China News Service, February 18 (China News Business Reporter Xie Yiguan) "People follow the herd" is being staged in scenic spots across the country, popular restaurants often have hundreds of tables waiting, temple fairs are crowded, and movie box office is rising...
During the Spring Festival holiday that just passed, people spent a lot of money on "eating, drinking and having fun". As the Spring Festival consumption bills were exposed one after another, the national consumer market was once again going strong.
Food and beverage consumption is booming
——"There are thousands of tables waiting in line in front"
"This year I went home to celebrate the New Year. I spent more than 800 yuan in the mall to buy clothes and other gifts for my family. I spent more than 200 yuan to buy some new year's goods. My parents are getting older, so I wanted to buy them more things. I am not at home all year round, so I still give them some gifts. My parents gave me a red envelope of 2,000 yuan each, which was considered a token of appreciation."
Xiaohui (pseudonym), who works in Beijing, recalled the expenditures made during the Spring Festival holiday, "When it comes to the New Year and the holidays, it's just a lot of money, and my wallet can't cover it at all."
Besides going home to visit relatives, Xiaohui also has a regular project, which is to get together with friends she hasn't seen for a long time. Checking in to a newly opened milk tea shop on the streets of a small town, and eating a steaming hot pot meal at an Internet celebrity shop, the price can range from a dozen yuan to a few hundred yuan. When talking about the catering expenses during the New Year, Xiaohui said with a smile, " This is called making money in Beijing and spending it at home.”
People's strong consumption has also led to a "good start" in consumer markets in various places.
The picture shows people shopping for New Year accessories. Photo by China News Service reporter Liu Wenhua
During the Spring Festival, enterprises in department stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, catering and e-commerce that were monitored by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce achieved sales of 7.74 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.8% (the same period in the lunar calendar, the same below) and an increase of 64.1% compared with 2019. ; The sales of 570 business monitoring sample companies in Shaanxi Province were 2.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.9%, and a year-on-year increase of 29.7%.
According to data released by Meituan on the 15th, average daily consumption during the Spring Festival holiday increased by 36% year-on-year, an increase of over 155% compared with 2019. Focusing on the catering market, five days before the Spring Festival holiday, the number of orders for multi-person dine-in set meals across the country increased by 161% compared with last year, and the number of orders contributed by consumers in other places increased by 186%.
"This is not a festival, this is a war!" During this Spring Festival, a store manager from a hot pot restaurant in Chengdu said with emotion in the circle of friends. The store where she works has 71 tables. On average, the tables are turned over nine to ten times a day, and more than 3,000 tables are queued up every day. The constantly refreshing call prompts in the store are the epitome of the boom in dine-in catering consumption in various places.
Tourism consumption is booming
——The scenic spot reproduces "people follow the crowd"
Data from the 2024 Comprehensive Transportation Spring Festival Transport Work Class shows that from February 10th to 17th (the first to the eighth day of the first lunar month), the total number of cross-regional personnel movements in society is expected to exceed 2.3 billion.
The combined demand for returning home to visit relatives and leisure vacations has triggered a new round of travel consumption boom. During the Spring Festival holiday, Beijing received 17.495 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 37.4% on a comparable basis, and an increase of 25.7% over the same period in 2019; Guangdong received 76.069 million tourists, an increase of 68.4% over the Spring Festival in 2023 (New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the lunar month), and an increase of 25.7% over the same period in 2019. Growth during the Spring Festival was 20.2%…
The surge in travel during the holidays has also driven up tourism revenue in various places. Data from the Inner Mongolia Department of Culture and Tourism shows that during the Spring Festival holiday, Inner Mongolia achieved tourism revenue of 22.122 billion yuan, 7.63 times that of 2023.
Xiaoyu (pseudonym) is part of the holiday trip. She usually works in Beijing. After returning to her hometown in Qingdao during the Spring Festival, she and her mother took advantage of the holiday to visit Weihai. Swan Lake, Brewis Shipwreck, Big Picture Frame... Xiaoyu and her mother stayed in Weihai for two days, visiting scenic spots, eating delicious food, and having a great time.
