Author/Yu Bo
Source/Milestone
Image source/photo.com
As summer travel bookings become more and more popular, many scenic spots have announced the cancellation of the reservation mechanism, so this summer vacation, will the scenic spots be crowded with tourists?
Cancel reservations to "reduce the burden" for tourists
The summer vacation is approaching, and many cities across the country have officially announced that they will cancel the reservation mechanism for scenic spots. For example, in Beijing, except for the Forbidden City, the National Museum and other tourist attractions and units open to the outside world, the city's tourist attractions have all canceled the reservation requirements; In addition to a few popular places in Shanghai, more than 3,000 cultural and tourism venues such as other A-level tourist attractions, art galleries and museums in the city have canceled real-name reservations; Suzhou announced that in addition to 7 key scenic spots such as the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lion Forest and the main museum of Suzhou Museum, other A-level scenic spots and cultural venues in the city have canceled real-name reservations.
It is worth noting that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism also requires all scenic spots to:
First, it is necessary to provide the supply of high-quality cultural and tourism products, and to add sunshade shelters (umbrellas), shade and rain shelter rest areas and rest seats and other cooling and rain shelter facilities for the summer to strictly prevent heat stroke.
The second is to add temporary toilets according to the summer passenger flow, increase cleaning personnel, encrypt cleaning and garbage removal, ensure the supply of heatstroke prevention and cooling drinks and simple meals such as affordable water and affordable food, and provide wheelchairs and small medicine boxes.
The third is to increase the expansion of basic services in tourist attractions, continuously improve the sense of experience, gain and satisfaction of citizens and tourists in Beijing, and effectively enhance the tourism image of the capital.
From the wording, it is not difficult to see that the authorities are actually worried about the overcrowding and the decline in the tourist experience that may be caused by the cancellation of reservations. Combined with the tourism market since 2023, the phenomenon of long queues at the entrance of scenic spots and crowded people inside scenic spots has occurred from time to time, but more of them are concentrated in those top scenic spots, and the overall passenger flow of most scenic spots is relatively controllable, and whether to make an appointment or not has little impact. Moreover, among the scenic spots in Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou, which have cancelled reservations, they do not include top scenic spots with limited tourist capacity, such as the Forbidden City and the Humble Administrator's Garden. Therefore, after canceling the reservation, it is actually more convenient for tourists, especially those who do not like to do "strategies" in advance.
I remember that when I was traveling in Beijing many years ago, I wanted to visit the Forbidden City, Beihai Park and other scenic spots, but because I did not make an appointment in advance, my travel plan for the day was disrupted. At the ticket office of the scenic spot, there are not a few tourists like the author, and the staff is also very patient to say that this is a regulation, and they can't help it. At the same time, the reservation channels for scenic spots in different cities are different, and even different scenic spots in the same city are different, which will also add a burden to tourists.
Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, pointed out in an exclusive interview with CCTV that from the current situation, most scenic spots in the country have not reached the maximum or optimal carrying capacity, and there is no shortage of supply. In the absence of a shortage of supply, some scenic spots are forced to not travel without reservations, which is not conducive to the experience of tourists and the operation of cultural and museum venues. For venues with limited carrying capacity or fragile cultural relics environment, it is still necessary to implement an appointment system, and it is hoped that it can be adapted to the conditions of the museum and local conditions.
In addition, there are also top domestic IP scenic spots that have already canceled the reservation mechanism, but they are still in order. A staff member of a national 5A-level scenic spot revealed to Milestone that the scenic spot had canceled its reservation last year, but at the same time, the scenic spot also has a corresponding emergency plan, and when the passenger flow reaches the maximum carrying capacity, it will stop selling tickets to limit the flow of people. "Because there are other scenic spots or commercial blocks next to our scenic spots, tourists who cannot enter the park due to the current restriction will not be disappointed, and they may go to the side to play around and come back, and the current restriction will be over."
Milestone believes that after the cancellation of the reservation mechanism of the scenic spot, whether it will affect the core of the tourist experience lies in the management ability of the city and the scenic spot itself, especially the emergency plan and stress test, and do not temporarily cram. If there is a queue, you should try to provide visitors with a comfortable environment, such as shades, ample seating, etc., and put the visitor experience first.
A hundred flowers bloom, "diversion" for the top scenic spot
The cancellation of the reservation mechanism for scenic spots in many places is also in preparation for the upcoming summer tourism season. However, on the other hand, judging from the summer travel booking data disclosed by major OTA platforms, the popularity of county and outbound travel may achieve a certain diversion of popular tourist cities to a certain extent, and the pressure on the passenger flow of top scenic spots may not be as great as imagined.
According to the "2024 Summer Travel Market Forecast Report" released by Ctrip, the domestic tourism market has maintained steady growth this summer, and the search popularity of domestic hotels and air tickets has increased by more than 20% year-on-year. Inbound and outbound tourism has grown rapidly due to the impact of policy dividends, with travel orders to Europe, Latin America and other countries increasing by more than 8 percent, and the overall orders of inbound tourism increasing by 1 times year-on-year.
