Dai Bin | Traveling China Warm Forward - Special Comment on the 2024 Spring Festival Tourism Market

The 2024 Spring Festival will have a total of 8 days of extra long holiday. Encouraged by the country, various units will arrange for employees to rest on New Year's Eve (February 9th). The tourism market during the New Year's holiday will be highly open, and the willingness to travel during the Spring Festival will continue to increase due to factors such as ice and snow, cold shelter, study abroad, and folk customs. The facilitation policy effect of entry and exit policies will be accelerated, forming the hottest Spring Festival holiday tourism market in recorded statistics. According to official sources from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the eight day Spring Festival holiday, 474 million domestic tourists traveled nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, and a comparable increase of 19.0% compared to the same period in 2019; The total expenditure of domestic tourists on travel was 632.687 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%, and a comparable increase of 7.7% compared to the same period in 2019, exceeding pre holiday expectations. Chinese New Year tourism has become a new demand for a better life, and it is becoming a new folk custom. From the average travel distance of tourists, the average recreation radius of the destination, the tourism consumption structure, the proportion of self driving tours, as well as tourist satisfaction, safety and public opinion and other special indicators, the people have spent a safe, orderly, quality and warm Spring Festival holiday in the the Year of the Loong.

self-guided tour

Encountering the warmth of life

In traditional impressions, tourism is closely related to travel agencies, tour guides, and tourist attractions. During weekends, holidays, winter and summer vacations, and paid vacation seasons, tourists sign up for a tour group at the travel agency and follow the tour guide for a five-day trip to East China and South China or a seven day trip to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau. With the comprehensive development of mass tourism in China entering a new era, although tour groups are still the most representative tourism activities, tourist attractions and resorts are still the most typical tourism spaces. More tourists adopt the form of self guided tours and independent travel to complete their tourism activities, and spend more time and budget on the life experience of the destination. From the demand side, it means' life is above the landscape ',' both beautiful scenery and a beautiful life '; From the supply side perspective, an increasing number of cities and rural areas have become new spaces for a beautiful life that can be enjoyed from afar and shared by both hosts and guests. Thanks to the improvement of the highway network and the popularity of passenger cars, off-road vehicles, and RVs, self driving trips for families have become the main mode of travel for urban and rural residents during the Chinese New Year. The group of customers who returned home to visit relatives during the Spring Festival holiday accompanied their parents and children on multiple trips, making the journey filled with strong family affection. The individualization of tourism demand and the organization of individual travelers have given rise to the online travel business model, and also provided market innovation space for traditional travel agencies. The demand for personalized customized tours, quality small group tours, and parent-child study tours has significantly increased during the Spring Festival holiday. Guangzhilv launched the "Longxing Wanli · Trendy Enjoyment of Huaxia" cross provincial tour product, which sent out more than 100 tour groups on the first day of the year, including customized tours for families and friends.

It is worth noting that during the Spring Festival period, the travel rate of rural residents in China was 24.6%, accounting for 24.7% of the total number of domestic tourists. The travel distance and destination stay time also significantly increased. The tourism consumption of small and medium-sized towns and rural residents is the most direct manifestation of the sinking of the tourism market, and holidays are the best window for observing rural residents' leisure tourism. Valuing the sinking market and fully safeguarding the tourism rights of the middle and low-income groups is not only the essence of the people-centered national tourism development theory, but also the practical condition for strengthening the market foundation and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry. Without the participation of rural residents, mass tourism is not comprehensive, and the high-quality development of the tourism industry is also unsustainable. We should, and can, enable more rural residents in the central and western regions to enjoy their poetry and distant lands through the construction of leisure facilities, improvement of public services, and innovation of business models. A China where everyone is a tourist, everywhere is a scenic spot, a land of fireworks, a journey of family, country and the world, depicts the basic color of the tourism market during the Spring Festival holiday in the the Year of the Loong.

