[Explanation] On July 14, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice to resume travel agencies and online travel companies to operate cross-provincial (regional, municipal) team tours and "air tickets + hotels" upon the approval of the local provincial (regional, municipal) party committee and government. "The business signifies that China's inter-provincial travel has resumed after a 172-day suspension. On July 15, Sichuan announced the resumption of inter-provincial travel.
[Commentary] On July 23, it rained lightly on the streets of Chengdu, Sichuan, but the interest of tourists in major scenic spots did not seem to be affected. In the Kuanzhai Alley scenic area, a tourist from Qinghai, Zhao Ziping, and his family are "checking in" the food stalls in the scenic area. It is the third time she has come to Chengdu to travel by plane to Chengdu on the evening of the 22nd, and this time she plans to visit for ten days.
[Concurrent] Qinghai tourist Zhao Ziping
The difference is that this time there are fewer people. In the past, this Kuanzhai Alley was crowded with people and there were busy traffic. (This time) anyway, as soon as I get on the plane, the plane's security checks will have body temperature, (required) to wear a mask. In the hotel too, the body temperature is also measured when entering, and these are all very well done.
[Explanation] Before the "Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, May Day" and other holidays that should have been tourism "hot", due to restrictions on inter-provincial travel, the bottoming out and rebound that travel agencies were looking forward to did not arrive. Today, the resumption of inter-provincial tourism in low-risk areas has allowed travel agencies to see the "dawn" of the industry's recovery again.
[Concurrent] Wang Xiaoqian, Deputy Manager of Market Operation Department of Chengdu China Youth Travel Service
During the epidemic, we temporarily suspended all related businesses. After the news of the resumption of inter-provincial travel was issued, we immediately listed many of our inter-provincial travel products. The number of (tourist) inquiries has doubled from before the resumption of inter-provincial travel, and our customer reception has also increased by about 20%.
[Commentary] Wang Xiaoqian said frankly that due to the impact of the epidemic, the public still holds a wait-and-see attitude towards inter-provincial travel, and the travel requirements are more refined. Therefore, in the tourism products launched this time, her travel agency combined with the hot spots of the summer market to launch a series of theme tourism products, with small groups and customized groups as the main travel modes to stimulate tourists to travel across provinces in both directions.
[Concurrent] Wang Xiaoqian, Deputy Manager of Market Operation Department of Chengdu China Youth Travel Service
According to the current overall situation, some tourists still have a wait-and-see attitude. We estimate that there will be a certain degree of room for increase in the number of tourists in the future. As our tourism business has not fully recovered yet, our industry will face more intense competition. We also hope that our tourism practitioners can seek new development opportunities from the crisis and provide our tourists with more considerate and exquisite services.
[Explanation] Guo Jianying, director of the Sichuan Tourism Development Research Center and dean of Leshan Teachers' College of Tourism, believes that tourism within and around the province has basically resumed, and low-density, high-frequency tourism has been welcomed by many people. However, due to the epidemic period, the people's travel psychology is still very cautious, and the recovery of inter-provincial travel will take some time. In addition, Guo Jianying also said that tourism businesses such as cross-border travel are still restricted, but a number of new tourism formats have also been born, which may become the norm in the future.
[Concurrent] Guo Jianying, Director of Sichuan Tourism Development Research Center and Dean of Leshan Teachers' College of Tourism
In fact, all walks of life are looking for a breakthrough, how to restore the tourism industry. Many of these new forms of tourism products, such as "cloud tourism", some products such as "yunyou Sichuan" launched by Sichuan, including other provinces also have this kind of technology tourism products produced by the combination of technology and tourism. Some emerging tourism product formats have also emerged (emerging). Including many scenic spots now, in order to maintain its attractiveness among consumers, or to maintain its memory, it will also carry out some such tourism live broadcasts, as well as "cloud festivals" and so on. Such activities. It is possible that in the future such "cloud festivals" and "cloud tourism" will gradually become the norm.
Yang Yudian and Chen Xuanbin report from Chengdu
Editor in charge: [Wang Sishuo]