Dai Bin | Spring Festival tourism market opens high, tourism economy grows steadily throughout the year

The Spring Festival in 2023 will be the first public holiday after the implementation of the "Class B and Class B management" policy of COVID-19. The backlog of travel demands such as family visits, tourism, New Year holiday, folk custom experience, cold shelter, ice and snow will be released in a centralized manner. The indicators such as travel scale, consumption structure, service quality, and market subject's sense of gain will be sunny all over the tourism land, laying the market foundation for the "high opening, steady growth, and continuous recovery" of the tourism economy throughout the year. "Good start" has become the key word in the summary reports of all regions. The best Spring Festival since 2020 has passed, and the spring of rebirth for all things has arrived!

1、 The market data for New Year's Day and Spring Festival holidays fully indicate that the tourism industry has entered a new stage of comprehensive growth in travel willingness, consumption expectations, and industry confidence

According to the official website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the seven day Spring Festival holiday in 2023, 308 million domestic tourists traveled nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, returning to 88.6% of the same period as the Spring Festival holiday in 2019. Domestic tourism revenue reached 375.843 billion yuan, an increase of 30.0% year-on-year, recovering to 73.1% of the same period during the 2019 Spring Festival holiday. From the daily data of the number of tourists and tourism consumption during the seven day Spring Festival holiday, it can be seen that there was a steady increase in the first three days, a peak on the third day, and a slight decline afterwards. Off peak travel after the holiday is already a normal rhythm in the Spring Festival holiday tourism market in normal years.

During the holiday period, the average travel distance of tourists was 206.9 kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 57.0%, returning to 76% of normal years; The average recreational radius of the destination is 11.2 kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 34.4%, which has significantly increased compared to the New Year holiday and returned to 75% of normal years. Among the tourists received in various regions, tourists from outside the province accounted for 29.3%, and tourists from outside the city accounted for 36.9%. The data shows that the mid to long distance market is beginning to lead the holiday tourism economy. Combined with the local leisure consumption of a large number of tourists returning home to visit relatives, the growth rate of tourism revenue exceeding the number of tourists by 7 percentage points has been boosted, effectively promoting the comprehensive correction of the scale, consumption structure, quality, and efficiency of the Spring Festival holiday tourism market to the normalization before the epidemic.

In the past three years, outbound tourism has entered the monitoring scope and public view of the holiday tourism market for the first time. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice before the holiday, stating that 20 countries including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hungary, and Kenya have become the first overseas destination countries to resume outbound tourism business. Although travel agencies and online travel agents still require some time for homework preparation, the active interaction between domestic and foreign aviation, immigration, consular, visa, and tourism departments has allowed some countries and regions to enjoy the first wave of dividends. The Macao Special Administrative Region receives an average of 50000 inbound tourists per day, with nearly 60% coming from the mainland. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region sent a high-level tourism delegation to visit Australia, sending a positive signal of welcoming mainland tourists to Hong Kong. Senior officials from the governments of Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines welcomed Chinese tourists at the airport, and news of Chinese tourists enjoying leisure, shopping, and food flooded the internet. Mainstream media and the tourism industry around the world also gave positive responses and evaluations. In the new year, more tourists will go abroad to freely explore every piece of land on this blue planet, and there will also be more inbound tourists to experience the beauty of China. Starting today, when we talk about holidays, quarters, and the annual tourism market, it will no longer be limited to the domestic market, but will include the three major markets of domestic, inbound, and outbound as in normal years.

It is worth noting that the sense of gain of tourism market entities has significantly rebounded during the Spring Festival period, and the annual expectations and investment confidence have been raised. According to a special survey conducted by the China Tourism Research Institute, during the Spring Festival holiday in 2023, 18.2% of tourism companies' revenue recovered to over 80% of the same period in 2019, 49.1% of companies recovered to 6-8%, 28.3% recovered to 4-6%, and only 4.4% of companies recovered less than 40%. Faced with the rapidly recovering Spring Festival holiday tourism market, 21.2% of tourism companies stated that their reception capacity cannot keep up.