leisure tour

Perceive the brilliance of culture

Excellent traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage remain the fundamental demands of the Spring Festival tourism market. Folk activities such as temple fairs, garden tours, lantern watching, lion dancing, fireworks show and so on are the obvious attractions of Spring Festival tourism, especially those projects that highlight traditional culture and fashion vitality, such as trampling on the street in Quanzhou, English song and dance in Chaoshan, Yangko performance in Yulin, "Dragon Hunting" in Mount Huangshan Mountain, and "Village Festival" in Yuxi, so that tourists from all over the world can "go back to their homes far away and have a special festival" with local residents. The "fish and dragon dance" arranged by the Yu Garden Lantern Festival in combination with the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" enables tourists to appreciate the beauty of culture while enhancing cultural self-confidence. In the historical and cultural blocks of Xi'an, Luoyang, Hangzhou, Bengbu and other places, tourists change into Han suits and China-Chic "New Year clothes", punch cards and take photos in carved beams and painted rafters, experience traditional folk customs and intangible cultural heritage in depth in the fireworks market, and taste representative New Year dishes from all over the country during the journey from south to north. Around the theme of "celebrating the Chinese New Year with joy and happiness", the government and industry have worked together to create a traditional festive atmosphere. Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu and other places have experimented with setting off fireworks at designated locations, and Xiamen Kinmen fireworks shows have attracted many tourists and residents to share the traditional New Year flavor. The contemporary expression of intangible cultural heritage and traditional culture, like bright lights, connects the 5000 year process of civilization. No matter how far we go in the process of Chinese path to modernization, we can see mountains and water, and remember the beautiful nostalgia.

Art cultivates new demands for Spring Festival tourism, and 'pursuing beauty' leads the new trend of tourism during the Spring Festival. Excellent dance programs such as "Wing Chun", "Celadon", and "Koi Carp" on CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and "Dragon Dance" and "Feng Ming Chaoyang" on Henan TV have sparked discussions among the general public, especially young people, about culture and aesthetics. As a result, search engines in cities such as Foshan, Shunde, Jingdezhen, Zhengzhou, and Shenyang have become popular. Some netizens have expressed that they are "stuck in the same place", and some tourists even went straight to the airport after watching the Spring Festival Gala to experience the charm of local culture, and deeply experience the local scenery, food, and beautiful life. Li Yunxiao and Chen Lijun, who starred in the Yue opera "New Dragon Gate Inn" and "Butterfly Lovers", are widely sought after by young people and have become a phenomenon level "breakthrough" in traditional opera and stage art. For example, "Anchorage Bridge" and "The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting" during the Spring Festival in 2023, these works of art with great aesthetic value and market space, while boosting the tourism popularity in the region, are likely to make more young people "travel with dance" in the next national tour. With the support of indoor choirs, small theater plays, modern dance troupes, and contemporary art museums in various regions, "beauty" has become a new demand and a new element of productivity in the tourism market. "Moving with art and pursuing beauty" will be a new trend that must be paid attention to in the construction of tourism image and high-quality development in various regions.

The warm journey also includes advanced technology, high-end manufacturing, urban construction, and the socialist advanced culture and modern civilization contained in the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation and people's happiness. When night travelers look up at 2024 unmanned aerial vehicles unfolding a 400 meter long, 250 meter wide, and 300 meter high spring scene over Yangcheng, when night travelers overlook the dazzling lights of the world's largest single building, the Chengdu Global Center, when travelers see the brilliant starry sky and fertile land on the high-speed railway, silky highways, and vast rivers, lakes, and seas, everyone sees the confidence of development and the future of the country.

