Editor-in-Chief | Yang Ming
Source |
Peak Wisdom Industry
2025 has begun. For all people in the tourism industry, this year's Spring Festival holiday differs from previous years in two ways: firstly, "Spring Festival" has been officially included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO; secondly, according to the "Notice on the Arrangement of Some Public Holidays in 2025" issued by the General Office of the State Council, starting from January 1, 2025, the Spring Festival holiday will be extended by one day, creating an 8-day Spring Festival Golden Week!
With the continuous improvement of living standards, people's views on the Spring Festival are also changing. Home is no longer the only place for everyone to choose to reunite. More and more people are starting to enjoy family affection and long-awaited holidays on the road, and "traveling for the New Year" has become a new trend.
However, the rapid development of the tourism industry has also made the competition between scenic spots increasingly fierce: the rise of the new generation of consumer groups and the drastic changes in the media environment in the Internet age have rendered previous theoretical interpretations and guidance ineffective. Only constantly iterative marketing methods can attract more consumers' attention and occupy tourists' minds. As the main force of Spring Festival activities, how can scenic spots present a series of clever marketing activities in a more youthful and interactive way? Let's look at the following planning ideas:
Ignite enthusiasm with Spring Festival atmosphere, add fun with special activities
For most scenic spots, the problem they face is not a lack of characteristics but too many characteristics. Overly dispersed scenic resources lead to an inability to concentrate advantages during dissemination, and trying to take into account the activities of each scenic spot makes it difficult to leave a deep impression on consumers. Based on this market situation, "attacking one by one" can be chosen: using different activity contents to highlight the highlights of different scenic spots.
For example, during the Spring Festival last year, Ningbo Laowaichantan District's New Spring Garden Party set up interactive games such as archery and chuíwán; Nantang Old Street's "Spring Festival Auspicious" market activity displayed and sold a variety of traditional foods and intangible cultural heritage handicrafts; Yongzhou Liuzi Street launched projects such as welcoming Guan Gong for blessings and Hanfu experience; Quzhou Shuitingmen Historical and Cultural Street District carried out activities with different highlights every day from New Year's Eve to the eighth day of the lunar New Year, such as the 100-person Hanfu garden party on the first day of the lunar New Year, the provincial intangible cultural heritage dragon dance parade on the second day, the provincial intangible cultural heritage stilt walking performance on the third day, and the immersive performance of welcoming the God of Wealth on the fifth day; Hengdian Film and Television City's "Zhen Huan Biography" immersive park fully restored the scenes in the drama, and classic scenes such as "draft", "first encounter at Yimei Garden", "Jinghong Dance", and "blood test to identify relatives" were reproduced in the Ming and Qing Dynasties Palace Garden, allowing audiences to meet again with the drama they chased in that winter.
Such colorful New Year customs activities actively introduce popular gameplay such as Guochao and flash mobs, finding a good combination point between modernity and tradition.
In addition, cultivating regional culture and folk customs has also become an important measure to break through the homogenized circle and highlight the attractiveness of tourists. During the Spring Festival holiday last year, the Wuzhou Ancient City Historical and Cultural Street's Su Bing shop held performances such as "Qingzhao Drunk" and "Cheng Yaojin Selling Su Bing", using Jinhua historical celebrities as a blueprint to provide audiences with an immersive experience; Qianzhou Ancient City Tourism and Leisure Street District held the "Qianzhou Spring Fair" blessing ceremony and intangible cultural heritage performance activities, fully demonstrating the charm of intangible cultural heritage such as Miao songs and lanterns through four stages: "sacrificing spring, welcoming spring, performing spring, and celebrating spring".
Deeply excavate the characteristics of scenic spots, and use multiple methods to break the marketing deadlock
Scenic spot activities during the Spring Festival are commonplace, but themed activities that combine traditional customs, contemporary atmosphere, and scenic spot characteristics can stand out from numerous scenic spots. For example, the 2024 Tangshan Nanhu Spring Festival Lantern Festival created by Tangshan Nanhu Kaolun Tourism Scenic Area in Hebei Province, from pre-heating, mid-term publicity and exposure to the final focus, has continuously expanded the activity's voice. Prior to this, Peak Wisdom Industry provided professional services such as planning, operation, and training for Tangshan Nanhu Kaolun Tourism Scenic Area. Below, let's take a look at the excellent practices of this scenic area:
Pre-heating: Leave a mark on major platforms
The scenic area published the "Tangshan Nanhu Spring Festival Lantern Festival Check-in Guide" on official WeChat public accounts, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and other platforms, introducing basic information such as the content of the lantern festival, performing arts projects, photo check-in locations, activity entrances, ticket purchases, transportation routes, ticket discounts, as well as nine highlights such as the performance of 2024 drones, the lighting of the Danfeng Chaoyang 3D light and shadow show, the mass chorus of "Descendants of the Dragon", and immersive NPC performances.
Mid-term Outbreak: Joint KOLs to help boost topics
With the initial topic exposure and user accumulation, continuous mid-term operation is also needed. Since the opening of the 2024 Nanhu Lantern Festival, national, provincial, and municipal mainstream official media such as China Central Radio and Television and Xinhua News Agency have reported on it, accumulating a total of 460 million exposures online. Popular Douyin influencers were also invited for publicity, such as @Malǎoshī Fú personally demonstrating how to take stunning photos without any foundation; @Fáng Qí kiki checking in at the Nanhu Lantern Festival, allowing netizens across the country and Tangshan to meet again.
