Whether the tourism in the new first-tier cities is popular this year will test the city’s ability to attract foreign tourists, on the other hand, the spending power of urban residents is also a key factor.

Whether the tourism in the new first-tier cities is popular this year will test the city’s ability to attract foreign tourists, on the other hand, the spending power of urban residents is also a key factor.

The 11th Golden Week has just passed, how is the tourism boom in the 15 new first-tier cities?

As of 16:00 on October 9, at least 10 of the 15 new first-tier cities have released corresponding Golden Week tourism data. Judging from the data released by the cities, the tourism recovery situation in the new first-tier cities is different. For example, the number of tourists and tourism income in Foshan and Suzhou both exceeded that of last year, while the number of tourists and comprehensive income in Qingdao dropped by more than 40%.

A person from Ctrip Travel said that this year's Golden Week tour is characterized by the popularity of surrounding tours and short-distance tours, which can also be seen from the popularity of car rentals. Ctrip data shows that compared to last year, the number of car rentals (the number of car use per day) has increased by 50% since the long holiday, far exceeding the level of the National Day in 2019. A single-day vehicle exceeded 70,000 vehicle days, becoming the highest peak this year and setting a new record over the years.

Whether the tourism in the new first-tier cities is popular this year will test the city’s ability to attract foreign tourists, on the other hand, the spending power of urban residents is also a key factor.

More than 80% of tourism in multiple cities recovered

According to calculations calculated by the Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the eight-day National Day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday this year, the country received 637 million domestic tourists, a year-on-year recovery of 79.0% on a comparable basis; domestic tourism revenue was 466.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year recovery of 69.9% on a comparable basis.

Judging from the new first-tier cities that have released data, the situation of tourism recovery varies from place to place.

"The tourism in Chengdu and Chongqing is very hot, and Changsha is even more hot." On October 9, a Ctrip travel official told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that traditional tourist cities have become the winners of the 11th Golden Week.

Among them, Sichuan Province has become one of the regions with the best tourism recovery, and Chengdu is a leader. Statistics show that the total number of visitors in Chengdu during the Golden Week of November 2020 has recovered to 90.4% of the same period last year, and tourism revenue has recovered to 80.1% of the same period last year. Among them, key scenic spots received 7,648,300 tourists.

Chongqing's tourism recovery is good. The 253 A-level tourist attractions in Chongqing received 11.086 million tourists, a year-on-year recovery of 86.3% on a comparable basis.

The situation in Nanjing also shows that the overall tourism market has recovered well. During the long holiday, Nanjing received 9.673 million domestic and foreign tourists, and the city’s year-on-year recovery rate was 82.2%, which was 3.2 percentage points higher than the national year-on-year recovery rate announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; achieved tourism revenue of 9.34 billion yuan, with a year-on-year recovery rate of 77.9 %, 8 percentage points higher than the national recovery rate announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

From October 1st to 8th, Tianjin received 9.795 million tourists, a year-on-year recovery of 93.9%; comprehensive tourism income was 5.873 billion yuan, a year-on-year recovery of 92%. The average occupancy rate of mid-to-high-end hotels in the city is close to 85%, and the occupancy rate of Jizhou's boutique folklore and farmyards has reached more than 95%.

During the long holiday of November, Zhengzhou received 13.267 million tourists and realized a total tourism income of 5.237 billion yuan. The overall situation of the cultural and tourism market has recovered to about 80% in the same period in 2019.

However, there are still cold weather during long holidays in new first-tier cities. During the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays in 2020, Qingdao received a total of 4,475,800 tourists, realizing tourist consumption of 4.645 billion yuan, a comparable decrease of 40.92% and 50.21% respectively. During the National Day holiday, Qingdao monitored 67 star-rated hotels, with an average occupancy rate of 39.07% and a total operating income of 43.31 million yuan.

Why is the tourism market in the new first-tier cities uneven? This is closely related to epidemic prevention, weather, and attraction of foreign tourists.