The sea "Spring Festival Gala" on the maiden voyage of the "Aida Magic City" cruise ship has brought back the grand scene of "three ships docking together" at Wusongkou International Cruise Port, allowing tourists to rediscover their romantic time on the sea. The "Yangtze River No. 3" cruise ship under China Yangtze River Shipping Group has launched its first spring flight, while the "Yangtze River No. 2" has launched its first 5-day and 4-night midstream route. In addition, the city cruise ships in Chongqing, Wuhan, and Shanghai vividly demonstrate what flowers on the river are, adding new choices for tourism and leisure during the Spring Festival holiday. We also pay attention to the integrated development of railways, aviation, highways, and tourism led by enterprises such as Spring Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Daxing Airport, and China Communications Construction. This shows us the strong support of transportation infrastructure for the tourism industry and the innovative driving force of tourism for traditional industries.

destination

The pattern of accelerating reconstruction

Affected by the overall trend of tourism flow during the Spring Festival holiday, regional tourism destinations generally present a spatial pattern of "avoiding the cold in the south, ice and snow in the north, urban areas in the east, and cultural areas in the west". Harbin continues the popularity of the 2023-2024 ice and snow season, with significant growth in ice and snow tourism consumption in the Northeast, North China, and Northwest regions. Sanya, Xiamen, Kunming, Zhanjiang and other southern cities have attracted more northern tourists who combine travel and accommodation, and winter tourism has moved from concept introduction to market practice. During the Spring Festival holiday, the average travel radius of tourists nationwide was 227.9 kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%, and the average recreational radius of tourist destinations was 15.4 kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 38.0%. Although the travel distance and recreational radius of tourists have expanded compared to last year, the spatial characteristics of tourist source areas and destinations being isomorphic have not changed. The Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, Chengdu Chongqing, Guanzhong, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration continue to be the biggest beneficiaries of the holiday tourism market, thanks to their frequent internal source markets, well-developed infrastructure and public services, and high-quality commercial environment. From a provincial perspective, Guangdong, Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, Hubei, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hebei, Anhui, and Guangxi have the highest number of tourists received, with Guangdong, Shandong, Sichuan, Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hebei, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Anhui having more tourists. Classification Map of Domestic Tourist Reception in Provinces during the Spring Festival Holiday of 2024

From Zanhuawei to "Village Evening", from cuisine to homestays, historical and cultural cities such as Quanzhou, Foshan, Luoyang, Ningbo, Shaoxing, Taizhou, and Yangzhou, as well as ancient villages and towns such as Wuzhen, Xitang, Xidi, and Hongcun, visitors can experience different scenes and the same warmth in each piece of land. After the broadcast of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, the popularity of tourism searches in Xi'an, Kashgar, Changsha, and Shenyang, which serve as sub venues, has increased, directly boosting consumption in surrounding hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, and shopping malls. Under the influence of new concepts such as reverse tourism, proactive peak shifting, and rational peak shifting, the popularity of niche tourist cities such as Foshan, Chaozhou, Baoshan, Pu'er, and Baotou has significantly increased. More 'small airport cities' have been seen by tourists, generating significant economic and social benefits. According to big data from Qunar, in the first three days of the holiday, flight bookings in 186 "small airport" cities including Shigatse, Jingdezhen, Weihai, Quanzhou, Datong, Luoyang, and Mudanjiang increased by nearly twice compared to 2023, and hotel bookings increased by 1.7 times compared to 2023.

