The number of weekend tour bookings surged 18 times, and construction of Xihuang Avenue started again! Will "Spicy" Tianshui replicate Harbin's success?
The Paper reporter Tang Yingying
"Now I start preparing food as soon as I open my eyes, and then I close my eyes and dream about cooking Malatang."
After Zibo and Harbin left the circle, Tianshui City, located in the southeastern part of Gansu Province, successfully emerged from the circle due to the local spicy hotpot frequently appearing on major social platforms.
As tourists from all over the world rush to check in, the owners and employees of local Malatang shops in Tianshui are also very busy.
Since March, dine-in orders for Tianshui Malatang have increased by more than 140% month-on-month.
"Auntie, make me three pancakes and add eggs, thank you." After 11pm on March 15, The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) called Gu Cui (pseudonym), the person in charge of Tianshui Xiaohong Malatang shop. When the call came, she and two other colleagues had just finished their business day and were buying pancakes nearby.
"I haven't eaten since morning." Gu Cui said, "We used to be able to leave later, around 9:30 pm, but now, we have just left the last group of people."
When asked why she didn't eat Malatang in her own store, Gu Cui's voice sounded both happy and helpless: "Because there are no dishes, there are no dishes."
Recently, Tianshui Malatang has become popular on all major social platforms.
Tourists from all over the country come with their luggage, eager to taste the local spicy hotpot.
After all, Tianshui Malatang looks really attractive from the video.
Video source: Guangming Daily
In the video of a blogger with over 8 million fans on a certain video platform, a large basin full of red and bright spicy hotpot makes people salivate.
"It's so fragrant! The aroma of the spicy oil, with a slight numbness, and the taste of the specially prepared ingredients... the more you eat it, the more it will make your mouth water." Two bloggers introduced in the video.
Data from Meituan and Dianping show that since March, dine-in orders for spicy hotpot in Tianshui, Gansu Province have increased by more than 140% compared with the same period in the previous February. The growth rate ranks among the highest in the province, surpassing the provincial capital Lanzhou.
At the same time, national attention to "Gansu Malatang" continues to rise. In the past week, the keyword search volume for "Tianshui Malatang" on Dianping increased by more than 13 times week-on-week.
A search by The Paper found that average per capita consumption in Tianshui’s spicy hotpot restaurants is around 20 yuan.
It is worth mentioning that local Malatang-related companies in Gansu are already among the top in the country.
QiChacha data shows that there are 190,600 mala tang-related companies in my country.
In the past ten years, the number of registrations has shown an overall growth trend. In 2023, the number of registrations increased by 25.51% year-on-year to 41,400, which has exceeded the pre-epidemic growth rate.
From a regional perspective, Jilin currently has 23,500 mala tang-related companies, ranking first; Heilongjiang and Shandong currently have 18,200 and 16,800 mala tang-related companies respectively, ranking among the top three.
Gansu Province Malatang-related companies, which have become popular this time with Tianshui Malatang, rank seventh in the country.
Tianshui tourism bookings increase 18 times on weekends
After Tianshui's Malatang became popular on social platforms, tourists from all over the world also came in droves, including KOLs (opinion leaders) from various social platforms.
A local netizen in Tianshui bluntly said in a video: "There are as many live broadcasters as there are people eating spicy hotpot."
Ctrip data shows that in the past month (February 12 to March 12), the overall travel order volume destined for Tianshui, Gansu Province increased by more than 20% year-on-year, of which hotel orders increased by more than 40% year-on-year, and ticket orders increased by more than 4% year-on-year. times.
The search volume of Tianshui has more than doubled compared with the same period last year.
On the Qunar platform, bookings for hotels in Tianshui, Gansu Province in March increased by 50% year-on-year, and the average price paid was 177 yuan, the same as last year.
Data from Qunar shows that last year, Tianshui’s tourists were mainly from Lanzhou, Xi’an, Baoji and other surrounding areas. This year, there are many tourists from Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan and other provinces.
Source: Photo provided by interviewee
Gu Cui told The Paper that his store has been making spicy hotpot for seven or eight years and has never encountered the current "grand situation."
"Before, two people in our store could last a whole day, but now five people are too busy." Gu Cui said that in the past, when there were more people at the meal, the store was not full, but in the past two weeks, the number of customers has basically stopped. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the amount of food purchased will be three times as much as before. Therefore, it is planned to recruit part-time workers in the near future to cope with the huge customer flow.
