Total relaxation is becoming a real expectation for many people when they travel.
Changes in demand may be the fundamental reason for the popularity of "reverse tourism".
The travel market is quietly changing.
When some people complained that even a suburban tour around a big city would take two or three hours of traffic jam, and the cost was comparable to an outbound tour, others had already turned away, running against the crowded crowd and heading for "non-mainstream" in the opposite direction. Travel destination, embrace the "Xanadu" in your heart.
Data shows that "reverse tourism" is becoming a favorite of the younger generation of consumers.
Or casually "lost" in the streets and alleys of small towns, sipping the taste of life in a bowl of local people's favorite food; ...essentially speaking, the meaning of travel to many people has changed. Instead of following the flow of people and punching in "Internet celebrities", they are looking for ways to completely relax and enjoy themselves.
Small town "comfortable"
In the last long holiday of this year, "October" Golden Week, "reverse tourism" has become a phenomenon.
According to the order data of Ctrip.com, Fujian, Guangdong, Anhui, Zhejiang and other provinces have emerged a number of new and niche tourist destinations. Among them, Quanzhou, Putian, Nanping, Jieyang and other places have more than 100% orders compared to last year's Golden Week. increase.
On Fliggy.com, hotel bookings in Quanzhou, Putian, Nanping, Zhangzhou and other cities have doubled compared to last year's National Day, and the growth rate has exceeded that of first- and second-tier cities.
Qunar travel data also shows that the search popularity of Quzhou, Meizhou, Yichang, Dongying and other cities has increased by 40% compared to the summer.
The monitoring of the data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also supports this point: as many as 83.5% of tourists will take the initiative to travel in staggered peaks and choose emerging destinations and scenic spots to visit.
"I believe many people, like me, may have to look at the map to find out where these prefecture-level cities are: Hegang, Hanzhong, Karamay, Baoting, Haidong..." Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, also noticed these small cities. The relationship between the rise of multi-tourism destinations and "reverse tourism".
"Young consumers no longer follow the traditional tourist routes, nor do they follow the trend to check in in popular tourist cities or scenic spots, or even bother to do strategies, but find a small city or unpopular destination with a good value for money. Stay as long as you want."
"I wanted to taste how delicious the authentic beef balls in Chaoshan are. When I found out that the prices of air tickets and local hotels in Shantou were very cheap, I immediately decided on the itinerary." said Luan Xiaotian, who works in Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. , Suzhou always has a lot of tourists when it comes to holidays. This year's "reverse tourism" feels very good, not only let her taste the delicious food, but also let her experience the comfort of a city without being crowded.
Netizen "Qin Tian Sunning" is a contracted traveler of Ctrip. He said that the reason why he and his friends fell in love with "reverse tourism" is very simple: cost-effective, "it is not difficult to spend three or five hundred yuan to stay in a five-star hotel. "; to avoid crowds, it is easy to buy tickets, and there is less waiting time in line. "Some popular tourist destinations queue up for 2 hours to travel one kilometer every holiday, which makes people think that the experience will not be good"; strong sense of exploration, Can enjoy the surprise of the journey.
In addition to these factors, Chen Nan, a professor at the School of Cultural Industry and Tourism Management of Henan University, analyzed that the more popular tourist destinations are, the more tourists visit, which means the higher the risk of epidemic prevention and control, which is why some tourists currently choose to avoid crowds.” One of the important factors of reverse tourism”.
go for "eat"
Luan Xiaotian still remembers the first time he traveled to Beijing with his parents during the summer vacation more than 20 years ago.
"We chose to travel with a group, and the schedule was very full every day. We were in a hurry to visit attractions, eat, and buy things. After so many years, many impressions have been blurred, but the state of 'nonstop' has a deep memory." Luan Xiaotian She said with a smile, "This kind of travel is not for fun, but for completing tasks, and it is very tiring after one trip." The travel she wants now is relaxed and casual, "Visiting attractions is not even a must, I We can go to Shantou for beef balls, and friends around us go to Liuzhou for snail noodles, eating, drinking and sleeping well can all be the reason why we choose a destination.”
