According to the "2022-2023 China Camping Industry Research and Benchmarking Enterprise Analysis Report", the core market size of China's camping economy will reach 2022.1134 billion yuan in 7, a year-on-year increase of 51.8%; The market size was 5816.1 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 52.6%. It is estimated that the core market size of China's camping economy will rise to 2025.2483 billion yuan in 2, driving the market size to 14402.8 billion yuan. However, recently, camping, the "new favorite" of the travel circle, seems to have encountered a bottleneck in development, the search popularity on the travel platform has declined, and some problems have been exposed in the rapid development of the industry, how to guide the healthy and sustainable development of the camping economy, the reporter interviewed about it.

"The industry is returning to a normal pace of development"

"This year's May Day holiday people's travel demand was concentrated and released, considering the traffic and congestion of popular attractions, I finally chose to camp and vacation in the suburbs of Beijing." Xiao Wang, a post-90s generation who works in Beijing, said, "Camping in the suburbs can avoid the peak traffic during the holidays and relax in an environment close to nature." ”

There are many young people who share the same ideas as Xiao Wang, and they share the fun and experience of camping on social platforms, constantly excavating "treasure campsites", and pushing camping trips in diverse forms and play methods to the public.

Previously, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy and Orderly Development of Camping Tourism and Leisure", which made clear provisions on the construction of camping camps, the development of the whole industry chain, and the standardization of camping management and operation, which released positive signals for enriching the supply of tourism and leisure products and promoting camping tourism consumption.

For a time, the popular camps were fully booked, the performance of enterprises mainly engaged in outdoor and camping equipment rose sharply, and the camping industry was booming. Along with this, the public's expectations and requirements for camping are also increasing.

"At first, I felt that camping was quite fresh, but after going to more camps, I found that the homogeneity of each camp was more obvious and lacked characteristics. Some camps and publicity gaps are large, and you may be disappointed after the field experience. There are also camps that lack basic service awareness and are almost self-catering. Xiao Gao, who often camps with friends, identified the "pain points" of the current uneven development of the camping industry.

Wei Xiang, a professor at the Institute of Financial Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the recent popularity of camping economy has indeed decreased compared with before. In terms of demand, it is clearly affected by the diversion effect. From the supply side, after the overall travel demand has recovered, some camping suppliers with poor service quality have been wiped out of the market, which is also a natural phenomenon.

For some time, catering services, outdoor clubs and land managers have been involved in the competition of the camping industry, and the number of camping enterprise registrations has grown rapidly, but the professionalism and service capabilities have not closely followed consumer needs, and some are just following the trend to make quick money. Nowadays, the customer base and demand of camping consumption are constantly changing, and the problem of homogenization of products and services has made many camps who want to "lie and win" lose competitiveness. In this regard, Wang Qiyan, director of the Leisure Economy Research Center of Chinese Minmin University, believes that "camping travel is only one of many travel methods, and the entire industry is returning to a normal pace of development." ”

Operators should work the supply side

After experiencing a double "rush" of traffic and volume, the camping industry has entered a period of precipitation and adjustment. Some industry insiders said that it is good that traffic has returned to normal, so that we can calm down and seriously think about how the camping industry can go more steadily and further after removing the "Internet celebrity" label.

Zhu Di, deputy director of the Research Office of Sociology of Consumption and Culture at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in the context of large-scale expansion of camps, camping formats have problems such as imperfect supporting service facilities, lack of security guarantees, and corresponding asymmetric tourism information, which affect consumers' experience. For example, a survey shows that more than 70% of camping consumers want campsites to be equipped with toilets and showers, and some platforms sell camping packages that are not worthy of the name.

"The biggest problem in the camping industry right now is not professional enough. It is mainly reflected in the allocation of talents and facilities and equipment. Wei Xiang pointed out.

The industry calls for professional management talents, and related camping supplies manufacturers have also noticed the trend of expansion and specialization of consumer groups and made beneficial attempts.

