Since 2025, the tourism market has continued its "high-opening" trend. From the Spring Festival holiday to the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, many indicators of the tourism market have hit record highs. Dai Bin said that richer and more novel tourism products and services have added vitality to the 2025 tourism market. Taking Jiangxi Province as an example: Ruijin City vigorously develops the cultural tourism industry, protects and revitalizes ancient architectural blocks, and excavates red historical culture, resulting in a significant increase in the number of tourists; Jinggangshan City has launched eight boutique red tourism routes, and red scenic spots such as the Eight-Cornered Building are crowded with people, and immersive experiences are becoming popular. Wuxiang County in Shanxi Province has also achieved significant results in attracting tourists by combining the national pilot program for the integrated development of red tourism and the creation of the National 5A-level tourist area of the Eighth Route Army Cultural Tourism Zone.

Dai Bin emphasized that the exploration of the integration of traditional culture reconstruction and tourism resources has moved from "having content" to "having experience and emotion," which is the profound impact of supply-side innovation on the market.

At the same time, the collision between traditional culture and trendy culture has also become a "must-have" for young tourists. During the Dragon Boat Festival, intangible cultural heritage, folk customs, and folk arts such as dragon boat races were popular among tourists; the Shenzhen Nanya Offshore Dragon Boat Race launched intangible cultural heritage grass dragon parades and Nezha's water-wing board performance in the sea, bringing "dragon boat + culture" to a new level. During the Qingming Festival, rural experiences such as "seasonal picking" and "digging wild vegetables" became popular; many historical and cultural streets and tourist attractions created consumption scenarios that integrate traditional culture and trendy fashion, and the tea picking and tea frying agricultural and tourism integration projects launched were very popular. "Young tourists are more accepting of activities with stories and culture. In the process of satisfying young people's emotional resonance and social experience, traditional culture is also inherited and developed." Dai Bin analyzed.

Diversified tourist composition drives personalized needs

Since this year, not only have traditional tourism cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xi'an remained popular, but some unpopular and niche tourist cities have also become the travel choices of more tourists. From the data of this year's tourism market, small and medium-sized cities have performed very well in terms of booking popularity, number of tourists, and growth in tourism revenue. Data from the Tuniu platform shows that during the Dragon Boat Festival, the tourism market in third- and fourth-tier cities and counties continued to heat up, becoming a new growth point for the tourism market.

Dai Bin pointed out that in the current tourism market, the composition of tourist identities is more diversified, which inevitably leads to the diversity and personalization of needs, and this also creates more differentiated demands, bringing new business opportunities to the tourism market.

Among them, young consumers are the main force in the tourism market, giving rise to the personalized and high-quality needs of the tourism market. Dai Bin said that these tourists are more willing to explore small towns and "unpopular cities." When traveling, they want not only beautiful scenery but also "life beyond the landscape," such as "Nan Yingge," "Bei Yao Gu," Quanzhou hairpin flowers, and Handan Warring States robes, are typical examples. These scenes not only meet the "check-in" needs but also allow tourists to feel the local cultural charm on the spot, thus obtaining emotional value. "The function of scenic spots has been upgraded from "viewing" to "participation," and the emotional connection between tourists and destinations has also significantly improved." Dai Bin emphasized.

In addition, the "silver-haired generation" has also become an important supporting force in the tourism market. Data from the National Committee on Aging shows that the number of silver-haired tourists has accounted for more than 20% of the total number of tourists nationwide. Dai Bin analyzed that the silver-haired generation who have just joined the ranks of retirees have knowledge, consumption ability, and aspirations for life. They prefer free travel methods and may choose new travel methods such as living in small towns to pursue "life experiences."

Taking Yunnan as an example, in recent years, it has focused on creating the "There is a life called Yunnan" sojourn project, attracting nearly 4 million people to sojourn in Yunnan last year, a considerable portion of whom are silver-haired people over 60 years old. Moreover, niche destinations such as Honghe and Yuxi in Yunnan, which have unique cultures and living environments, have also become new hotspots for sojourning. "More small cities that can bring emotional value to tourists may become new hotspots in the tourism market, especially those small cities that are closer to and have convenient transportation to large cities with deep market thickness, are more likely to benefit from the tourism spillover effect of large cities." Dai Bin said.

Tourism cities must have a Sense of life ”

In the face of more and more small cities entering the public eye, Dai Bin proposed that short-term traffic does not equal long-term value. "The sense of life and emotional value are important attractions of tourism destinations now. A high-quality and regular tourism environment can sustainably attract tourists."

Dai Bin further explained that travel and daily life are highly similar in logic—accommodation, food, transportation, and entertainment. If these scenarios in a tourist destination can highly coincide with the daily life of local residents, it can avoid the embarrassment of "only scenery and no life." "For cities, simply creating popular check-in spots cannot truly retain tourists. We must try our best to improve local transportation infrastructure, public services, and other reception environments and enrich local cultural and entertainment activities to create a sense of life for travelers."

At the same time, in terms of tourism communication, Dai Bin believes that it is necessary to establish a "controllable expectation" for tourists, that is, what should be conveyed is the "calm flow" of local daily life, not the high-intensity grand ceremony of "beating gongs and drums" every day. Do not separate foreign tourists from local life. Kind, sincere, inclusive, and warm daily life is the true "traffic password" for city communication.

Recommended important tourism activities

2025 China Family Tourism Innovation Development Forum

June 12-13, Shanghai Jinshan Crowne Plaza Hotel