Unusual Destinations

County-Level Areas Rise and the Reverse Tourism Trend

Meituan data shows that during this year's "May Day" holiday, the number of bookings for high-star hotels in county-level cities increased by more than 80% year-on-year ，surpassing third-tier cities for the first time in data terms.

Qunar's data also shows that county-level cities have become the hottest destinations for "reverse tourism." Hotel bookings on the platform cover 1230 counties, with year-on-year growth of 30% in county-level hotel bookings.

These are not "low-tier cities," but rather an expression of a new type of "aesthetic economy": not stressful, not expensive, but extremely appealing.

Of course, this "county-level perception revolution" is not accidental. Over the past few years, local governments have quietly made layouts in areas such as digital cultural tourism, intangible cultural heritage brand building, and night-time economy. The festivals, customs, and natural resources originally scattered in local areas have begun to be activated, seen, and discussed through short videos, live streaming, and platform distribution mechanisms.

From the perspective of transport geography, supporting "county tourism" becoming a reality is the rapid expansion of a new transportation framework represented by the "1-hour high-speed rail direct access circle." Taking Suzhou-Shanghai, Chengdu-Mianyang, and Beijing-Tianjin as examples, high-frequency, low-time-consumption flow channels have been formed between county-level areas and first-tier cities, making tourism no longer a "distant place," but a "switch."

Unusual Ways Young People Play

Performances are "pilgrimages," night tours are "rituals"

Food is "belief," obscurity is "label"

During "May Day" this spring festival, young people redefined the boundaries and meaning of "travel" in an extremely free and creative way.

According to platform data, Generation Z accounts for 45% of this year's May Day cultural and tourism orders, while Generation Alpha is even more "unconventional" in their preferences for scenic spots: rafting, exploration, museums, live bands, and obscure cities have all become popular. Young people are no longer satisfied with "scenery," but are looking for a three-in-one experience of "sensory density + social symbols + identity imagination."

For example, "traveling with performances" is becoming popular among young people:

From #Wang Lihong# and Zhang Jie, to the Beijing Yuanqi Forest Music Festival, and then to the Dunhuang Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring Scenic Area's 10,000-person stargazing concert, performance venues have become "new pilgrimage sites," tickets have become a city's "pass," driving the city's accommodation, transportation, photography, and peripheral consumption.

Data shows that during the "May Day" period, there were over 100 large-scale commercial performances with more than 5,000 people nationwide, with an audience of over 2 million people, and an estimated boost to hotel and tourism consumption of over 2 billion yuan.

Dunhuang Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring Scenic Area's 10,000-person stargazing concert

At the same time, a previously overlooked golden track has exploded: taste tourism. Young people can wait three hours for rice noodles in Dali, eat smoky grilled skewers at 2 a.m. in Jinzhou, start a Jiangnan journey with a bowl of Aozao noodles in Kunshan, and rub shoulders with "hot dry noodle literary youths" in Wuhan. During this year's "May Day" holiday, offline dine-in orders driven by out-of-town tourists increased by 105% year-on-year, becoming one of the hottest consumption sectors.

"Night-time economy" also experienced an explosion:

Pearl River night cruises, Qinhuai River lantern shadows, bathing + accommodation, camping + bands... young people turned their holidays into "festivals without going home," pushing tourism towards a 24/7 immersive experience.

Then, these experiences are recorded, edited, and liked; each journey becomes a piece of content asset, amplified by algorithms, liked by peers, and completes "secondary consumption of travel" in the amplifier of the online world.

Foreigners' "Chinese Adventures"

Inbound and outbound tourism both explode

During this May Day holiday in 2025, on the one hand, a large number of Chinese tourists boarded flights to the world. In addition to familiar destinations such as Japan, Thailand, and Singapore, niche destinations within the 12-hour flight circle also emerged: the Aegean Sea in Greece, the fjords of Norway, the aurora borealis of Iceland, the mud volcanoes of Azerbaijan, and the Islamic ancient city groups of Uzbekistan have become new "breakthrough destinations."