In addition, because many netizens want to eat Tianshui Malatang but cannot go there, Gu Cui also plans to make some spicy noodles that can be mailed.
"In the beginning, locals came to join in the fun and eat more, because Tianshui has never had such a 'grand occasion'. But in the past two days, locals can't join in because they have to wait a long, long time to eat a spicy hotpot, so Basically, they are all tourists." Gu Cui said that
because Tianshui is very close to Lanzhou and Xi'an, it is very convenient to take the high-speed rail, so there are more tourists from these two places.
At present, the ratio of customers in the store to those from outside the province is about 1:4.
The Paper searched the online travel platform and found that there are not many direct flights to Tianshui. Most flights require a transfer in Tianjin or Chongqing, or fly to Lanzhou or Xi'an before taking the high-speed rail.
However, the inconvenient transportation plan cannot resist tourists who are "crying" over Malatang.
Tongcheng travel data shows that in the week ending March 14, the number of air ticket bookings on the platform destined for Tianshui, Gansu Province increased by 45% week-on-week.
In terms of hotels, hotel bookings in Tianshui, Gansu Province increased by 28% week-on-week and 46.1% year-on-year in the past week.
Meituan and Dianping data show that as of March 14, in
the most recent weekend (March 16-17), tourism consumption (including hotels and B&Bs, attraction tickets, transportation, etc.) in Tianshui, Gansu Province increased by approximately 18% year-on-year. times, much higher than the national market.
At present, the out-of-town customers are mainly from surrounding cities such as Lanzhou, Xi'an, Dingxi, Pingliang, and Baoji.
"Since this week, we have also received many inquiries from Lanzhou citizens about Tianshui tourism, which has increased by more than 200% compared with last week." Sun Yu, general manager of Gansu Hu Chunqiu International Travel Agency Co., Ltd. said.
Tujia B&B data shows that since March, Tianshui B&B bookings have nearly tripled year-on-year, and the average price per night has declined instead of rising compared to the same period last year, from 170 yuan/night to 164 yuan/night.
Tourists born in the 1990s and 2000s are the main booking groups.
From the source of tourists, Beijing, Lanzhou, Mianyang, Shijiazhuang and Xining have the most tourists, and they have taken the lead in setting off to explore Tianshui.
"Xihuang Avenue" resumes construction
Today's Tianshui, like Harbin not long ago, also feels "strange" to the locals.
"For example, our dialect sounds more 'violent', but when locals take taxis, they are used to each other. But now the taxi drivers in Tianshui all say 'Princess, please get in the car.'"
Gu Cui also mentioned to The Paper that two days ago, he saw a girl wearing Hanfu and coming from other cities to eat spicy hotpot among the guests at the dinner. She muttered to herself that her phone was out of battery, and someone at another table A local guest sitting next to the socket stood up and moved so that he could sit in a convenient position for charging.
What's more, what the local residents of Tianshui "never expected" was that
the "Xihuang Avenue", Tianshui's "most famous" road, which has been built for an unknown number of years, has started construction again.
Local residents have said that Tianshui Malatang is the "god" that saved Xihuang Avenue.
Some netizens commented, "Thank you to the people across the country."
Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, pointed out that the popularity of Tianshui is essentially an inevitable product of the Internet's transformation from the era of graphics and text to the "era of light and shadow".
"The rise of various video media platforms is a symbol of the Internet's 'light and shadow era'. It provides people with platform support for instant on-site sharing. Beautiful things can be shared more intuitively and quickly, making it easier to achieve 'virality' 'Propaganda, thus continuously producing various types of 'Internet Celebrities', creating opportunities for individuals and businesses in the era of 'Internet Celebrity Marketing'. We have seen that whether it was Zibo last year or Harbin this year, or the recent popular Tianshui Malatang all started with various grass-growing platforms.”
Cheng Chaogong believes that in the tourism industry, from individual businesses to cultural tourism companies to cities, they have invested resources in the past few years in the hope of maximizing marketing revenue and opening up their own "traffic" with the help of the new path of "Internet celebrity marketing". Password", this should be the background and business logic of the emerging Internet celebrity cities.
