"2020 China Night Economy Development Report": Scene Innovation and Digital Reconstruction

On October 24, 2020, Dr. Zhao Yijing, project leader of the night tourism project of the China Tourism Academy, released the core views and main data of the "2020 China Night Economy Development Report" on behalf of the research team at the "2020 China Night Economy Forum".

"If China's nighttime economy achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1 in 2019, then my country's nighttime economy in 2020 is growing wildly in the process of 1 to 100." Under the new dual circulation pattern, how will my country's nighttime economy, which is in its early stages of growth, achieve high-quality development? The report will interpret the five major parts of "booming demand, the current situation of wild growth, the policy of timely decision-making, the innovation of life scenarios and the support of digital reconstruction".

Booming demand

Compared with 2018, domestic nighttime consumption in 2019 has significantly increased in terms of both consumption amount and number of transactions. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, nighttime consumption as a whole has shown a contraction trend. According to data monitoring of local nighttime tourists and non-local nighttime tourists from January to August, the market has rebounded since February and returned to pre-epidemic levels in late April. At the same time, through the big data survey of the China Tourism Research Institute, more than 80% of the respondents expressed a strong desire for nighttime tours, and the demand for nighttime tours has returned strongly. Intra-provincial and urban nighttime tours have rebounded first, and the nighttime economy has lit up the holiday market. According to the monitoring of the number of nighttime tourists at different travel distances, the recovery of the sub-market has accelerated, and the popularity of nighttime tours in cities, suburbs, and provinces is high. The recovery of the nighttime tourism market is faster than that of local nightlife. During the National Day holiday in 2020, the proportion of tourists' nighttime consumption amount and number of transactions was higher than that of the national residents. Local nightlife has become an important tourist attraction, and the market has a significant bottoming effect. Big data research shows that urban nightlife experience has become the first choice for tourists to visit at night; performances, cultural venues, and cultural fairs are considered the most attractive nighttime cultural scenes; cultural and art venues, cinemas/theaters, and night markets/fairs are considered the most attractive nighttime consumption scenes. The number of nighttime tourists in scenic spots in August 2020 was 1.76 times that of January; the number of tourists in night markets in August was 1.91 times that of January; the number of nighttime tourists in business districts in May exceeded that of January for the first time; the price of nighttime performance tickets has continued to decline for three years, and after the adjustment of performance prevention and control measures, the month-on-month growth in the third quarter exceeded 7 times; more than 80% of the respondents said that the nighttime cultural needs, leisure needs, and consumption needs can be basically met.

Wild growth supply

From the national, collective, community to individual nighttime economic supply, the supply is growing wildly, and markets at different levels are in full bloom, with unlimited vitality. From the national level, for example, the nighttime opening rate of national first-, second- and third-level museums is 11.6%, of which the nighttime opening rate of first-level museums is twice that of second-level and six times that of third-level. From the collective level, the nighttime opening rate of AAAAA-level scenic spots across the country is 22.8%; the nighttime opening rate of AAAA-level scenic spots is 20.4%. Old scenes are constantly opening up, and traditional scenic spots and cultural venues have successively launched night tours, and the higher the rating, the higher the opening rate. From the community level, community movies, cultural and artistic activities, park night tours, block night markets, and business districts are extended and colorful. From a personal perspective, there are more and more nighttime activities that can be experienced and participated in, such as night running, night markets, square dancing, theaters, open mics, crosstalk, music festivals, and acrobatics. Nearly 80% of respondents believe that the atmosphere of night life in 2020 has improved compared to 2019. Market players are constantly innovating, and immersive night tours have become a highlight. The increase in the types of night tour projects, the increase in night leisure and consumption venues, and the widespread use of digital technology are the main keywords perceived by night tourists in 2020. Trendy night markets, cultural and creative markets, micro-performances, and immersive night tours are becoming important "vitality factors" in the development of urban nighttime economy; in 2020, nearly 90 trendy markets/cultural markets appeared.

