On May 2nd, tourists went boating in Qisheng Lake, Zibo. During the "May Day" holiday, people come to various scenic spots to enjoy the holiday. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zhang Jingang)
Domestic tourism increased by 70.83% year-on-year, and domestic tourism income increased by 128.90% year-on-year, and tourism demand broke out; The number of hotel bookings on the platform has increased by more than 10 times compared with 2019, and the average daily consumption scale of the life service industry has increased by 133% compared with the same period of 2019, welcoming the most prosperous May Day &hellip in five years; … During the just-concluded "May Day" holiday, the consumer market handed over a bright report card, and many data performances exceeded expectations.
Holiday consumption is an important window to observe the economic vitality of China. Experts in the industry pointed out that the popularity of travel is rising, it is hard to find a "table" in popular restaurants, and night tours are emerging one after another. Behind the surge of people in many places during the "May 1" holiday, it reflects the strong resilience and domestic demand vitality of the domestic consumer market. In the future, with the continuous release of demand, the recovery of the consumer market will add "firepower".
The enthusiasm for traveling is high, and the demand is concentrated.
This year’s "May 1" holiday, the tourism market ushered in a consumption blowout, and the enthusiasm of domestic tourists for travel was high, and the demand for travel was fully released.
According to the data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the evening of the 3rd, during the May Day holiday in 2023, there were 274 million domestic tourist trips, up 70.83% year-on-year. Domestic tourism revenue reached 148.056 billion yuan, up 128.90% year-on-year.
It is noteworthy that while the domestic tourism market is booming as a whole, new trends and new kinetic energy have emerged in some tourism markets.
The reporter noted that in addition to the traditional popular tourist cities, many niche tourist destinations are also blessed by the "spillover" effect, which ushered in a large passenger flow growth. According to the data of Qunar platform, in previous years, such as Dehong, Zibo, Gannan, Yili, Kashgar, Huai ‘an and other relatively unpopular cities, the number of hotel reservations on May 1 this year increased by more than 10 times compared with 2019.
At the same time, the integration of culture and tourism is more obvious, and the supply of products is more abundant, meeting the needs of tourists for diversified products. According to the data of Flying Pig, during the "May 1" period, the "scenic spot/paradise +X" products including Hanfu, travel photography, exhibitions and other experience elements were very popular, and the booking volume increased by more than 10 times compared with last year.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the May 1 holiday, 31,100 commercial performances were held nationwide, with a box office income of 1.519 billion yuan and about 8,654,900 people attending the performances. "Travel+Performing Arts" and "Travel+Exhibition" are favored by the market, and the spillover effect of tourism in surrounding consumption scenes becomes more and more obvious.
"This year ‘ May Day ’ The fiery tourism market will have many impacts on domestic consumption and economic development. " Dai Bin, president of china tourism academy, said, firstly, the sustained improvement of tourism can stabilize the confidence of the domestic consumer market and directly drive the macro-economic growth. Secondly, tourism consumption has a strong comprehensive pulling effect on the upstream service industry and manufacturing industry. At the same time, the role of tourism in promoting employment is also very impressive, and the growth of employment will increase the income of residents, and then drive the healthy, stable and sustainable growth of the whole macro-economy.
Commodity services are booming, and consumption in many fields is heating up.
In addition to the popularity of cultural tourism, life services such as catering have also entered the summer ahead of schedule. Abalone braised pork, fried shrimp, shredded eel with oil … … In the restaurant "Xingxing Shanghai Local Cuisine", which is located in Manle City, Shanghai, a series of old Shanghai-style delicacies are presented on the table, and the diners are in an endless stream and popular. "Not only the places in the store, but also the places outside the store are all full. Many diners have come from other places." Bao Yongli, head of the restaurant, said.
"This time ‘ May Day ’ The passenger flow is more than before, and all kinds of snacks and fast food in the store are basically swept away, and the replenishment is a bit behind. " The clerk of a convenience store in Beijing Railway Station told reporters while he was busy.