2、 The epidemic prevention and control measures, as well as the promotion of consumption policies, have comprehensively boosted the expectations of urban and rural tourism consumption, strongly releasing confidence in industrial recovery

On December 7, 2022, the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism released the "20 Measures" for epidemic prevention, and soon announced the landmark "New 10 Measures", greatly stimulating the enthusiasm of urban and rural residents for travel and the confidence of various local governments and market entities in development. On January 19th, the joint prevention and control mechanism announced that each province has passed the peak of fever clinics, emergency departments, and severe patients, basically eliminating the cautious and conservative travel mentality of urban and rural residents. Combined with basic needs such as returning home for family visits, cultural leisure, and winter skiing, the national tourism market is showing a gratifying trend of "overall recovery, with even hotter hotspots". Mount Huangshan's total tourism reception and total tourism income have increased by more than 14% over the average of 2019. Chongqing and Xi'an citizens who have always been "fond of tourists" live off peak to make room for reception in hot spots. Changsha, Sanya and other places frequently comment on "Have people all over the country come here to celebrate the New Year"? The Beidahu Ski Resort and Changbai Mountain Wanda International Resort in Jilin City, with over 8000 beds, have been fully booked for several days. During the days of free travel, the deep integration of culture and tourism began to show signs of thematic and scenarized themes. After the Spring Festival Gala of "Dingbu Bridge" led by dancer Zhu Jiejing was broadcasted, the Shishui Dingbu Bridge in Taishun County was crowded with tourists, and the surrounding corridors and bridges became popular check-in points. The number of tourists received in the county increased by 50% year-on-year. The active consumption of tourism has greatly expanded the market space for tourism performances, expanded the audience base for public cultural participation and cultural consumption. Celebrating the Chinese New Year in museums, socializing through exhibitions, shopping for books and records, has become a modern way of life shared by hosts and guests.

From the perspective of spatial pattern, regional tourism presents a trend of "north-south" being greater than "east-west". Ice and snow tourism in Northeast China, Beijing Zhangjiakou, Xinjiang, and other regions, cold avoidance tourism in Hainan, Yunnan, and the Pearl River Delta, and urban tourism in the Yangtze River Delta, Chengdu Chongqing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have become anchors for the flow of Spring Festival holiday tourism. Urban leisure and cultural participation in major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Zhengzhou have become increasingly important components of holiday tourism consumption. According to special monitoring data from the China Tourism Research Institute, the provinces with the leading number of tourists during the Spring Festival holiday in 2023 are Guangdong, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Hebei, Anhui, and Chongqing. The provinces with the leading number of tourists received are Sichuan, Henan, Guangdong, Anhui, Hunan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei, Hebei, and Guangxi. Of note is the new era's "city township" tourism pattern. Due to the concentrated release of demand for family visits in the past three years, the 2023 Spring Festival holiday tourism market is sinking while also showing signs of consumption upgrading. In addition to the rise of "reverse tourism" and "flat tourism" in recent years, many third - and fourth tier cities and central towns have highlighted the mixed atmosphere of traditional folk customs, intangible cultural heritage, and fashionable leisure. The combination of "seeking the taste of the past" and "indicating the future life" has supported multiple possibilities for rural social transformation.

The focus of tourism work in the new era needs to shift to cities, which is determined by the objective law of tourism economy. Cities have a decisive source market, transportation distribution, public services, and commercial reception system, which is relative to the tourism system's long-term focus on the development of medium and long-distance destination resources and scenic spot construction. At the same time, we cannot ignore the vast rural and economically underdeveloped areas, which are not only rural tourism destinations but also rural tourism source areas. In China, which has comprehensively achieved a moderately prosperous society and pursued common prosperity and comprehensive human development, the tourism rights of rural residents must be given attention by the government, and their tourism consumption cannot be ignored by market entities. According to a special survey conducted by the China Tourism Research Institute, the proportion of rural residents traveling during the Spring Festival holiday reached 25.6%, and rural residents accounted for 40.7% of the total number of tourists traveling nationwide. Data shows that visiting relatives and friends is still the main motivation for rural residents to travel, but shopping and leisure from rural areas to central towns and county towns, leisure and entertainment from small cities to central cities and big cities, as well as long-distance sightseeing and self driving travel have entered the daily life options of many rural residents. Upward mobility and central agglomeration have brought new possibilities for market sinking and consumption upgrading to the tourism economy.

