JNE Group: The Chinese People Know Where to Have Fun, Changes of Travelers

In 2020, the word of "pandemic" was what appeared most frequently throughout the year. COVID-19 has directly changed the work and life habits of everyone. While outbound tourism was hindered, domestic tourism showed an all-rounded recovery. Changes have taken place in the ways of traveling and brought new opportunities for the development of China's tourism. The question is: when the 155 million people stop going abroad and start traveling within the county, how will they have fun?

On January 18, Qyer published The Chinese People Know Where to Have Fun: Guide to Traveling within China for Outbound Travelers (herein referred to as the Big Data Report). The report thoroughly reveals the travel features of those who have stopped going abroad and started traveling within the country from multiple perspectives of the most popular destinations of the year, scenic spots, themed traveling and choice of hotels.

According to the report, the users of Qyer had even started planning their travel before domestic tourism showed a full recovery. Ever since March 2020, Qyer website has seen a month-on-month growth rate of more than 400% in the number of users who check domestic destinations. After July, the month-on-month growth rate exceeds 40% in the schedule planning of online travel helpers. 83% of those that had intended to travel abroad shift their attention onto domestic tourism. Even though they can't go abroad, they still spend almost the same amount of time and money on their travel. While an outbound trip may last for more than 8 days, a domestic one only takes 3 to 5 days. However, the latter might be more frequent and 65.8% of domestic travelers may travel more than 4 times within a year. In addition, for 46.3% of the domestic travelers, their average annual spending on travel has exceeded 30,000 yuan.

Sanya Ranks First among the Most Popular Destinations, Travelers Prefer Natural Scenic Areas and Cultural Scenic Attractions

As domestic tourist attractions draw more and more attention, Qyer users have shown greater enthusiasm for exploring those sites. Among the top 10 most popular destinations, Sanya ranks first as "An Interesting Wonderland for the New Generation of Youths". What follow closely behind are Chengdu and Shanghai. It is the first time for Changsha to enter the top 10 and it ranks 10th. Among the destinations that have gained great popularity within a short time, Wuhan ranks first and Qinghai second. The former is what concerns the whole nation all the time and the latter is where you can always take impressive photos. Popular film and TV works as well as hot figures will make more know about the destinations. The popular online TV series The Bad Kids has attracted a large number of travelers to Zhanjiang where it was filmed, and the relaxing variety show Back to Field makes Xishuangbanna gain more popularity. The young Tibetan man Ding Zhen has impressed the netizens with his tender and sweet smile. He has all alone promoted the local tourism and even become the image representative of the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garzê.

Among the top 10 tourist attractions, travelers prefer natural scenic areas and cultural scenic attractions. Daocheng Yading, "the Pure Land of the Mortal World" ranks first and Erhai which symbolizes poetic beauty and great pursuit ranks second. Mogao Caves or Qianfo Caves is also on the list. Moreover, some tourist attractions known by fewer people have also gained great popularity, such as Dongtai Jinaier Lake known as China's Maldives, the Foursagade Memorial Hall of the Anti-Japanese War where the film 800 was set, Xijiang Miao Villages that have retained the complete original culture of the Miao ethnic group, and Jiaohe Hongye Valley which is covered by red maple leaves.

Travelers Care More about the Key Features, Less-Visited Destinations and Immersive Experience of Domestic Tourism

Foreign destinations are characterized by exotic beauty while those travelers who have come back care more about the key features, less-visited destinations and immersive experience of domestic tourism. More than 43% of the viewers prefer characteristic travel routes, less-visited destinations, immersive traveling experience and self-driving tour. But different regions show varied travel preferences. Shanghai's citizens prefer to visit Zhejiang and Jiangsu, more than a half of Chongqing's residents expect to visit Sichuan, and Sichuan people would like to travel around the country. Heibei's residents like a tour around Beijing, their very own "courtyard" while Beijing's citizens show no particular preferences. Jilin is a favored destination of Jiangxi and residents of Anhui, Yunnan, Guangdong and Zhejiang enjoy traveling within their provinces.