Discretionary Policy

Relevant policies have been issued intensively, and construction planning is the main theme. As of October 1, 2020, my country has issued a total of 197 highly relevant policies for the night economy, of which 82 policy documents are named after the night economy. The number of highly relevant policies for the night economy and the number of issuing entities in the first three quarters of 2020 are nearly four times that of the whole year of 2019. Nearly 70% of provincial-level administrative regions have issued policies to promote the development of the night economy. The issuance forms are mainly "opinions, plans, measures/measures"; the issuing entities are mainly provincial and municipal people's governments, commerce departments, and cultural and tourism departments. In the early stages of growth, my country's night economy policies show the characteristics of micro-disorder and macro-order. Comparing the word cloud charts of China's and international night economy policies, it is not difficult to find that the keywords of China's night economy policies are consumption, characteristics, economy, culture, construction, night market, city, block, catering, and government. The keywords of international night economy policies are: city, economy, public, space, nightlife, safety, creation, culture, music, and venues. Night economy policies have an initial path dependence and a self-growth mechanism after maturity. The early development of the night economy requires the government to awaken it through policies, while mature economies are less dependent on policies. Faced with booming demand, wildly growing supply, and on-the-spot policy decisions, the goal of high-quality development is achieved through the creation of life scenes and the support of digital reconstruction.

Creation of life scenes

Low-frequency, dramatic scenes are not appealing to ordinary people. According to a special survey on the night economy on the big data platform of the China Tourism Academy, festivals, exhibitions, historical and cultural blocks and other night cultural activities/scenes are not attractive enough; in terms of performance types, people are not interested in live performances, music festivals, concerts, etc., and the market for performances with themes of myths and legends, folk customs, and entertainment stories is not hot. Only the scenes embedded in daily life are what ordinary people can feel. What is a scene? The spatial carrier of interpersonal communication and consumption needs. The scene is a cultural identity and value choice; it is also a choice of production elements, consumption space and lifestyle; whether it is online shopping for takeaway products delivered to home or online booking services delivered to home, we enjoy the convenience of technology, but takeaway cannot replace the "wok qi". The Internet can support consumption but cannot carry the comings and goings of neighbors. The creation of night life scenes for local residents can meet people's yearning for a better life. From the perspective of the path, we should deepen the local night life scenes, restore the cultural essence and create future space, and enhance cultural identity, sense of belonging and happiness. The sharing of night lifestyles by foreign tourists can better meet people's new needs for a better life. First, we should innovate from the perspective: connecting people, innovating goods, and stratifying the field. We should break through the traditional single track perspective, adopt the systematic thinking of "people, goods, and field", and strive to create an ecosystem based on scenes, connected with people as the core, and with services and product circulation as the carrier, that is, the local nighttime lifestyle as the core nighttime tourism attraction of the destination. Secondly, the limited space of the scene and the maximization of the value per unit time. The stay time cannot be extended blindly, and we should explore how to maximize the value of the unit stay time.

Support for digital reconstruction

Digital technology reconstructs the supply side, demand side and supply chain of the night economy, and reshapes the new pattern of industrial development. From the supply side, digital technology has completed the concept introduction to product innovation, created new consumption scenarios, and designed new lifestyles. From the demand side, digital technology is used as the underlying device to identify night consumption needs, and further create new consumption needs, expand new market boundaries, and complete the identification of inventory, release of potential and leading the future. From the supply chain level, a consumer-centric supply chain system is built to enable recipients to have needs, balance the imparting of benefits, and resolve contradictions; let values ​​guide algorithms and let information services return to the essence of demand. Ultimately, dynamic matching, intelligent distribution and direct access to users on both the supply and demand sides are achieved. Capital reshapes the industrial pattern, and the digital economy helps the intelligent growth of the night economy. The night economy industry pattern has changed from the first stage dominated by performing arts companies and catering companies; to the second stage of lighting companies and light and shadow companies; to the third stage of digital technology companies, cultural and art companies, and life service companies entering the market strongly. Capital plays an important role in the development of the night economy industry. The market demand potential and corporate investment vision show that although it has been hit by the epidemic, the current demand is only accumulation, and the market will be positive in the long run. Digital technology has achieved both quantitative growth and qualitative improvement in the process of promoting the development of the nighttime economy. At the same time, it has helped the scientific layout of the nighttime industry, making it brighter when it is brighter and darker when it is darker, and clearly defining the "dark night protection zone". In 2020, scene innovation and digital reconstruction will be centered on the people's cultural rights and tourism rights to safeguard the nighttime economy.

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