On September 24, Qingdao City found 2 cases of asymptomatic infection of the new coronavirus pneumonia during the regular routine inspection of the "Due to Inspection" personnel of Qingdao Port Dagang Company. A tourist who traveled to Qingdao in September told the 21st Century Business Herald that she had inquired about local hotel prices during November and found that it was cheaper than when she went in early September. The cheapest rooms in some five-star hotels were not even To 400 yuan.

In addition, during November, the temperature in the south is more comfortable, while the north is already colder.

"In some places, tourism is more obviously affected by the season. For example, if you go with a group in Tibet, it is best to choose August and September, and it won't be late." A tour guide told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter.

The tour guide said that during the period of November this year, self-driving tours and short-term tours are the mainstays in China. Against the background of the overall downturn in the tourism market, the Matthew effect is more obvious. Some more famous and distinctive attractions are more likely to attract tourists. Scenic spots are obviously less tourists.

Foshan, Suzhou and other holiday consumption are hot

Another factor affecting the tourism market in the new first-tier cities is the enthusiasm of local residents to travel.

The most obvious feature of the tourism market in 2020 is that surrounding tours and short-distance tours are very popular. On the one hand, this is related to the factor of epidemic prevention, on the other hand, it is also related to the holiday of one of the main forces of tourism-college students.

A student who lives in Foshan and is currently attending university in Guangzhou told the 21st Century Business Herald that their school only has a four-day holiday during November, so they can only choose to travel around.

In addition, according to the latest report released by Ctrip, the top ten most popular cities for car rental during the 2020 November holidays are Sanya, Chengdu, Haikou, Xining, Kunming, Urumqi, Shanghai, Guiyang, Lanzhou, and Lijiang. 4 popular areas for renting a car this year. It can also be seen from the data that southern cities have become the main destinations for self-driving tours.

The popularity of surrounding tourism has made some cities with strong local and surrounding residents' "money ability" become the winners of National Day Golden Week tourism. Take Foshan as an example. From October 1-8, Foshan received 6,942,700 tourists, an increase of 5.06% on a comparable basis. Among them, there were 6,469,700 day trip tourists, an increase of 8.05% on a comparable basis. The city's tourism income was 2275.0237 million yuan, an increase of 2.72% on a comparable basis.

Another city that has "counter-attacked" tourists and income is Suzhou. According to the latest data, Suzhou received 7.214 million domestic tourists during the National Holidays, a year-on-year increase of 3%. The total tourism revenue was 9.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%.

Corresponding to the influx of tourists, it is the desire to shop. The 21st Century Business Herald reporter noted that the consumption of residents in the new first-tier cities was fully released during the holiday season.

According to the data of 246 commerce and trade enterprises monitored by the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce, sales of 2.02 billion yuan were achieved from October 1-8, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%.

During the National Day Golden Week this year, Nanjing’s city and various sectors selected more than 50 consumer promotion activities. The cumulative sales of 80 sample companies such as supermarkets, department stores, home appliances, and catering reached 2.93 billion yuan, an increase of 9.1% year-on-year.

The five major comprehensive business groups in Wuhan, including Wushang, Zhongbai, China Commercial, Hanshang, and Industry and Trade, have accumulated sales of 1.656 billion yuan this year during the long holiday (October 1-8), compared with last year's long holiday (October 1-10). July 7) increased by 3.1%; the city’s commercial retail sales during the long holiday this year are expected to be 15.34 billion yuan, an increase of about 2.5% over the long holiday last year.

The monitoring data of 37 sample enterprises in Hangzhou showed that from September 30 to October 7, Hangzhou City realized a total of 1.13518 million yuan in sales (turnover), an increase of 31.98% year-on-year. The five major industries have shown four rises and one fall. The order of increase is: automobile 4S shops 104.37%, shopping malls and department stores 39.37%, accommodation 15.5%, supermarkets 4.39%, and cinemas -4.86%.

"From the perspective of the National Day holiday, the national tourism market has recovered very well." The aforementioned Ctrip person said in an interview with a reporter from 21st Century Business Herald, but the subsequent recovery still needs to be observed based on the situation of epidemic prevention.