Young people drive the new trend of "museum tourism."

In recent years, with museums across the country constantly "going viral", museum tourism has become a popular lifestyle choice for more and more people. On May 18th, International Museum Day, several online travel platforms released relevant data on "museum tourism." According to the data understood by HeyTrip, since this year, the volume of museum bookings on Ctrip has soared to the top of the scenic spot category, with the order volume increasing by 2.9 times compared to 2019.

Large comprehensive museums such as the Forbidden City Museum and Shanghai Museum are deeply loved by tourists, while the popularity of niche and characteristic museums is continuously rising. The addition of young customer groups has made the "post-2000s" generation the "main force" of museum tourism.

In addition, with the opening of outbound tourism and the recovery of inter-provincial tourism, long-distance travel occupies a higher proportion than local travel. As museum exhibitions, cultural performances, and national trends gradually become the new fashion, the secondary sales products of museums also continue to break out of their circles. Whether it's the initial "Imperial Travel" luggage tag, the Forbidden City lipstick that sold out quickly both online and offline, or the current Forbidden City turret coffee and cultural and creative calendars, the secondary sales products of the Forbidden City have become popular all over the country, greatly stimulating people's longing for the Forbidden City.

"China Tourism Day" Showcases New Charm of Cultural Tourism

"On the last day of the third month of the year Gui Chou (May 19th, 1613 AD), departing from the west gate of Ninghai, the clouds disperse and the sun shines, people's mood and the mountain light are all full of joy..."

This is the opening work of "Travel Notes of Xu Xiake." Therefore, May 19th was established as China Tourism Day in 2011.

From 2011 to 2023, China Tourism Day has reached its 13th year, and along the way, China's tourism industry has thrived. HeyTrip believes that although it has experienced the twists and turns of the pandemic, with the optimization and adjustment of pandemic prevention and control policies, China's tourism industry is showing new vitality for vigorous development.

The main venue activities of "China Tourism Day" 2023 were held in Heshun Ancient Town, Tengchong City, Yunnan Province, with the theme "Beautiful China, Happy Journey." About 5211 tourism benefit measures were launched, with online and offline linkage across the country, deeply promoting the development of the tourism industry, improving the quality of tourism and service, satisfying the increasingly diverse needs of tourists, and creating a more comfortable happy journey. 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps carried out simultaneous "China Tourism Day" sub-venue activities.

HeyTrip learned that, starting from February, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism carefully planned, with the core goal of "deeply promoting mass tourism, exploring the development of green tourism, accelerating the cultivation of smart tourism, actively advocating civilized tourism, and promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism," in the form of theme months, theme weeks, and theme days, a series of "5·19 China Tourism Day" activities were carried out to further promote the development of the culture and tourism industry.

Different cities across the country, with their characteristic attractions, promoted their local tourism industry by holding various marketing activities in conjunction with tourism platforms, such as:

Tianjin's "Summer Freshness · Love Tianjin Only" activity;

Jiangsu's "Water Rhyme Jiangsu · Hundred Live Broadcasts" cultural tourism promotion consumption activity;

Heilongjiang's introduction of preferential products, etc.

At the same time, local governments are also vigorously distributing cultural and tourism consumption coupons to stimulate consumer enthusiasm and stimulate the development of the tourism industry.

Cultural and Tourism Integration Promotes New Trends for "520" Outings

HeyTrip has learned from OTA platform data that the overall popularity of "520" this year has risen by more than 60% in a single week, with the overall "520" related popularity on the Mafengwo site skyrocketing 300% on May 16th. Young couples' travel decisions are not solely influenced by the romantic image perception of the destination, but they prefer cultural and artistic activities such as concerts, live music, exhibitions, stage plays, etc. This has also driven the popularity of some niche destinations.

The resumption of large-scale performances has allowed young people to seek sweet confessions or proposals at concerts or music festivals. In addition, visiting art exhibitions, museums, and historical buildings have become a new form of "visitation-style dating." These have made the "520" travel new hot spots more diverse, reflecting the trend of cultural and tourism integration.

The "Contemporary Young People's Travel Guide" points out that the reasons for young people's travel have already shifted from a certain city or a certain attraction to a music festival, an art exhibition, a museum, or even a seasonal delicacy. Culture and art can not only get young people to go to a city specifically, but also make their weekend life enriching and meaningful, and they are good topics for social circle posting.

This year is the recovery year of China's tourism industry, and the prospects of the tourism industry are obviously very promising. All regions are actively looking for new marketing strategies and development opportunities to respond to increasingly segmented consumer demand and the changing tourism industry structure. We call for local governments to introduce strong support policies, to provide reassurance for tourists, sincerity for practitioners, and confidence for industry development.

As Xinhua News Agency has said, the cultural and tourism industry is an important grasp for promoting consumption and expanding domestic demand, and is an important engine for driving economic growth and promoting high-quality development. Tourism is a comprehensive industry, closely related to various factors such as history, culture, scenery, transportation, accommodation, food, and price. To attract tourists to come and even linger, we rely on characteristics, service, and cost-effectiveness.

Promoting culture and tourism, only when we have truly chewed and digested the local culture and history, transformed it into profound plots and moving images, can the works created stir people's hearts.