenic spots have a high level of tourism development.

Tourism search heat index: The search heat index of ancient town scenic spots such as Wuzhen, Fenghuang Ancient Town, Lijiang Ancient Town, and Pingyao Ancient Town ranks among the top among the 70 ancient towns, covering different types of ancient town scenic spots such as Jiangnan Water Town, Xiangxi Ethnic Customs, Southwest Silk Road Ancient Town, and Northern Courtyard, becoming the vanguard of ancient town tourism search heat in various regions. In addition, the search heat index of scenic spots such as Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, Hongcun Scenic Area, Dali Ancient Town, Nanxun Ancient Town, and Xitang Ancient Town is also relatively high, and they are ancient town scenic spots with high attention in the domestic market.

Tourism Popularity Index: Due to the influence of the volume, the popularity index of ancient city scenic spots is higher than that of ancient towns. Among them, Lijiang Ancient Town, Ciqikou Ancient Town, Kashgar Ancient Town, Fenghuang Ancient Town, Langzhong Ancient Town, Jianshui Ancient Town, Wuzhen Scenic Area, Nanxun Ancient Town, Xitang Ancient Town and other scenic spots are relatively popular. If the ancient city and ancient town scenic spots are clearly distinguished, then Ciqikou Ancient Town, Wuzhen Scenic Area, Nanxun Ancient Town, Xitang Ancient Town, Tongli Ancient Town, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town and other ancient towns are relatively popular.

Tourist Satisfaction Index: Satisfaction is an important indicator to measure the quality of tourists' travel experience, reflecting tourists' overall evaluation of the ancient town environment, accommodation facilities and catering service quality, folk performances, public leisure facilities, etc. Among the 70 ancient town scenic spots, Lijiang Ancient Town, Hongcun Scenic Area, Wuzhen Scenic Area, Xitang Ancient Town, Dali Ancient Town, Pingyao Ancient Town, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, Fenghuang Ancient Town, Ciqikou Ancient Town, Zhenbeibao Ancient Town and other scenic spots have high evaluations from tourists, among which Jiangnan Water Town occupies 3 seats.

In general, whether in terms of search popularity, tourist popularity or tourist satisfaction, the ancient water towns in the south of the Yangtze River all show spatial agglomeration characteristics of a relatively high level of development, and belong to the first echelon of the development of ancient town tourism in China.

2. Development Trend of Jiaxing Ancient Town Tourism

Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, ranks first in the ancient town tourism development index. There are many ancient towns in the city with rich types, including relatively mature Wuzhen and Xitang, newly developed Puyuan and Yanguan, as well as a number of ancient town tourism resources with development potential such as Wangjiangjing, Xincheng and Shendang. Among them, Wuzhen and Xitang Ancient Towns have a number of development indexes at a relatively high level among the 70 ancient town scenic spots. At the national level, Jiaxing has the foundation and conditions to lead the development of ancient town tourism in terms of the number, quality and innovation of ancient town scenic spots.

The city's annual passenger flow heat map shows that Wuzhen, Xitang Ancient Town, Puyuan Fashion Ancient Town and other places are important tourist gathering areas, as well as holiday tourist hotspots. This is closely related to the differentiated and distinctive cultural brands formed in Jiaxing's ancient towns in recent years.

Jiaxing Ancient Town is leading the high-quality development of ancient town tourism with continuous innovation, satisfying the diverse market's yearning for a better life. The status of "Look at Jiaxing for Chinese Ancient Towns" continues to consolidate.

Source: Planning and Leisure Research Institute Source: China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Editor: Liu Xin Please indicate the author and source for reprinting