New Year's Day 2024 is approaching, and at present, the booking of tourism products during the New Year's Day holiday is hot, and some tour guides have commented that it is "super hot", and tickets for some popular scenic spots have been sold out. Driven by ice and snow tourism, there has been an explosion of homestays in the north, and going to the coldest places for the holidays has become a popular choice for travel, and the number of hotel and homestay bookings in Harbin and other places has soared year-on-year. The combination of "hot springs + skiing" continues to lead the tourism boom, chasing the aurora, watching the sunrise, and taking cruises, and consumers are increasingly pursuing a sense of New Year's Eve rituals.
01 New Year's Day holiday travel product bookings are hot
According to the holiday arrangement in 2024, the New Year's Day holiday will be on January 1, and it will be closed on weekends in a row, forming a three-day holiday on December 30, December 31 and January 1.
Judging from the booking data of major online travel platforms, New Year's Day tourism is expected to usher in a good start, with orders for hotels, homestays, air tickets and other orders rising sharply year-on-year.
Zhongxin Finance noticed that tickets for some popular scenic spots have been sold out, among them, the tickets for the New Year's Day holiday of the Forbidden City have been fully booked. Li Yuanyuan, a tour guide in Beijing, told the China News Financial Reporter that the New Year's Day travel booking is super hot, and he takes a 6-hour group of the Forbidden City every day during the three-day long holiday, and the quota has been filled. In fact, there are many customers who inquire about New Year's Day and Spring Festival from mid-November.
Tickets for the New Year's Day holiday in the Forbidden City are fully booked.
Qunar data shows that the number of advance bookings for air tickets on New Year's Day in popular cities in China has increased by 4 times compared with New Year's Day in 2023, and the number of hotel bookings on New Year's Day in popular cities in China has increased by 10 times year-on-year. As of December 25, the number of homestay bookings in popular cities on the Tujia platform on New Year's Day in 2024 has increased by more than 4 times compared with last year.
According to Ctrip data, as of December 15, the overall domestic travel orders for the 2024 New Year's Day holiday increased by more than 3 times year-on-year, hotel orders increased by more than 5 times year-on-year, air tickets increased by 205%, and vacation orders such as customized tours with groups increased by 240%.
According to data from Tongcheng Travel, in the seven days to December 11, the popularity of travel during the New Year's Day holiday increased by 465% year-on-year, and the number of local hotel bookings increased by more than five times compared with normal days.
02 Ice and snow tourism is hot
The number of bookings for Harbin B&B increased by 27 times year-on-year
Going to the coldest place for the New Year's Day holiday has become a popular choice for travel, and the number of hotel and homestay bookings in Harbin and other places has soared year-on-year.
According to Qunar provided to China News Finance, as of December 26, the number of hotel bookings in Harbin during the New Year's Day of 2024 increased by 25.7 times compared with 2023.
Driven by ice and snow tourism, homestays in the north have exploded, with Tujia data showing that Harbin has topped the most popular homestay destination for the first time, with the number of bookings for New Year's Day homestays in Harbin increasing by 27 times year-on-year in 2023, Shenyang by 20 times, Yanbian by 8 times, and Changchun and Mudanjiang leading the growth rates. Skiing, watching ice sculptures, and taking a big bath have become the vacation choices of many consumers.
Data map of Harbin Ice and Snow World. Photo by China News Service Zhao Yuhang
03 "Hot Spring + Skiing" has become the new top stream
Skiing is popular with tourists from the south
Skiing is the most popular theme this winter, and southern tourists love it more than northern tourists. According to the data of Ctrip's "Digital Intelligence Hotel", most of the users who booked ice and snow hotels during the New Year's Day holiday were inter-provincial users, and most of them were consumers from the southern region.
Tongcheng Travel data shows that from December 1 to 11, tourists in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai searched for "skiing" related tourism information 1.5 times more than tourists from the three northeastern provinces (Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang), and residents in southern provinces such as Guangdong and Hubei also entered the top 10 on the list. According to the analysis of Tongcheng Research Institute, many indoor ski resorts have been opened in southern provinces in recent years, creating conditions for southern residents to understand and experience skiing, and also expanding the local ski base.
Outbound skiing on New Year's Day this year is also popular among users, and since December, orders for outbound skiing products have increased by 460% month-on-month. The number of bookings for ski group tours during the New Year's Day and Spring Festival increased by 6 times and 16 times respectively compared with last year. Popular destinations for outbound skiing include Japan, South Korea, Finland, Russia, etc.
It is worth noting that the combination of "hot springs + skiing" continues to lead the tourism boom, and soaking in hot springs and skiing alone can no longer meet the needs of young consumers. Ctrip data shows that during the New Year's Day, the "ski + hot spring" package ranked among the top 10 calendar room package sales list.
The picture shows the aerial photography of the "Aida Modu" arriving at Shanghai Baoshan Wusongkou International Cruise Port. (Drone photo) taken by China News Service reporter Yin Liqin
04 Chase the aurora, watch the sunrise, and take a cruise
Pursue a sense of New Year's Eve ritual
Chasing the aurora, watching the sunrise, watching fireworks, listening to concerts, taking cruises...... As the travel group becomes younger and younger, consumers are increasingly pursuing the ritual sense of New Year's Eve travel.
Encountering the aurora has become a new trend on New Year's Eve. Tongcheng data shows that as of December 11, the number of inquiries about the New Year's Day Aurora route on the Tongcheng travel platform has increased nearly twice compared with the same period in 2019. Some of the popular Aurora routes were sold out one month in advance. Mohe, Hemu, Hulunbuir, Finland, Russia, and Iceland are good places to chase the aurora at home and abroad. Ctrip reported that orders to Finland and Sweden to see the aurora on New Year's Day increased by 73% and 10% respectively from the previous month.
Taking a cruise on New Year's Eve has a unique sense of ceremony. During the New Year's Day holiday, the number of inquiries for cruise products on the Tongcheng travel platform increased by 152% year-on-year. On New Year's Day 2024, the first domestically produced large-scale cruise ship "Aida Modu" will start its commercial maiden voyage in Shanghai, becoming the cruise route that tourists pay the most attention to. The route of the Xisha Islands and the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River have also attracted attention.
In addition, the first rays of sunshine to welcome the new year also attract many young people. Ctrip data shows that the popularity of keywords such as "Rizhao Jinshan" and "climbing" has gradually increased recently, and the search popularity of hotels in famous mountain scenic spots such as western Sichuan, Lijiang, Jiujiang, and Huangshan has remained high. Judging from the ticket data of mountain scenic spots, the number one group of "climbing high and looking far away" is the young and strong post-00s "special forces".
Source: China News Network WeChat official account