Total relaxation is becoming a real expectation for many people when they travel.
Changes in demand may be the fundamental reason for the popularity of "reverse tourism".
From the perspective of the major development stage, my country's tourism industry has gone through more than 40 years. Consumer demand is upgrading from sightseeing tourism to leisure and vacation, and tourism products are transforming from a single sightseeing product to an immersive, experiential, and participatory multi-product.
"As young people become the main force of tourism, the decision-making factors that promote tourism consumption are changing, and the characteristics of personalization and experience-driven are becoming more and more distinct. The rise of niche tourism destinations is one of the manifestations of this trend. One." said Wu Tong, head of the National Day project of Fliggy.com.
The rise of "reverse tourism" is also inseparable from the improvement of infrastructure such as transportation and hotels.
The well-connected air and high-speed rail networks make it easy for many "non-mainstream" tourist destinations to connect with big cities, so "reverse tourism" does not have to pay high time and transportation costs.
At the same time, high-star hotels are accelerating their deployment in third- and fourth-tier cities. These hotels have relatively complete facilities and low prices, providing more choices for consumers to travel.
With the help of online social media, the goodness of niche tourist destinations is known to more people.
"Compared to Putian's shoe-making technology, the city's tourism industry seems to be too low-key. Putian is more than just shoes, shoes and shoes!" "There is a saying in Guangdong, 'If you come to Guangdong or not, you will go for nothing', you know it has How worth it! Chaozhou is a place to enjoy delicious food and slow pace, human feelings and the ancient city."... Netizens' "planting grass" is straightforward and enthusiastic.
In recent years, a large number of travel pictures, travel live broadcasts, travel short videos, travel Vlogs and other content have appeared on social platforms.
Douyin data shows that from January to September this year, Douyin added more than 1.39 billion travel content, played more than 1.1 trillion times, and received more than 40.2 billion likes.
Through the filming of anchors or ordinary people, some small towns with unique characteristics but not previously received attention have gradually accumulated popularity, making people yearn for them.
aiming and positioning
"'Reverse tourism' represents a new change in the tourism market, constitutes a diversion of popular tourism destinations, and is a new consumption trend. At present, tourism demand is diversified, and famous tourism destinations will still be the future tourism market. However, niche tourist destinations will also have a place." Chen Nan believes.
Deng Ning, deputy dean of the School of Tourism Science of Beijing International Studies University, also said that "reverse tourism" is a new consumption trend formed by the natural selection of the market and tourists.
Compared with famous tourist cities, "the development level of niche tourist destinations and the maturity of tourism commercialization are lower, but the authentic experience of tourism itself may be better, and some unique cultural and local characteristics can be seen."
However, Dunning admitted that the shortcomings of "non-mainstream" tourist destinations cannot be ignored.
"The lack of tourism services and reception levels in some niche destinations may affect the local experience of tourists; the scope of play is narrow, and it is difficult for the passenger flow to form repurchase or generate more peripheral derivative consumption." Dunning said.
"The tourism supporting industries of some niche tourist destinations are not perfect, the quality is uneven, and the passenger flow capacity is limited; the tourism service functions are relatively few, the service standards are different, and they are not standardized." Fang Zeqian, an industry analyst at Ctrip Research Institute, believes that, These are all aspects that niche tourist destinations need to focus on improving.
After "reverse tourism" becomes popular, how to maintain the popularity of the destination?
Dunning said that in terms of product creation, these destinations should highlight their small and beautiful characteristics and design a rich tourist experience; in terms of precision marketing, they should use the new platform to do targeted marketing for surrounding target markets, and take advantage of differences in comfort and discounts. In terms of enriching business formats, from point to point, it can focus on attractions such as a single hotel, pay attention to the coordination and integration of surrounding business formats, and improve the overall reception level of the destination.
"The long-term popularity of 'reverse tourism' destinations requires systematic planning, targeting market positioning, and increasing exposure through the Internet platform. More importantly, it is necessary to continue to dig deeper into the local customs and cultural characteristics to improve the high quality of local tourism. The level of service, and highlight the local characteristics, to better meet the needs of tourists." Chen Nan said.
Economic Daily