Surging spring tour demand drives expansion in China's cultural, tourism market

China's cultural and tourism market saw a strong growth during the three-day Qingming Festival holiday that started Saturday, during which spring tours had surged with travelers demand becoming more diversified.

Data from an online travel platform showed that since the start of April, with spring in full swing, there has been a surge in inter-regional travel, with cross-provincial trips accounting for 63 percent of all travel demand.

In terms of traveler demographics, the post-1995 generation led the way, making up 48 percent of travelers. As younger generations shift their spending habits, new trends are emerging in popular travel destinations -- including a growing preference for off-the-beaten-path destinations and a greater emphasis on unique, experience-based travel.

Flower-viewing trips were also a major highlight of this year's Qingming Festival holiday. At scenic spots large and small across China, wherever flowers are in bloom, crowds of tourists can be seen posing for photos among the blossoms.

A wide range of flower-themed cultural and tourism projects have been rolled out across the country, fueling the spring "flower economy". Online travel platform data showed that since March, searches for keywords such as "flower viewing" and "spring outings" have surged 3.8 times month on month, while sales of tour and sightseeing vacation packages have risen 72 percent year on year.

Notably, the introduction of the first-ever spring break for primary and secondary school students in some parts of China has extended the three-day Qingming Festival holiday into a six-day vacation, creating new ways to spend the holiday while carrying forward tradition.

"In terms of traveler profiles, we've seen a notable increase in study tours and family trips -- more children on the road. Many primary school students have learned how bees make honey, and I've even heard of some children learning about flower pollination during their holiday tours. So, this is different from simply admiring rapeseed or cherry blossoms. It shows that as the number of young travelers grows, the cultural and scientific content of trips is also increasing," said Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy.

"Looking at travel motivations, in the past, holidays tended to be about flower viewing, spring outings, or cultural and folk experiences. But with the introduction of the spring break, travel motivations have become much more diverse. What's more, people traveled farther. In previous Qingming Festival holidays, with only three days off, people didn't go very far. This time, we've seen people travel significantly longer distances. Medium-haul trips of over 500 kilometers and long-haul trips of over 800 kilometers both increased noticeably. According to our monitoring, the average travel radius and the on-site activity radius at the destination have increased by more than 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively," he said.

Surging spring tour demand drives expansion in China's cultural, tourism market

With the Pinglu Canal in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region officially open to shipping, Yangpu Port in south China's Hainan Province will fully leverage the policy and geographical advantages of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) to accelerate its development into an international shipping hub, further connecting the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor with global markets.

The canal stretches along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a strategic trade route connecting China's inland regions with ASEAN and other global markets. It is the first river-to-sea canal project planned and coordinated at the national level since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Located in the northwest of the island province, Yangpu Port is the deep-water port closest to the main international shipping routes in the Beibu Gulf, and is also one of the maritime outlets of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

The opening of the Pinglu Canal to navigation has opened up a new sea-river intermodal transport corridor for goods entering and leaving the southwestern region, and has also brought new opportunities to some enterprises.

At a petrochemical enterprise in Danzhou City, robotic arms are bagging and packaging chemical products on a conveyor belt, and these goods will be shipped to southwest China's Guizhou Province and other places.

Most of this enterprise's customers in the Chinese mainland are concentrated in the southwestern Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou. At present, the enterprise is adjusting its future shipping plans in response to the logistics changes brought by the opening of the Pinglu Canal to navigation.

"We plan to shift about 70 percent of our goods to this new sea-river intermodal transport corridor, and overall logistics costs are expected to drop by 30 to 40 percent. Next year we also plan to build another plant in Hainan, which will allow us to take advantage of the free trade port's policies, import raw materials from places like Indonesia, and after processing, sell the products to the southwestern region or re-export them. This is expected to add about 200,000 tons of production capacity," said Wei Jianqiang, head of Hainan Oxiranchem Co., Ltd.

Behind the enterprises' expansion of production and the busier flow of goods, there is also the upgraded service support made possible by the opening of the Pinglu Canal to navigation. In this regard, the relevant authorities have also made full preparations.

"After the Pinglu Canal opens to navigation, we will strengthen safeguard measures in areas such as facilitating the entry and exit of container ships on fixed routes, credit-based regulation, and cross-regional coordination," said Jiang Yufeng, head of the Xiaochantan Maritime Patrol and Law Enforcement Brigade, Yangpu Maritime Safety Administration.

Pinglu Canal underscores growing role of Yangpu Port as int'l shipping hub