Final Focus: Continuous exposure to bring in more voice
After the end of the 2024 Nanhu Lantern Festival, the eye-catching achievements of the event were reviewed on platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat public accounts. When promoting the event, the scenic area chose different content at different stages, but this content could seamlessly cooperate in the three stages of pre-heating, outbreak, and final stage, achieving a clever exposure of the scenic area's image. In the interaction with users, event information and classic characteristics are deeply implanted in users' minds.
Keeping Up with the Times
New Cases Emerge, Creating Core Attractive Activities
During the 2025 New Year's Day holiday, many scenic spots launched novel tourism activities to attract a large number of tourists to experience them.
Some scenic spots created a full atmosphere by setting off fireworks. For example, the "Wishing Carnival Night," the first cross-year fireworks tourism IP in China, launched at Tianjin TEDA Aircraft Carrier Theme Park, where tens of thousands of spectators shouted New Year's wishes in the midst of gorgeous fireworks, bringing hope and enthusiasm into the new year; in Yaohu Town, Wuxi, Jiangsu, specially invited bands provided enthusiastic support, and also prepared the "Millennium Kiln Fire Ode to Splendor" themed performance and dragon-shaped water and fireworks show, using a Chinese-style party to usher in a beautiful 2025; at Zhejiang Yiwu International Racing Park, the "Yiwu Good Shopping, Da Chen Good Fun" 2025 Mountaintop New Year's Eve Music and Fireworks Show was held, and as soon as the New Year arrived, brilliant fireworks rose from the mountaintop, combined with advanced lighting and sound technology, jointly illuminating the starry sky of 2025.
Newly promoted 5A-level scenic areas also have many highlights, with special activities leaving unique memories for tourists. For example, in Zhoucun Ancient Commercial City, Zibo, Shandong Province, the daily routines of trades that once flourished in the old streets and alleys are now showcased on the streets of the ancient city. Traditional performances such as street vendors, knife sharpeners, and rickshaw pullers are available for tourists to experience, take photos with, and interact with; at the Tiantai Mountain Scenic Area in Sichuan Province, as the first rays of sunlight of the new year break through the sky, the CCTV News "Sunrise in the East" live program allows everyone to witness this awe-inspiring moment. At the same time, tourists can make their highest wishes of the new year atop the mountain; on the Yulong Lake in the Nenjiang Bay Tourist Area in Da'an, Jilin Province, tourists can experience ice carts, snow football, ice bicycles, snow rollers, snow bumper cars, ice spinning chairs, ice octopuses, and other projects. They can also admire the spectacular and colorful ice and snow art, including snow sculptures and ice sculptures.
Some scenic areas have also incorporated intangible cultural heritage to create exciting activities. For example, in the Wayao Ping Historical and Cultural Street in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, performances such as face-changing and fire-breathing are staged one after another. Tourists can also savor delicious local snacks and experience intangible cultural heritage such as movable type printing, pottery, and paper cutting; at the Ningbo Chenghuang Temple Mall in Zhejiang Province, the "Chenghuangye IP" makes its appearance, along with national-style performances, lantern processions, and intangible cultural heritage performances; at the Xingchao Mazu Temple in Haikou, Hainan Province, the Yingge dance parade team, composed of the Chaoshan Fumeiying dance troupe, the large gong and drum team, and the flag team, is back to amaze the streets!
Some scenic areas are unique and full of creativity. For example, at the Portman Seven Star Bay Hotel Yihai Town in Xiamen, Fujian Province, it's snowing (artificial snow)! The prelude to the winter fairy tale in the town has begun, and every shot is a great picture. You can experience the romance of snow in a city that doesn't snow; at the New Year's Eve gala at the Donghai Banbianshan Tourism Resort in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, the song and dance troupe from Leibo County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, came to Banbianshan for a cultural feast that transcends mountains and seas; at Donghua Temple in Guangdong Province, a 2025 New Year's blessing lantern festival was held, where people made wishes for a smooth new year by lighting lanterns, allowing this beautiful vision to flow in the long river of time.
Each tourist attraction is a brand, and the process of brand marketing is not something that can be accomplished overnight. In the face of fierce competition in the tourism market, scenic areas need to cultivate their "internal strength" while also communicating with users through highly interesting marketing activities. More importantly, this "fun-loving" brand attitude is more easily accepted by many young users, laying a good foundation for subsequent marketing activities.
The above cases also provide a new marketing approach for many scenic areas. Meeting the tourists' sightseeing needs is only a prerequisite; the key to standing out is how much extra recreational experience can be provided to tourists. By understanding the market environment and seizing development opportunities, scenic areas can stand out from the crowd.
Special Research on Investment in the Tourism Industry
To gain a deeper understanding of the investment and development of the tourism industry, the China Tourism Academy, in conjunction with the China Amusement Machine and Amusement Park Association and other organizations, is conducting a special research activity on investment in the tourism industry. We sincerely invite all member units and tourism enterprises to participate in the research.
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