In-situ New Year has spawned new demand, how should the tourism industry respond?
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As more and more people respond to the in-situ Chinese New Year initiative, new changes have taken place in the tourism market this year. Long-distance travel has "cooled" and local travel has become more popular.
Experts said that cultural and tourism departments, scenic spots, and tourism companies in various regions should increase the supply of specialty tourism products as much as possible under the premise of preventing and controlling the epidemic, and design some products related to the traditional Spring Festival, so that people who celebrate the New Year locally Can experience the local Spring Festival customs and feel the taste of the year.
The 2021 Spring Festival holiday is approaching. Affected by the epidemic, under the initiative of the National New Year in situ, some new changes have taken place in people's Spring Festival tourism consumption trends this year.
As more and more people choose to celebrate the New Year on the spot, some popular routes during the Spring Festival travel in previous years are no longer "hot", and some routes have reached the lowest pre-sale price in five years.
But at the same time, local in-depth tours have attracted much attention, and resort hotels and homestays around cities with beautiful environments are sought after.
So, how should the tourism industry respond to the new trends in tourism consumption brought about by in-situ Chinese New Year?
In response, Wei Xiang, a professor at the Institute of Financial Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and co-director of the International Society for Leisure Studies of China, told a reporter from Workers’ Daily that cultural and tourism departments, scenic spots, and tourism enterprises in various places should do their best to prevent and control the epidemic. It is possible to increase the supply of special tourism products and design some products related to the traditional Spring Festival so that people who celebrate the New Year on the spot can also experience the local Spring Festival customs.
The hotel and homestay industries should seize this hard-won opportunity and work hard on quality control, safety and service to strive for good performance.
Popular routes are no longer "hot"
51job.com released on January 25 the "Survey Report on Staying and Staying during the New Year Holidays in 2021", which shows that nearly 70% of working professionals choose to "Chinese New Year on the spot".
As more and more people responded to the in-situ Chinese New Year initiative, the booking price of air tickets continued to drop during the Spring Festival.
As of January 25, the average price paid on the Qunar platform during the Spring Festival this year was only RMB 651.36.
This price is nearly 100 yuan lower than the price of pre-sale tickets for the Spring Festival travel in 2021 during the same period last week, and nearly 200 yuan cheaper than that during the Spring Festival travel in 2019.
In addition, the reduction of passenger travel has also made some popular routes no longer "hot" during the Spring Festival transport in previous years.
Qunar's data shows that the most popular routes during the Spring Festival travel in previous years have been cold.
The booking prices of flights that were difficult to find in previous years, such as Beijing-Harbin and Beijing-Sanya, have all cooled.
Judging from the current search prices on Qunar.com, the lowest paid price (including engine fuel) for the Beijing-Harbin route departing on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month (February 10) fell below 1,000 yuan, which was only a 55 percent discount of the full price.
On the Beijing-Sanya route, which had been grabbed for business class in previous years, the minimum price paid the day before the Spring Festival holiday was 610 yuan, which was only 17% off the full price.
Not only the popular routes departing from Beijing, the lowest price for a Shanghai-Harbin air ticket with built-in fuel, which departs on the 29th of the twelfth lunar month (February 10), is 439 yuan, which is only a 23% discount on the full economy class.
Tourism platforms have launched local travel
Although long-distance travel has "cooled down", the popularity of local travel has risen rapidly.
Ma Yutao, the Mafengwo Tourism Big Data Research Center, told a reporter from Workers' Daily that compared with previous years, during the Spring Festival holiday in 2021, people are more concerned about local in-depth gameplay.
Qunar vice president Liu Han said that the products related to local tourism have become the most popular tourism products. For example, in Beijing, there are tourist packages formed around Gubei Water Town, Nangong Hot Spring Water World, Jundu Mountain Ski Resort and other scenic spots. Rise rapidly.
In the future, Qunar will also launch a series of tourism products for local Chinese New Year, helping people who celebrate the New Year on the spot to celebrate the New Year safely and happily.
This year, Tongcheng Travel specially launched the special event "In-situ Chinese New Year and Peripheral Tour", and gave out a variety of benefits such as 0.88 yuan limited time spike and 100 million yuan red envelope rain to guide and encourage people to stay in the city they are struggling for.
Ctrip Tickets and Fun also focuses on local travel in this year's Spring Festival activities. For local scenic spot ticket products, it encourages consumers to explore and discover local beauty through large subsidies, big-name New Year holidays, and direct discounts on explosives.
In addition to launching new products and new activities, some platforms also emphasize "the taste of the year."
This year’s Spring Festival, Ctrip and group tours focused on the surrounding New Year’s Taste Awards, and launched the local independent group "Nian Taste Private Tour" and “New Year’s Eve Private Tour” products. The family reports a group locally, uses the car independently, and enjoys the exclusive. Drivers and tour guides can not only relax during the New Year's journey, but also meet the needs of family reunion dinner and a prosperous New Year.
Ma Yutao said that the Mafengwo travel live broadcast will start the "Spring Festival Special Plan" during the Spring Festival, bringing hundreds of wonderful live travel broadcasts to tourists.
"We will share the'flavors of the New Year' from various places through the live broadcast room, show the different Spring Festival folklore, history and culture, winter beauty and special experiences in various places, and help people who are affected by the epidemic to celebrate the New Year on the spot, so that they can feel the New Year without leaving home. atmosphere."
Resort hotels and homestays around the city are popular
Local travel also makes resort hotels and homestays around the city popular.
"Last week, the search volume for local scenic spots during the Spring Festival on our platform increased by 70% compared to the previous week, and the search volume for'wine + scenery package' increased by 40%." Liu Han told reporters on January 25.
When returning home to celebrate the New Year, what I enjoy is the taste of reunion with my family.
In order to meet the expectations of the elderly and children in the family for the New Year, Mr. Zhang, who works in Beijing, specially collected a lot of local Chinese New Year tricks on the Internet, and finally booked a homestay in Beijing suburbs on a homestay platform. New Year’s Eve".
"The family makes dumplings, pastes Spring Festival couplets, and watches a firework together. I think it’s good to have a New Year’s Eve dinner together," Mr. Zhang said.
According to data from the Tujia platform, as the Spring Festival approaches, various characteristic homestays have launched Chinese New Year packages, ingeniously packing food, housing and entertainment together, not only living comfortably, but also pasting Spring Festival couplets, hanging lanterns, listening to comics, bathing in hot springs, and handicrafts. Experience, mountain climbing and blessings, and other entertainment items suitable for all ages, allow users who celebrate the Chinese New Year on the spot to enjoy safer and warmer travel accommodation services during the Spring Festival.
In this regard, Wei Xiang said that compared with previous years, this year’s Spring Festival outings are mainly local tourists, and “hotels for the New Year” and “hotels for the New Year” will become a trend.
The hotel and homestay industries should seize this hard-won opportunity and strive for a good start.
In terms of hotels, it is possible to launch family rooms, parent-child rooms, hot spring rooms, etc. suitable for family trips around "hotel + New Year's Eve dinner", "hotel + attraction", "hotel + large playground" and other "hotel +" gameplay.
In terms of homestays, operators can provide tourists with more in-depth travel products, such as visiting the surrounding countryside to experience local Spring Festival customs, etc., so that tourists can integrate into the atmosphere of the Spring Festival and have more sense of participation.
Yang Zhaokui