The relevant person in charge of Decathlon said that with the expansion of the user base, camping consumption has appeared obvious segments. A few years ago, the Decathlon Camping Festival was mainly aimed at beginner users, solving the problem of where and how to play after buying camping products. In recent years, a large number of camping high-frequency people and mid-range advanced players have appeared, they pursue more exquisite and more life-oriented camping, and "playing tricks" is their new demand. "We create different themed camping activities, such as cross-border cooperation with cars, integration with water sports such as paddle boarding, kayaking, etc., to enhance the market potential of camping." Small but beautiful' camping micro-resort complex will be the development trend of future camps. ”

"Camping operators should work the supply side to deeply explore new campsites and scenes, such as exploring lakes, forest parks, Grand Canyons and other 'wilderness' scenes, and adding some interesting projects, such as fishing, hiking, rock climbing, etc., to improve the sense of participation." At the same time, it should also be noted that sufficient planning and construction should be done at the beginning of development to ensure basic safety and perfect infrastructure. Wang Qiyan said.

Integration and development with other tourism formats

From an influencer to a lifestyle, the camping industry, which has experienced rapid growth, needs to cultivate deep in the market segment to create differentiated services and unique labels. Solid infrastructure and thoughtful and meticulous supporting services are the cornerstones of the continued charm of the camping economy.

Last winter, camping scenes that relied on natural resources such as snow-capped mountains, ice lakes, and hot springs were very popular, making camping a good off-season. This fully shows that tapping into characteristics and taking a differentiated route is a key to unlocking the potential of the tourism market. For example, during this year's "May Day" holiday, campsites such as forest camping, starry sky camping, and parent-child camping are difficult to find because of their novel forms and rich activity content.

Judy believes that to tap the characteristics and take the differentiated route, on the one hand, we must rely on the camp resources to carry out a variety of characteristic services to avoid low-level duplication. Local government departments and enterprises should adapt measures to local conditions, clearly position, and highlight differentiated camping consumption. On the other hand, with the help of the "camp +" idea, an economic overlay effect is formed. It can rely on camps to link different industries such as cultural tourism, parent-child education, shopping and leisure, and agricultural planting, such as exploring various forms such as "camp + scenic spots", "camp + parent-child activities" and "camp + research", especially to create characteristic camps and camping projects.

The relevant person in charge of Gansu Silk Road Sojourn Campground Co., Ltd. introduced that during this year's "May Day" holiday, Zhangye International Camping Base innovated its business format, adding barbecue camps, outdoor camping restaurants, barbecue ingredients supermarkets, etc., complementing each other with the original business format, focusing on outdoor camping feasts, and carrying out research and learning activities such as "galloping to Ganzhou", achieving a new high in total revenue and room occupancy. Beihaizi Camp in Yongchang County, Gansu Province actively plans special camp activities such as parent-child camps and group building camps, bringing tourists a tourism experience with characteristics, high participation and commemorative significance. Huaqiao Camp in Kang County, Gansu Province planned camping movies, bonfire parties, night KTV and other activities, which won a lot of praise from tourists.

"Integration is key." Wei Xiang pointed out that the camping economy should return to its own industrial positioning in the future, which is not enough to become an independent business in itself, but should be a supporting format. On the one hand, relevant entities must develop professionally and improve the standards of facilities and services, which is conducive to improving consumer experience and forming a benign interaction with the real economy providers of related equipment. On the other hand, whether the camping economy can "grow popular" depends on whether it can adapt to more popular travel formats in the future and achieve integration with other tourism formats.

For the future development of tourism, Wei Xiang believes that there may be trends in three directions: the first is in-depth urban leisure tourism, the second is health tourism, and the third is vacation tourism in Chinese-style resorts. "As long as camping follows one of the trend directions, as a supporting format, its professionalism and uniqueness will be more fully developed."

Tan Hanwen (Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition)