[People's livelihood and economic highlights] "Retaliation" demand is coming, can the tourism market catch it?
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The long holiday of "October" is approaching, tourists are enthusiastic about traveling, and attractions and tourism platforms are gearing up to actively "prepare", and the tourism market is expected to usher in a peak.
Experts believe that during the epidemic, the tourism industry has undergone a round of reshuffle and reorganization, some small and scattered tourism companies have been eliminated, and the rest are some powerful companies.
During the "November" holiday this year, quality tourism has become a market hotspot, and the tourism industry has ushered in a high-quality development opportunity.
"Neither the May Day holiday nor the Dragon Boat Festival holiday went out. This time I took 8 days off during the 11th holiday. I have plenty of time and I want to have fun." On September 16, a white-collar worker near Wangjing, Beijing The lady told reporters that this year she plans to fly from Beijing to Ningbo first, and then rent a car from Ningbo to drive to Zhoushan for a few days.
At present, the domestic epidemic control has gradually stabilized, and the confidence of Chinese people in tourism consumption has been further boosted.
Many tourists, like Ms. Zhang, plan to "have fun" during the "November" holiday.
Data from a number of online travel platforms (OTAs) show that during the "November" holiday this year, hotel bookings in some hot cities have increased significantly or even doubled year-on-year. The previous backlog of travel consumer demand may be released intensively, and there may be a round in the travel market "Retaliation" growth.
Relevant experts said that this year's "October" holiday is an opportunity for the tourism industry to develop towards high quality, and tourism cities and the tourism industry are facing a big test.
During the epidemic, some small scattered tourism companies have been eliminated. After the reshuffle, the industry needs to think about how to seize the opportunity to provide tourists with high-quality products and services.
Reduced prices or free of charge for scenic spots, subsidized by tourism platform
Compared with previous years, this year's "October" holiday is indeed a bit "different".
"First, it is an 8-day holiday superimposed with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is longer, and tourists have more choices and can go to more places; secondly, this is the first long holiday under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control. Some tourists have been suffocated. The driving force for travel; the last is that there are still many restrictions on travel abroad, and tourists who travel abroad in previous years will return to the country." Feng Rao, head of the Mafengwo Tourism Research Center, said that under the influence of these factors, the domestic tourism market is expected to usher in a climax of recovery.
For this reason, many local and online travel platforms have launched preferential activities to attract tourists.
The reporter noted that many provinces and cities have introduced favorable policies and preferential measures to promote tourism development, and hundreds of well-known scenic spots across the country will implement free or reduced price preferential policies.
Various platforms have also introduced subsidy policies to prepare for the "Golden Week."
For example, in order to welcome the "October" holiday, Ctrip launched the "Travel Membership Day" promotion in early September. The platform integrates advantageous products and provides subsidies. Vacation products can be reduced by up to 1,000 yuan; Tongcheng launched a 1 billion yuan subsidy program. Explosive spikes involving air tickets, train tickets, and hotels.
"The subsidies for major tourism platforms this time are different from those previously limited to staking land and grab users. The more important purpose is to boost consumer confidence and accelerate the recovery of the tourism economy." Business analyst Chen Liteng said.
Although the ticket price of the scenic spot has been reduced and enterprises have given subsidies, the prices of air tickets and hotels are not lower than in previous years under the hot market expectations.
Qunar data shows that the average price of domestic hotels booked on the platform during the "October" holiday has increased by 15% year-on-year.
Is the scenic area more pressure than in previous years?
Tourists are enthusiastic about traveling, and the domestic market has become the only way to digest it. Will this be a more crowded "October" holiday?
"After experiencing this epidemic, tourists pay more attention to travel safety and service quality than ever before. Therefore, for this year's October trip, safe travel and quality travel are the core." Chen Liteng said.
“Visitors who have traveled abroad generally pay more attention to the quality of tourism and process experience. Therefore, they are less likely to go to popular tourist attractions to "crowd their heads". They are more willing to go to niche destinations for in-depth travel." Tourism Science, Beijing International Studies University Dean Gu Huimin said.
Gu Huimin said that in previous years, the teachers and students of the school were one of the main forces of the "November" holiday.
However, for safety reasons, many places require teachers and students not to travel across provinces as much as possible during the "11th" holiday this year. Some colleges and universities shorten the holidays and even require students not to leave school, which can reduce many tourists.
“Every place is opening doors to welcome guests, but at the same time, the epidemic prevention and control dare not relax.” Wei Xiang, associate professor of the Institute of Financial Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that many popular scenic spots are currently implementing the “ticket reservation and time-sharing tour” measures, so there is no need to worry. The pressure on scenic spots is greater than in previous years.
Judging from the current search and booking situation on various platforms, this year's "November" holiday, domestic tourism hot spots have changed.
The relevant person in charge of Qunar told reporters that, unlike previous years, the popular destinations during the "11th" this year have developed from the coast to the southwest and northwest.
As of September 10, Tibet, Qinghai, Hainan, Gansu, and Yunnan have become the provinces (regions) with the highest year-on-year increase in hotel bookings during the "11th" holiday on the platform, which will also divert the flow of people from popular destinations such as Sanya and Hangzhou.
How does the tourism industry meet the "big exam"
After the epidemic, tourists are more willing to pay for better quality tourism products, which also provides opportunities for the tourism industry to upgrade products.
Feng Rao said that compared with group tours and self-guided tours, customized tours and self-driving tours occupy the C position in this year’s "November" tourism market and become a hot spot for “doing your part”. The industry needs to actively adapt to these changes and provide good services for tourists .
“For example, before, tourists went to Hulunbuir mainly to visit the forest and grassland scenery. But this year, with the emergence of new tourism content such as live tourism, more and more tourists have learned about the local reindeer, ethnic handicrafts and other characteristic folk cultures, and hope to be on the spot. Visit and experience these new gameplays. And this kind of niche gameplay needs the help of merchants' in-depth understanding of destination resources to help tourists design customized itineraries and products." Feng Rao said.
“Decreasing ticket prices will attract tourists, but if supporting facilities cannot keep up and the service is not well done, it will affect the image of scenic spots and cities and is not conducive to long-term development.” Chen Liteng said that tourist cities should establish the concept of global tourism. Efforts should be made in catering, accommodation, transportation, shopping, etc., to seize the opportunity to provide tourists with quality products and services.
In the previous long holiday travel market, news about zaike was exposed every year.
Some tourists worry that tourism, catering and other companies that have been more affected by the epidemic this year will take the opportunity to make up for their previous losses.
In this regard, Wei Xiang said that on the whole, during the epidemic, the tourism industry has undergone a round of reshuffle and reorganization. Some small and scattered tourism companies have been eliminated, and the rest are some powerful companies.
After the hard work in the previous period, the overall service quality of the industry will be better than before.
"Of course, the phenomenon of slaughtering visitors is not ruled out. This requires relevant departments to strengthen law enforcement and increase protection of the legitimate rights and interests of tourists."
Yang Zhaokui