The Dragon Boat Festival holiday is approaching. According to the holiday travel forecasts released by several online travel platforms, "Neo-Chinese style" tourism, centered around traditional Dragon Boat Festival customs, has become a new holiday travel trend.
Guangzhou tops the list for nearby travel bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday
According to the big data of Umetrip.com, as of May 30th, domestic airline ticket bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday lasting from June 8th to June 10th exceeded 2.07 million, and international airline ticket bookings were around 470,000, representing year-on-year increases of approximately 14% and 70%, respectively.
This year, more tourists are considering short-distance trips. Data from Trip.com, an online travel agency, shows that domestic nearby travel bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday have increased by 20% year-on-year. Among popular nearby travel destinations, Guangzhou ranks fourth, following Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.
Tongcheng Travel's data indicates that train tickets between core cities and surrounding cities are in high demand for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Since train tickets went on sale, ticket booking popularity from central cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou to nearby small cities, especially county-level cities, has more than doubled compared to regular days.
Dragon Boat Festival customs ignite "Neo-Chinese style" tourism
This Dragon Boat Festival holiday, traditional customs such as making rice dumplings, hanging mugwort, and dragon boat racing are particularly popular.
Dongguan, Guangdong boasts "dragon boat paddling", a national intangible cultural heritage, and it has the longest dragon boat month and a vibrant dragon boat atmosphere in the country. On Trip.com, the search popularity for Dongguan as a travel destination during this Dragon Boat Festival holiday has increased by more than 40% year-on-year. Many tourists are eager to witness the dragon boat races and experience the cultural richness of this "water-based intangible heritage."
Tongcheng Travel's report on the Dragon Boat Festival travel highlights that various "Neo-Chinese style" trips offering deep experiences of Chinese history and culture are gaining attention among young users. Popular "Neo-Chinese style" travel activities include visiting history museums, watching dragon boat races, experiencing intangible cultural heritage, checking in at historical and cultural sites, and participating in Hanfu dress-up experiences.
Dragon Boat Festival holiday focuses on intangible cultural heritage experiences
As of now, on the Tongcheng Travel platform, inquiries for two-to-four-hour guided tours and study tours at history museums during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday have more than tripled year-on-year. Xi'an, Hangzhou, Luoyang, Suzhou, and Chengdu are the most popular cities for taking photos in Hanfu. Additionally, traditional opera culture in Suzhou and Beijing, tea-picking culture in Fujian, and intangible cultural heritage tie-dyeing in Hunan and Yunnan are key attractions for Dragon Boat Festival cultural experiences.
According to the data from Tujia.com, a homestay online platform, as of May 29th, searches with keywords such as "dragon boat", "Dragon Boat Festival", and "zongzi (rice dumplings)" have increased by 50%, and related bookings for the Dragon Boat Festival period have doubled year-on-year.
Source: Yangcheng Evening News
