As the weather gradually gets warmer, the first "small long holiday" after the Spring Festival is approaching. Judging from the latest data provided by OTA, as of March 29, the number of air tickets and hotel bookings during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday (April 4-April 6) increased by 80% compared with the previous week. However, since the holidays are not long, tourists mainly travel for short distances, rushing to surrounding destinations in twos and threes to enjoy the flowers. At the same time, the phenomenon of food and traditional culture driving local tourism continues. Tianshui Malatang has become popular in Gansu; the "matchmaker" Wang Po on the stage attracted tourists to Kaifeng. As many places across the country usher in a cultural tourism boom, the number of air ticket bookings for destinations in small cities has more than doubled year-on-year.
Short-distance peripherals have become the mainstream way to play, and college students’ “special forces” are the main force in travel
The countdown to the "Qingming Festival" holiday is 5 days away, and many tourists who plan to go out are still preparing for this trip. The latest data provided by Qunar shows that as of March 29, the number of air tickets and hotel bookings on the platform during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday (April 4-April 6) increased by nearly 80% compared with the previous week. Hanglv Zongheng’s big data also shows that as of March 28, the number of domestic flight ticket bookings during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday on the platform was approximately 2 million, an increase of more than 60% from a week ago.
From the perspective of travel radius, due to the short holiday time, peripheral travel has become the first choice for tourists. During the "Qingming Festival", tourists mostly travel short distances. Some travelers extend their holidays by "spending time off" to travel to destinations such as Gansu and Xinjiang; Passengers flow frequently within the 2-hour high-speed rail circle, such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, Chengdu and Chongqing, the two lakes, the Pearl River Delta, etc.
In terms of tourist portraits, the "special forces" group of college students are very enthusiastic about traveling. Qunar data shows that during the Qingming Festival, travelers aged 18 to 23 accounted for more than 15% on the platform, making them the most active travel group. Compared with before, this year many "special forces" college students no longer pursue "hard seats on night trains" and turn to affordable flights. Rather than flocking to popular tourist cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, and Hangzhou, more college students are beginning to seek niche destinations. Places such as Tumen, Luoping, and Lanxi are favored by young travelers.
In terms of travel methods, high-speed rail tours, self-driving tours, cycling tours, etc. are very popular. During the Qingming Festival, the booking volume of high-speed rail tours on the Fliggy platform increased by nearly 600% year-on-year; the bookings of car rental and self-driving tours increased by approximately 200% year-on-year; and cycling tours increased by nearly 600% year-on-year. Bookings for travel and walking tours have also doubled year-on-year.
It is worth noting that despite the short holiday, inbound and outbound tourism still showed strong strength. Fliggy data shows that the current outbound travel hotel bookings on the platform have increased by nearly 300% year-on-year, and the outbound travel route product bookings have increased by more than 400% year-on-year. Among them, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Macau, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates have become popular outbound travel destinations.
Hanglv Zongheng’s big data also shows that from January 1 to March 28, 2024, the actual number of inbound and outbound routes on the platform exceeded 150,000, returning to about 70% of the same period in 2019. As of March 28, the number of inbound and outbound air ticket bookings during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday exceeded 470,000.
Traffic destinations change: Tianshui bookings increased 50 times year-on-year, and Kaifeng tourism popularity increased 94%
In addition to regular data, the destinations where tourists gather during this year’s Qingming Festival are also worth a look.
Thanks to the popularity of flower viewing and outings, some destinations are popular from early March until the Qingming Festival. According to Tujia B&B data, on the eve of the Qingming Festival, the search volume for keywords such as "flower viewing" and "outing" on the platform increased by 350% month-on-month. Luoyang, the "hometown of peonies" that meets the needs of flower appreciation and has cultural color, ranks second among the most popular cities on the platform for the first time. As of March 25, the number of bookings for homestays in popular cities during Qingming Festival on the platform increased by 340% year-on-year, with the average stay length being 2 days.
In addition, as the holidays approach, Gansu, which is popularized by Tianshui Malatang, and Kaifeng, which has become popular because of "Wang Po's matchmaking", have become the new "top trend". According to Tujia B&B data, so far, the number of bookings for Tianshui B&Bs on the platform during the Qingming Festival has increased by more than 50 times year-on-year. "Post-90s" and "post-00s" tourists are the main force in bookings. B&B bookings in surrounding cities such as Lanzhou and Jiuquan have increased year-on-year by more than 50 times. An increase of over 1500%. Tongcheng Travel data also shows that as early as March 20, the search popularity of Tianshui, Gansu on the platform in the past week has increased by 616% month-on-month, and hotel bookings have increased by 76% year-on-year, setting a record for single-week hotel bookings in the past three years. new high.
As for "Wang Po Matchmaking", another cultural phenomenon that netizens "jokingly call" a "down-to-earth version of "If You Are the One"" and "Yue Lao's best seller", according to Tongcheng travel data, as of March 26, the location of "Wang Po" The tourism search popularity of the Kaifeng Long Live Mountain Martial Arts City Scenic Spot has increased by more than 700% month-on-month in the past week, and the number of ticket bookings has increased by more than 200% month-on-month. Kaifeng tourism search popularity increased by 94% month-on-month in the past week, and hotel bookings increased by 44% compared with the same period last year. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Tongcheng Research Institute pointed out that "Wang Po Matchmaking" is a new type of cultural experience activity. The emergence of such activities not only shapes the cultural heritage of scenic spots and destinations, but is also conducive to enhancing the city's tourism attractiveness. .
In addition, established “Internet celebrity destinations” are also performing well. Tongcheng travel data shows that during this year’s Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, the popularity of Yanbian and Zibo, which exploded last year, is still continuing. The tourism popularity of the two places on the platform has increased by more than 200% year-on-year. (Daily Economic News)