Travelers choose different destinations and their ways of having fun may also differ. The 5 most favored travel themes are surrounding area exploration, special cuisine, self-driving, cultural museums and themed parks. Anji County with clean water and lush mountains becomes the most viewed surrounding travel destination , Changsha welcomes a great number of tourists with the promotion of tasty food like Chayanyuese and Wenheyou, and Qinghai-Gansu Loop Road showcasing the most famous sights of Northwestern China becomes the favorite of self-driving travelers. The Palace Museum celebrates the 600th anniversary of its establishment and promotes itself with a series of themed exhibitions, thus attracting a great many cultural museum lovers. In addition to Shanghai Disney Resort, Chimelong Tourist Resort and Overseas Chinese Town Happy Valley are also popular with themed-park lovers.

The big data report shows more than 60% of Zhejiang's residents love not only exploring surrounding areas but also starting a food tour. As many as 46.3% of the citizens of the mountainous Chongqing prefer self-driving tour. Tianjin people are keen culture lovers and 48.1% of the users choose to visit cultural museums. Henan people would like to have fun with their children in themed parks.

Besides, outdoor tourism has seen a massive increase this year. In the year of 2020 full of unexpected events, more and more have come to realize that the priority is staying healthy. The data show that the popularity of camping increase by 303.5%, limo travel 243.5%, self-driving tour 78.6% and skiing 54.6%.

Qyer users who need nice travel experience have great requirements for the hotels they live in. The number of users who book high-end hotels or quality guesthouses within the country is respectively 9.2% and 3.6% more than that abroad. In comparison with hotels that may all look the same, the characteristic guesthouses have become the favorite of more and more tourists. This year witnesses a 32.6% increase in the popularity of guesthouses. What concern tourists most when they book guesthouses are safety, privacy, room features and complete set of facilities.

Exploring New Ways of Travel in the Z Era and Getting Inspiration from Hot Topics

The youths in the Z era have their own ideas about tourism and look at the world from a novel perspective. They prefer to visit destinations that are hot on the Internet and will more easily get inspiration for their travel from hot topics. Seasonal sights, discounted flight tickets and characteristic destinations will arouse the travel fervor of young people. When choosing travel routes, they are more likely to be influenced by film and TV works, short videos, TV programs and their idols. In the meantime, they keep pace with the times and enjoy visiting the small markets, hot online cafes and bookstores.

Notably, this year the major airlines launch a variety of products of "Carefree Flying" which draw great attention on the market. But the Big Data Report shows that only 27.3% of the users have bought the products and that fewer than a half of them have used the products more than twice. The result may be attributed to the numerous limits on product use.

In 2021, Over 70% of Users Expect to Travel Abroad While Domestic Travelers Like to Explore Remote Destinations

When making their plan for domestic tourism for the new year, Qyer's users prefer to visit remote provinces. Among the expected provinces for domestic tourism in 2021, Xinjiang which combines the topography of grasslands, snow mountains and deserts, Yunnan that is home of multiple ethnic groups and Tibet shrouded in religious mystery rank first, second and fourth respectively. Tasty food and great sights are still particularly attractive for users and they plan to visit cities like Chengdu, Guangzhou and Changsha.

Despite the hindrance in outbound tourism, the travelers are still eager to go abroad. More than 70% of the users still look forward to exploring the world. Among the top 10 expected countries for outbound tourism in 2021, Japan, Thailand and South Korea which are nearest to China rank among the top 3. The wonderful resort the Maldives ranks fourth and follows closely behind them. Furthermore, Europe is still the favored destination of the Chinese people and Italy, Switzerland and Frank are on the list.

2020 witnessed the joint struggle and fight of the whole Chinese nation. No matter how many challenges are ahead of us, we never stop pursuing a better life. Xiao Yi, founder and CEO of Qyer, said in the previous interview:"Travel is not the exclusive right of certain groups of people. It should be a life concept and everyone can go traveling. Travel will help us find out the beauty of the world, enrich our life and reduce the pressure coming from work and life. We may be inspired on the way. I hope that everyone will gain something from travel and never stop traveling."