From the perspective of specific tourism scenarios, top tourist attractions, resorts, neighborhoods, and commercial areas are still irreplaceable short-term traffic drivers and bear the safety and quality pressure of passenger flow overload. The Palace Museum, National Museum, Suzhou Museum, Sanxingdui Museum, Zigong China Lantern World, Luoyang Old Town, Hangzhou West Lake and other tourist spaces have repeatedly issued traffic overload warnings and restriction notices. Several tourist attractions in Shijingshan District, Beijing, including the Model Mouth Historical and Cultural Block, Shougang Industrial and Cultural Tourism Zone, and Badachu Park, have seen an overflow of visitors. According to big data monitoring, the daily average number of tourists to 5A level scenic spots in China reached 11700, a year-on-year increase of 78.4%. Among them, Nanjing Confucius Temple Qinhuai Scenic Belt, Hangzhou West Lake, Fuzhou Sanfang Qixiang, Xi'an Big Wild Goose Pagoda Datang Furong Garden, Kaifeng Qingming Shanghe, Tianjin Ancient Culture Street Tourist Area, Emperor Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum, Hengyang Nanyue Hengshan Tourist Area, Jiangxi Mount Lushan Scenic Zone and Temple of Heaven Park are among the top tourist attractions. The national level tourist resort receives over 19700 visitors per day, a year-on-year increase of 48.7%. Among them, Dali Old City Tourist Resort, Shanghai International Tourist Resort, Sanya Yalong Bay Tourist Resort, Qionghai Tourist Resort, Wuxi Yixing Yangxian Ecotourism Resort, Rongcheng Lucky Corner Tourist Resort, Qinhuangdao Beidaihe Resort, Yuxi Fuxian Lake Tourist Resort, Wudang Taiji Lake Tourist Resort and Changde Liuye Lake Tourist Resort are relatively leading in tourist volume.

As long as it can satisfy the beautiful life of tourists, whether it outputs commercial value or emotional value, it is a good tourism scene and leisure product that deserves recognition and support. Disney, Universal, Haichang, Yinji, Fantawild, Happy Valley, Sunac, Changzhou Dinosaur Park and other large resorts and theme parks, as well as theme parks and children's parks for small and medium-sized cities and rural areas, have launched a variety of cultural and entertainment projects. Universal Studios' "2024 Universal China New Year Special Performance - New Year's Eve" was staged, and the beloved Muxulong in "Mulan" made its debut in Shanghai Disney Resort, giving visitors the blessing of the the Year of the Loong. Beijing Happy Valley transforms "Fortune, Fortune, Longevity, Happiness, and Wealth" into NPCs to interact with tourists, attracting many parent-child tourists to explore and interact. The amusement park at the doorstep and the children's playground at the foot of the park, where dolls are placed, circles are set up, and firecrackers are set off, bring laughter and joy. The Beijing Luobaobao Light and Shadow Theater has launched plays and immersive experiential activities such as "Luobaobao Fans Love You" for children and parent-child customers, attracting thousands of families to check-in every day. These innovative projects in the field of entertainment and leisure, with varying levels of excitement and quality, directly fill the participants' "joy value" and provide tourists and citizens with richer choices for their spiritual and cultural life during the Spring Festival.

Entry and exit

See a prosperous future

Affected by favorable policies such as mutual visa exemption, payment facilitation, and increased international flights, the popularity of the inbound and outbound tourism market continues to rise, with approximately 6.83 million inbound and outbound tourists, including approximately 3.6 million outbound tourists and approximately 3.23 million inbound tourists, both close to the same period in 2019.

Affected by the convenient passage and customs clearance of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, the significant growth of self guided tourism passenger flow in the "Hong Kong, Macao, and Greater Bay Area" has further established the market position of Hong Kong, Macao, and the mainland as the basic source and destination of inbound and outbound tourists. During the Spring Festival, tourists traveling to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan accounted for 71.9% of the total outbound tourists from mainland China. With the successive implementation of the policies of "Hong Kong cars heading north" and "Australian cars heading north", the infrastructure, public services, commercial environment, and quality of life in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area have been improved. In addition to the flow of tourists within the region, more and more tourists from outside the area are also attracted to visit. Cross border tourism destinations with "one journey, multiple stops" relying on the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration are taking shape. According to Xinhua News Agency, the daily inbound and outbound passenger flow at the Zhuhai Highway Port of the Zhuhai Macao Bridge has continuously broken historical records. On February 12th, the passenger flow was 130000, and on February 13th, the passenger flow was 144000 with 18000 vehicles. Judging from indicators such as the proportion of single license plate vehicles in Hong Kong and Macau exceeding 70% of the total passenger traffic at the port, the facilitation policies for passage and customs clearance have directly boosted the inbound tourism market in Hong Kong and Macau. During the Spring Festival holiday, there is an increasing number of mainland residents going to Hong Kong and Macau for sightseeing, leisure and vacation. Besides the convenience of traveling to Hong Kong and Macau, taking a bus to browse on the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge itself is a good trip.