Can Tianshui catch this "wealth splashing into the sky"?
What is worth discussing is how can Tianshui firmly catch this sudden "wealth and wealth"?
It can be seen that the local departments in Tianshui also responded quickly and apparently "copied the work."
In addition to building roads and painting walls, a special hotline for "Tianshui Malatang" was also opened.
According to news from Tianshui Rong Media and Qinzhou Rong Media, Tianshui Xitong Passenger Transport Company has opened two malatang bus lines since March 11, welcoming tourists at the exits of Tianshui South Station and Tianshui Railway Station respectively, and transporting tourists Send it directly to Blue Sky City Plaza to eat spicy hotpot.
Source: Screenshot of Tianshui Qinzhou’s video account
Tianshui Culture and Tourism Bureau also compiled local travel guides on various social platforms and received attention and likes from netizens.
A search by The Paper found that, taking the official Douyin account of Tianshui Culture and Tourism Bureau as an example, before March this year, the number of likes on this account did not exceed three digits. However, after March, as of press time, this account had the highest number of likes. of videos reached 44,000.
Source: Screenshot of Tianshui Cultural Tourism video
On March 16, Tianshui City held the "Tianshui Malatang 'Foodie Festival' series of activities to eat delicious food, see beautiful scenery, and visit Dragon City."
According to Xintianshui reports, on the afternoon of March 16, Tianshui Municipal Party Committee Secretary Feng Wenge also chaired a "Tianshui Malatang" service guarantee work meeting.
The meeting pointed out that Tianshui Malatang's popularity is not only a rare opportunity to expand the city's popularity, but also a practical test of service levels and support capabilities.
The whole city must seize the opportunity, take advantage of the situation, take action with all employees, show full sincerity, work hard, make careful arrangements and preparations, and do their best to ensure all services, and strive to achieve "a bowl of spicy soup to promote the development of Tianshui" ".
The Paper found that "Tianshui people" both in Tianshui and outside their hometown have also begun to promote their hometown.
A "Tianshui native" working in Shanghai told The Paper that he has recently "popularized" Tianshui's unique "Gangu pepper" to many friends around him, and is also planning to ask family members far away in his hometown to mail some over so that friends can try it. One taste.
It is worth mentioning that as early as May 23, 2022, with the cooperation of Tianshui City Culture and Tourism Bureau and Gansu Culture and Tourism Technology Co., Ltd., Tianshui City launched the Tianshui Culture and Tourism Card. Consumers can spend 200 yuan on Enjoy the rights of cooperative scenic spots, venues and cinemas within a calendar year, such as free visits to 17 scenic spots such as Lanzhou Wildlife Park, Maiji Mountain, Fuxi Temple, Yuquan Temple, Heidelberg Lanzhou Polar Ocean World, many of which are free of charge for 12 times ; Enjoy skiing, hot springs, go-karts, script killing, billiards, gyms and other activities for free.
In addition, you can watch movies in 5 theaters for free for a total of 15 times, truly realizing "you can travel all over Tianshui with one card in your hand".
Cheng Chaogong believes that from the government's perspective, the most fundamental thing is to plan the path from "Internet celebrity" to brand and adhere to long-term thinking.
It is necessary to clearly understand that creating "Internet celebrities" is a means, and forming brand accumulation is the ultimate goal. The means need to be continuously iterated around brand positioning and continuously promoted, so as to be a "star" rather than a "shooting star".
On the one hand, it is necessary to continuously innovate and iterate in terms of experience. On the other hand, it is necessary to create a good consumption environment through the establishment of various management mechanisms so that tourists can consume with confidence and spend money happily, so as to achieve the goal of going from "Internet celebrity" to "long-term celebrity".
Cheng Chaogong pointed out that in terms of destination brand building and maintenance, the government should adhere to the "mass line". On the one hand, it should form a consensus among the citizens through policy promotion and call on every citizen to consciously maintain the city's image; on the other hand, in the city's constant popularity In the process of improvement, we should also strive to make every citizen feel a sense of gain and fully mobilize everyone's enthusiasm and initiative to participate in creating a destination brand.
From the perspective of ordinary merchants, they should cherish the hard-won traffic and brand effect of the city, avoid any short-sighted behavior, establish a sense of ownership, and create a friendly and welcoming environment for guests from all over the world.