During the "May Day" period, such scenes can be seen everywhere in the country. According to the data of Meituan, in the first three days of the holiday, the average daily consumption scale of the national life service industry increased by 133% compared with the same period of 2019, welcoming the most prosperous "May Day" in five years.
According to the business big data monitoring of the Ministry of Commerce, the sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 18.9% year-on-year during the May 1 holiday.
The retail market is also full of bright spots, especially the goods related to travel. For example, in Suning.cn, 3C products of travel household appliances continue to sell well, and constant temperature milk warmer and bottle sterilizer have become popular search keywords; In the acquisition App, the sales of portable fans, juice cups, charging treasures, Bluetooth headsets and suitcases have increased greatly; On the US delegation, the orders related to trendy projects such as city cycling, camping in the wild and land surfing increased by more than 200% compared with the Spring Festival holiday & hellip; …
Tamia Liu, deputy director and researcher of the Institute of Market Economy of the State Council Development Research Center, analyzed in an interview with the Economic Information Daily that this year’s "May 1" holiday was full of consumer popularity, with both sales and purchases booming. He analyzed that people’s consumption enthusiasm is high, the travel radius is obviously expanded, and the consumption passenger flow in many places has recovered or even exceeded the same period in 2019. At the same time, various businesses lost no time in launching diversified promotional activities, and some government departments actively created characteristic consumption formats and scenarios, which also stimulated the obvious growth of consumption.
Continuously stimulate the potential and consolidate the endogenous motivation of consumption
Experts in the industry believe that through the popularity of holiday consumption, what they see is the huge potential and surging momentum of the domestic demand market. Guan Lixin, a researcher at the Institute of Circulation and Consumption of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said that from the supply side, innovations in the consumer market during the May 1 holiday emerged one after another, from the creation of immersive scenes and the provision of refined services to the optimization of the urban business environment; From the demand side, experiential consumption is released centrally, and diversified service consumption such as food, beautiful scenery, camping and exhibition is accelerated. "These new highlights show the resilience and vitality of China’s huge domestic market, and the endogenous power of consumption is increasing in consolidation." She told reporters.
Li Jiwei, vice president of Meituan Research Institute, also believes that the consumption enthusiasm aroused by the May 1 holiday will play an important role in boosting consumption throughout the year, which will help to further expand domestic demand, continuously stimulate consumption potential and help the domestic economy to develop steadily.
Looking forward to the next step, Tamia Liu pointed out that to promote the sustained recovery of consumption and accelerate recovery, we must continue to promote higher quality and more adequate employment, increase income and enhance consumption power; Improve the quality of goods and services, expand consumption scenarios, and make full use of digital technology to improve the adaptability and innovation of diversified supply.
The reporter noted that relevant measures are being accelerated. On April 28th, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting, which made it clear that "restoring and expanding demand is the key to the sustained economic recovery" and proposed that "the income of urban and rural residents should be increased through multiple channels, the consumption environment should be improved, and the consumption of cultural tourism and other services should be promoted". Relevant departments and local governments are also actively making arrangements. Recently, a number of departments have launched the "Double-product Online Shopping Festival" nationwide, and various localities have successively launched cultural and tourism series activities to benefit the people in combination with the theme month activities of "May 19 China Tourism Day".
In Guan Lixin’s view, multiple deployments from the central government to the local government are conducive to continuously enhancing consumption capacity, improving consumption conditions, innovating consumption scenarios, and better meeting people’s needs for a better life. "With the support of these measures to promote consumption, the consumer market will pick up steadily, and consumption will continue to be the primary driving force for economic growth."
Tamia Liu also believes that with the continuous improvement of economic operation, governments at all levels have made remarkable efforts to promote consumption policies and measures. It is expected that consumption will continue to maintain obvious recovery growth in the future, and the main driving force for economic growth will be further consolidated.
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