The report pointed out that long-term travel is the main force in the summer, accounting for more than 7% according to the current data. Traditionally popular long-haul border tours continue to be sought after, with travel bookings in the northeast and southwest regions increasing by 40% and 25% year-on-year respectively, and summer wilderness tours in the northwest region also increasing by more than 20% year-on-year. Representative long-term travel destinations include Xinjiang Ring Road, Qinggan Ring Road, Hohhot Grassland Ring Road, West Sichuan Ring Road, West Yunnan Ring Road, etc., and 8-10 day long-term tours have become the favorite of tourists.
The report further pointed out that from the perspective of booking data, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Urumqi, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing and Shenzhen are the top ten popular tourist cities in China in the summer. However, at the same time, lower-tier markets such as fifth-tier cities and counties are still active. During the summer vacation, tourism orders in fifth-tier cities increased by 34% year-on-year, and county-level tourism orders increased by 22% year-on-year, both higher than the growth rate of first-tier and new first-tier cities.
According to Milestone's survey, many tourists who plan to travel in the summer also said that they will try to avoid popular cities with a lot of people, and summer vacation is their first choice. Mr. Kui, from Jinan, said that the first choice for his family of three during the summer vacation was a coastal city, and the current initial plan is Qinhuangdao, "The child wanted to go to Beijing, but considering the hot summer in Beijing, we finally gave up." Mr. Liu, from Beijing, said that he would take his children to Changbai Mountain during the summer vacation, and if he had enough time, he would also plan to go to Sanya.
"Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, as local governments have increased investment and innovation in the cultural and tourism industry, the tourism industry has been continuously enriched, which has provided tourists with more choices. In particular, the rise of county-level tourism can allow those who are tired of the hustle and bustle of the city to return to the embrace of nature.
Diversified demand to "put pressure" on the cultural tourism market
While the summer cultural tourism market is becoming more and more popular, it also puts forward higher requirements for scenic spots. In addition to the clichés of service quality, business integrity and other issues, more important is how to cater to the travel needs of different target groups.
According to Ctrip's data, the post-80s and post-90s generations are the "backbone" of domestic travel in the summer, of which the post-80s account for half, the post-90s account for 18%, and the post-00s account for 12%. From the perspective of population growth, the growth of the post-00 young group this summer is the most significant, with a year-on-year increase of 78% in bookings, and the post-00s cover graduates and other student groups, and the proportion of post-00s this summer has increased from 9% last year to 12%, indicating that the importance of student groups in the summer tourism market is gradually increasing. At the same time, parent-child people account for nearly half of domestic travel, and parent-child self-driving orders account for more than 4%. It can be seen that young people and parent-child travel are the core of the summer tourism market, but in terms of demand, the two are not the same.
Minsheng Securities pointed out in the research report that the travel demand of young people comes from the relief of stress, rejuvenation, curiosity and horizons, and pays more attention to spiritual resonance, including spiritual connotation, physical experience, atmosphere experience and multiple structures.
Milestone believes that at present, young customers are the basic plate of cultural tourism IP, such as the previously popular Zibo barbecue and Harbin Ice and Snow World, which are dominated by it. Their needs can be summarized as cost-effective and emotional value: cost-effective is not a low price, but a value perception, that is, merchants need to make them think that the money is worth it, just like the ticket price of Harbin Ice and Snow World is not low, but they are still willing to pay; Emotional value can be divided into two parts, one is provided by the basic services such as transportation, accommodation, catering, shopping and regional culture of the tourist city, and the other part is determined by the quality of tourism products and services in the scenic spot.
Compared with young people who pay attention to cost performance, family travel pays more attention to quality. According to the report of the Xinbang Research Institute, family travel represented by parent-child travel is more diversified in the choice of tourist destinations, including cities, villages, mountains, islands, etc.; In terms of travel experience, more attention is paid to quality and comfort, such as choosing high-quality hotels and resorts for a better accommodation and dining experience; In terms of tourism products, more emphasis is placed on the educational significance of children and the emotional interaction between family members.
It can be seen that in the upcoming summer tourism season, tourist destinations also need to focus on the target customer group for tourism product design based on their own tourism resource endowment. Although young people and families are different in terms of consumption power and consumption concepts, both sides have one thing in common, that is, the satisfaction of emotional needs, which also requires the competent departments of culture and tourism to go down to tourist attractions, and need to work the design of tourism products and services.
To put it another way, even if the tourist attraction is overcrowded, as long as the products of the scenic spot are valuable and the service is intimate enough, tourists will not have too many complaints, otherwise, it will not give birth to "queuing economics".
※This article only represents the author's personal views and is not the position of Maidian.com