On the other hand, The popularity of
 

入境游客源国方面，韩国、日本、新加坡、俄罗斯、马来西亚、泰国、美国、澳大利亚、英国和越南位居前十。

老外们在西安城墙上拍Vlog，在上海豫园排队吃南翔小笼，在成都宽窄巷子体验盖章打卡。“中国”重新回到了全球游客的目的地清单，而且是前排。

这背后，是三种力量共同发酵的结果：

首先，是政策的“快速通道”打开了通行的门：

240小时过境免签、多国互免签证协议、“即买即退”的离境退税新政……这些政策击中了外国游客在签证、时间和消费上的三大“卡点”。尤其是在关税战背景下推出的“即买即退”机制，让中国不再只是一个观光地，更成为一座可以高效“买买买”的全球级商业枢纽。

其二，是“第一印象城市”的系统升级：

在这波入境潮中，上海、广州、深圳、成都、杭州等城市脱颖而出，不只是因为航班密度与交通枢纽的优势，更因为它们主动打造了面向国际游客的“软环境”：多语言标识、文化融合的城市街区、智能导航与支付系统，以及越来越多的“新中式生活体验”场所。

此外，还有一个不能忽视的变量：KOL。

比如拥有近4000万粉丝的网红博主“甲亢哥”，他的《中国奇遇记》不谈政策，也不讲经济，而是用亲自体验“在中国城市的一天”，反而打动了更多陌生人。这种以“非国家叙事”为主导的公共外交方式，或许正是未来最值得投资的文化传播渠道。

奇怪的文旅新物种

从景点经济到“场景+产品”革命

这个五一，我们还注意到另外一个趋势：
 

在过去，旅游是“在地图上打勾”，像完成一个个任务清单。而现在，它更像是一种“生活方式的体验”——你不只是去看一座城，而是进入一场故事，演一个角色，体验一段人生。

重庆洪崖洞的灯火把游客卷进夜经济的剧场，三星堆的青铜人面在VR中与你擦肩而过，郑州“只有河南·戏剧幻城”则把一场假期变成200场沉浸式剧目的连续剧集。人们不再是游客，而是脚本里的“可变角色”。

21个剧场串联起戏剧聚落群《只有河南·戏剧幻城》讲述厚重河南故事

图源：河南文旅厅

与此同时，一个新概念正在成型——“微旅经济”。

比如延吉的朝鲜族民俗园，让你不仅穿上传统服饰，更进入“节日状态”；横店的影视旅拍街区，把“变身”为古装剧主角变成一项全家可参与的“轻仪式”；再比如，云南沧源的“摸你黑”，佤族百台木鼓千人甩发表演，人们追逐嬉戏将泥浆涂抹在彼此的脸颊，甚至有人直接在泥浆里打滚……

这类“IP+场景+角色扮演”的新玩法，不再靠门票维系盈利，而是催生了一整套“内容即商品”的运营链条，旅游的边界在被打破，文化的表达在被下沉，商业的回报在被多元化。

当然，这不仅仅是市场自然演化的结果，还有一系列政府“精准扶持”的政策在发力：从文旅消费券、财政补贴，到减免门票、智能调度系统，地方政府已经不再满足于“收门票”，而是主动把文旅纳入本地经济与公共文化的“共振区”：河南发放的4000万元文旅消费券、四川联合财政与文旅平台共推的6800万元专项支持，这些“组合拳”不仅降低了文旅消费门槛，也打出了“从景点经济到系统消费”的加速度。

这个五一有点奇怪，明明大家都说“经济不行了”，但整个五一，我们看到了高铁站的长龙，看到了凌晨三点挤满泰山的人潮，体会到了在县域高星酒店“一房难求”……

“平时都在网上哭穷，一放假全世界都在山上、海边、演唱会现场排队。”
 

“我们到底还消费不消费？”“这是消费反弹？还是一种硬撑？”
 

“这届人到底是穷是富？”“我们到底是真的穷，还是在选择性花钱？”
 

这种看似矛盾的现象，恰恰构成了今年假期最值得被深挖的真相。这或许是一种新型的“韧性消费”：

经济压力确实存在，但并没有掐灭人们对生活的渴望。我们看到的，不是“冲动”，而是“理性”：拼假优化、自驾取代机票、县域替代一线、团购结合消费券……勤劳智慧的中国人民不是不花钱，而是把钱花在“能换来感受、能记录意义”的地方。

甚至可以说，中国老百姓用一种复杂的方式，在给这个时代一个沉着的回应：不是躺平，而是调整姿势。不是消费退潮，而是选择更值得的生活。这，或许就是五一假期背后的真相。