Affected by mutual and unilateral visa free policies, as well as the release of cultural exchange and tourism promotion effects, there has been a significant increase in foreign tourists visiting China during the Spring Festival period. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Immigration Administration, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and other departments have introduced a number of international travel facilitation policies before the Spring Festival, including unilateral visa exemption, mutual visa exemption and port visa, which has injected effective policy momentum into promoting inbound tourism of foreigners in China. According to big data monitoring by the China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), the number of inbound tourists on New Year's Eve exceeded 600000, with a significant increase in tourists from countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, and Singapore who added visa free entry to China. The main source countries for inbound tourism during the Spring Festival holiday are Myanmar, Malaysia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Russia, and the Philippines.

International metropolises remain the preferred destination for inbound tourism, and the second and third cities that carry the "Eastern imagination" of European and American tourists and the "modern cognition" of emerging market tourists are beginning to enter the vision of international tourists. The number of inbound and outbound personnel at Tianjin Port in the first four days before the Spring Festival has increased by about twice compared to the Spring Festival in 2023. Domestic destinations that are popular among inbound tourists are Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Beijing, Jiangmen, Zhuhai, Shanghai, Huizhou, and Foshan. Affected by multiple favorable factors such as policy promotion, market recovery, and supply innovation, more and more local governments committed to building international tourist cities and world-class tourist destinations will increase the promotion of inbound tourism, and the innovation of travel services, tourism accommodation, tourism retail and other business formats will further accelerate. Sanya City has launched special activities such as the "Lantern Festival Carnival" during the Chinese New Year tourism and cultural season, which are in line with the consumption habits of foreign tourists, allowing international tourists to enjoy the Chinese New Year with joy.

Countries around the world have felt the warmth of the rapidly recovering Chinese outbound tourism market during the Spring Festival holiday and have responded with goodwill. The 8-day Spring Festival holiday is enough for Chinese people to travel to all walks of life. The number of Chinese tourists from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the ten ASEAN countries, South Korea and Japan in Northeast Asia, West Asia, North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe along the "the Belt and Road", Australia and South Pacific countries has increased significantly. Due to the impact of air transportation capacity, the prices of China US routes remain high, but the number of tourists visiting the United States during the Spring Festival period has reached a new high in recent years. Monitoring data shows that during the Spring Festival holiday, mainland residents mainly travel to Thailand, Japan, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia, accounting for 79.1% of outbound tourists during the holiday period. The attitude of overseas media towards China's Spring Festival holiday tourism is more objective, with a record high proportion of positive reports. The increasingly positive tourism image will promote the growth of the inbound tourism market and drive international tourism exchange and cooperation to deepen.

Benefiting from the growth of the domestic market and the recovery of the inbound and outbound markets, travel agencies such as China Travel Service, China Youth Travel Service, Guangzhou Travel Service, Spring and Autumn, Caesar, Zhongxin, Jianfa, Zhongzhongxin, and Guanda have seen a significant increase in the number of tour groups and receptions, effectively driving the recovery of the mid to long distance tourism supply chain, innovation of tourism products, and improvement of service quality. It is worth noting that the investment confidence and market expectations of the top 20 tourism groups, including China Tourism, Overseas Chinese Town, First Travel, Jinjiang, Lingnan, Shaanxi Tourism, Zhejiang Tourism, Hangzhou Business Travel, Kaiyuan, and Xiangyuan, have significantly increased. The new quality productivity represented by technology and culture has begun to nurture new momentum for the high-quality development of the tourism industry.

The Spring Festival of the the Year of the Loong has passed, and prosperity has just begun. Travel to China, and move forward with warmth!

Author | Edited by Dai Bin | Source by Xue Shiyi | Reproduction by China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source