"Weihai has become an 'Internet celebrity' in the past few years, and there are quite a lot of people visiting the scenic spots." Xiaoyu said. Due to the short itinerary and the short distance, the cost of her trip was not high. "The transportation cost is 320 yuan, accommodation is 150 yuan, meals are 350 yuan, and traveling by car is 160 yuan... I spent more than 1,000 yuan to enrich the entire holiday, which is well worth it!"
Data map. Photo by China News Service reporter Jia Tianyong
In addition to popular attractions and "Internet celebrity cities" reviving the popularity of "people following the crowd", there is also an obvious upgrading trend in tourism consumption during this year's Spring Festival holiday. Ctrip data shows that the average price of domestic ticket and entertainment orders is more than 400 yuan, which is double that of last year’s Spring Festival. Orders for customized tours with higher unit prices increased by more than 5 times year-on-year.
Travel to a city for a bowl of special delicacies and a folk show. As young people fall in love with the "taste of the New Year", New Year travel has become the most popular travel theme this year. The parade of the British Chorus in Chaoshan, Guangdong, with loud gongs and drums, and the reenactment of the Spring Festival Gala scene in the Tang Dynasty Evernight City in Xi'an... frequently flooded social media screens.
Entertainment consumption is booming
——The total box office during the Spring Festival exceeded 8 billion
Reports show that according to preliminary statistics from the National Film Administration, the national movie box office during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday (February 10 to February 17) was 8.016 billion yuan, and the number of moviegoers was 163 million. Compared with the 2023 Spring Festival holiday, the box office and moviegoers were respectively Growth rates were 18.47% and 26.36%, both setting new records for the same period.
"It's Hot", "Flying Life 2", "Bear Infested?" A number of Spring Festival movies such as "Reverse Time and Space" and "Article 20" were released, attracting people's attention. "Watching movies with the whole family" has become a holiday leisure choice for many families.
During this holiday, Xiaoyu took her mother, aunt and cousin to watch the Spring Festival movie "Hot and Spicy". "After watching it, I felt very good and it motivated myself to lose weight. But the ticket price was a bit expensive, more than 60 yuan per ticket. More than 200 yuan is gone, which can be regarded as a contribution to the Spring Festival box office." She said with a smile.
The picture shows moviegoers buying tickets and snacks. Photo by China News Network reporter Qu Honglun
In addition to movies being staged, various cultural performances are also dazzling, making it another good place for holiday leisure.
According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, during the Spring Festival, 97 theaters in the city held a total of 248 and 1,513 commercial performances, attracting about 310,000 viewers and generating box office revenue of 49.275 million yuan. On a comparable basis, the number of performances, the number of audiences, and box office revenue increased by 24.8%, 25.3%, and 28.2% respectively year-on-year; compared with the same period in 2019, they increased by 245.7%, 41.5%, and 31.7% respectively.
In addition to these traditional consumptions, eating hot pot in KTV, watching movies in pedicure parlors, catching dolls in game arcades... a variety of emerging entertainment formats are also enriching people's holiday experience. During the holidays, Meituan's leisure and entertainment-related orders increased by 190% year-on-year, orders for bathing centers and health massages increased by 210% year-on-year, and orders for "catching dolls" increased by 350% year-on-year.
Li Jiwei, vice president of Meituan Research Institute, believes that as the "capillary" of domestic economic development, during this year's Spring Festival holiday, consumption in many life service industries such as food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment will be good, which will make a good start for the consumer market throughout the year. It also highlights the potential of domestic demand. At the same time, the new consumption clusters and festivals created in various places are becoming more and more effective in promoting consumption. A large number of cross-business linkage scenarios such as "catering +" and "cultural tourism +" have emerged. Online and offline marketing methods of the platform are constantly being renovated. In 2024, all The consumer market is expected to continue to heat up this year. (over)