3、 In the era where tourists define the tourism industry, the tourism industry must respond to the challenges of value chain reconstruction and supply chain transformation, activate existing resources through incremental investment and market innovation, and accelerate the construction of a modern tourism industry system

Tourist attractions have become the first lineup and main battlefield for "grabbing tourists" in various regions through free, discounted, and preferential strategies, driving rapid growth of local tourists while also attracting attention to the sustainability of policies. According to a special survey conducted by the China Tourism Research Institute, 41.5% of tourists are local, and 40.3% of tourists enjoy discounts including free, discounted, and subsidized services in other places. From the data of the tourism market during this Spring Festival holiday, it can be seen that free, discounted, and preferential policies have indeed released the confidence of local tourism development and expanded the willingness to travel. At the same time, we should also pay attention to two issues. Firstly, whether the comprehensive tourism revenue and tourist satisfaction of the city where the scenic spot is located will be improved after the free admission? Has the tourism image changed as a result? The second issue is the lack of secondary consumption scenarios and service projects in tourist attractions, and whether free admission, price reductions, and discounts have affected the sustainable operation ability of enterprises. If so, do policy makers and implementers have relevant relief measures, such as providing sufficient subsidies? Based on the existing data and information for this Spring Festival, it is not yet possible to provide a clear answer. The policy of lowering prices in tourist attractions should focus on key state-owned scenic spots, especially citizen parks, cultural and museum venues, archaeological sites, and suburban parks, and there should be corresponding fiscal policies and mechanism innovations. The pricing system of private scenic spots, theme parks, and resorts should be more subject to market adjustments.

Theme parks and tourist resorts with stronger market attributes have brought long-awaited joy to tourists with distinctive creativity and technological innovation, and have also gained high operating income and social reputation. As a New Year's tradition, tourism is also one of the most significant signs of normal life and the best choice for psychological healing after the epidemic. Compared to traditional scenic spots in terms of scenery and culture, theme parks and resorts place more emphasis on leading modern lifestyles and creating consumption scenarios. More than 20 large-scale fireworks shows including Shanghai Disney, Haichang Ocean World, Songjiang Happy Valley, etc. Universal Beijing Resort has opened a unique global China Year leading lifestyle. Eight animal families and five animal mechas in Guangzhou and Zhuhai Chimelong, the cute rabbit New Year greetings and flower skating China-Chic show in Zhengzhou Silver Base Resort, and the truant penguins in Harbin Polar World have become popular online card punching places. It is worth noting that in addition to scenic resorts, the tourism space has already extended to public cultural venues, historical and cultural districts, commercial and leisure centers, from theaters to markets, where people rediscover the beauty of travel. They watch movies, plays, and exhibitions, gather around the stove to make tea and share, quickly switch between being tourists and citizens, fully integrate into the destination life, and experience the beautiful China in all aspects.

Aviation, railway, highway, and waterway transportation provide the basic guarantee for the recovery of the medium and long-distance tourism market. Small transportation systems such as subways, buses, ride hailing services, taxis, and shared bicycles effectively expand the recreational radius and consumption scenarios of tourists at their destinations. Affected by the recovery of the inbound and outbound markets, multiple airlines and airports have opened international and domestic flights. In the era of group sightseeing, tourists use tourist buses to connect tourist hotels, scenic spots, restaurants, and shopping stores. Today, with the comprehensive development of mass tourism, the organization of tourism is becoming increasingly individualized, and tourism activities have more leisure and experiential attributes. All transportation modes for citizens have become new choices for tourists to travel. As we have emphasized over the past three years, in the era where tourists define the tourism industry, the tourism value chain, supply chain, and industrial chain are all facing the realistic challenges of transformation, reconstruction, and innovation. Those who adapt to this change will continue to be the main force in promoting the modernization process of the tourism industry, while those who are reluctant to part with the old times will eventually exit the historical stage and be replaced by new entrants.

As a way of living in different places, New Year's tourism is becoming increasingly integrated with commerce, catering, retail, and logistics distribution. The promotion of merchants has further boosted the tourism consumption boom. A series of activities such as the high-end watch exhibition and the China Duty Free Handbag Festival in Haikou International Duty Free City, as well as the National New Year Consumption Festival held at the Urumqi West Gate Bonded Direct Purchase Center, have brought together more than a thousand cross-border imported products from over 30 countries and regions including France, Russia, Italy, and Mongolia, creating a joyful and fashionable shopping atmosphere for citizens and tourists. The "reverse tourism" and "flat tourism" have brought "stay at home vacation" passenger flow to warm and cold cities, but also put forward new requirements for the quantity, scale, and service capabilities of ride hailing and food delivery riders. Due to the impact of returning home for the Chinese New Year and closing down during the holiday, some commercial and catering outlets, ride hailing drivers, and delivery drivers in third - and fourth tier cities are operating at full capacity during the Spring Festival period, which has created certain pressure on tourist satisfaction. With the arrival of the era of individual tourism, the thinking paradigm and management mode of demand side team tourism+supply side travel agencies, tourist attractions, and star rated hotels are far from meeting the requirements of practice. The construction of tourist destinations, the improvement of tourism reception systems, and the modernization of tourism governance will all be guided by the people-oriented nature of mass tourism, focusing on building a new space for hosts and guests to share a better life.

