The cultural tourism market heats up during the “May Day” holiday and many places introduce measures to stimulate consumption vitality_Economy_Macro Channel Home Page_Financial Network-CAIJING.COM.CN

Our reporter Liu Meng

Trainee reporter Zhang Xiangyi

The May Day holiday is approaching, and many places have stepped up promotion of cultural tourism activities to continue to stimulate the vitality of cultural tourism consumption.

Meituan data shows that cultural tourism bookings (including scenic spots, accommodation, transportation, etc.) during the May Day holiday increased by more than 190% week-on-week (data from April 17 to April 24).

Hong Yong, an expert at the 50-person China Digital and Real Integration Forum think tank, told a reporter from Securities Daily that this reflects the increase in consumers’ willingness to travel and their spending power.

The relevant person in charge of MuNiao B&B told a reporter from Securities Daily that after train tickets went on sale on the first day of the May Day holiday on April 17, the search popularity for B&Bs increased by 370% month-on-month. Among them, medium and long-term travel is hot, and searches for cross-provincial homestays have increased by 48% year-on-year.

Consumption scenarios such as concerts, museums, and theme parks are favored by consumers. According to data from MuNiao B&B, during the May Day period, Yantai, Chengdu, Tianjin and other places attracted the attention of many fans due to the holding of concerts, and the popularity of B&B inquiries around the concerts increased by 210%; major domestic museums, theme parks, etc. Search interest in homestays near scenic spots increased by 420%.

Flight and rail travel will also reach their peak during the May Day holiday. Data released by the Flight Manager App on April 24 shows that in terms of ticket order volume, the average daily domestic ticket order volume during the May Day holiday in 2024 increased by 37% compared with the same period in 2023. Train tickets for popular lines during the May Day holiday are “hard to get”.

The cultural tourism consumer market will continue to show growth during this year’s May Day holiday. Yuan Shuai, executive vice president of China Urban Development Research Institute and Agricultural, Cultural and Tourism Industry Revitalization Research Institute, said in an interview with a reporter from Securities Daily that on the one hand, with the continuous improvement of domestic transportation networks and people’s pursuit of tourism quality, domestic Long-term travel will become a popular choice; on the other hand, people not only pursue sightseeing and leisure during travel, but also focus on experience and interaction, and their demand for diversified consumption of culture, art, sports, etc. will also continue to increase.

The May Day holiday has also become an important way to promote consumption in various places. Many places have introduced measures to promote consumption during the May Day holiday to prepare for the “flooding wealth” during the holiday. For example, Hainan has carried out the “air tickets are tickets” 2024 Hainan tourism consumption coupon issuance activity, which will issue a total of 20 million yuan in consumer subsidies; Heilongjiang plans to hold a total of 136 theme activities during the “May Day” period and create 89 high-quality tourism routes. In addition, Weifang, Xiamen, Nanchang and other places also focused on the May Day holiday and promoted consumption by issuing consumer coupons and carrying out theme activities.

In this regard, Yuan Shuai said that in order to further stimulate the potential of cultural tourism consumption, the government can start from optimizing the tourism environment and improving tourism facilities, as well as focusing on the integration of culture and tourism. In addition, tourism companies should strengthen product innovation and service upgrades to improve the quality of tourism products and services. At the same time, multiple parties should work together to strengthen the publicity and promotion of the tourism market. The government and enterprises can jointly carry out tourism promotion activities to expand the visibility and influence of the tourism market through a combination of online and offline methods.

Hong Yong suggested that when stimulating the potential of cultural tourism consumption, various localities should use local characteristics and cultural heritage to create differentiated brands. They can carry out cultural and tourism consumption promotion activities, such as holding special festivals, art exhibitions and sports events; they can also cooperate with enterprises Cooperate to launch more preferential consumption policies, such as consumer coupons, travel subsidies, etc.

(Editor: Wen Jing)