4、 To achieve greater recovery and higher quality development of the tourism industry, comprehensive policy support from both the central and local governments is needed, professional guidance from cultural and tourism systems is required, and entrepreneurial innovation from tourism investment institutions and market entities is even more important

The Spring Festival holiday tourism market, which has reached a new high since the outbreak of the epidemic, has laid a new foundation for the tourism economy in 2023 with a "high opening and stable growth". However, market entities that have endured three years of losses and blood loss cannot be fully revived in just one Spring Festival holiday, but require a longer period of rest and recuperation. Maintaining steady growth in the tourism market, improving tourist satisfaction and consumption expectations, and unleashing more investment confidence remain important goals and key indicators of fiscal, financial, social security, and tourism industry policies. We cannot let enterprises lose blood before they are revived. We must do everything possible to stabilize the confidence of investors and entrepreneurs, appropriately extend the period of the temporary withdrawal of travel agency quality guarantee deposit policy, expand the coverage of retained tax refunds to the tourism industry and enterprise types, and help enterprises solve their liquidity difficulties. Make good use of the guiding role of the 2022 Occupational Classification Dictionary, leverage the policy effects of talent incentives such as vocational education, professional training, and technical ratings, and promote employee return to work. Orderly restore outbound tourism business to overseas destinations, develop and implement the "Beautiful China" inbound tourism revitalization plan, cultivate new formats such as "food+tourism", "intangible cultural heritage+tourism", "music+tourism", "art+tourism", etc., drive incremental demand for tourism, and revitalize existing resources.

Some residents' cautious mentality towards medium and long-distance travel, especially group tourism, has not completely disappeared, and there is still a certain degree of wait-and-see attitude. The central and local governments should timely release authoritative data and professional information to effectively guide residents to move and travel in a reasonable and orderly manner, guide travel agencies, tourist attractions and resorts, hotels, homestays and other tourism spaces and cultural venues to prepare prevention and control plans, and create a market environment for safe travel and comfortable consumption. Tourism investment and public cultural policies should be further deepened, allowing county towns, central towns, and key tourist villages to share the opportunities of tourism development in the era. Encouraging more urban residents to go to the countryside and also encouraging affluent rural residents to enter the city is a requirement for common prosperity and the market foundation for high-quality development of the tourism industry.

While expanding consumption and prospering the market, it is also necessary to prevent tourism destinations and market entities from rushing to recover losses as soon as possible, pursuing short-term prosperity at the expense of damaging tourists' rights and reducing their satisfaction. In 2020 and 2021, when the epidemic was stable, many places experienced the phenomenon of "shopping groups" and "low-priced groups", leading to the "expulsion of good money by bad money". During the 2023 Spring Festival, there are still issues in the tourism market such as forced shopping and induced consumption caused by "low-priced tours", consumer disputes in restaurants and shopping venues caused by inadequate supervision, safety accidents such as tourists falling from heights in scenic spots, and negative public opinion caused by "overbooking" of hotels, homestays, and flight distribution due to insufficient professionalism. Although there have been fundamental changes in consumer demand and supply momentum, there are always some people in the cultural and tourism systems, as well as the tourism industry, who dream of going back to the past, to the old times of "crowds of people eating dividends, mountains and rivers collecting tickets". Looking into the reasons, some people are unwilling or afraid to innovate, while others are not good at learning and lack the ability to innovate. The tourism administrative department should not only focus on market promotion and industry supervision, but also lay a strategic foundation for the high-quality development of the tourism industry. Strengthen the theoretical construction of contemporary tourism development centered on the people-oriented nature of mass tourism and innovate high-quality development policies, strengthen professional guidance and demonstration promotion of local tourism development practices guided by green tourism, strengthen direction guidance for investment institutions and market entities guided by the scene construction and content creation of smart tourism, and pragmatically promote the deep integration of culture and tourism through civilized tourism, study tours, and the new strategy of a better China.