China Tourism Academy: Big data on ticket reservations for national tourist attractions in 2022

The report mainly analyzes the spatial differences in the reservation rate of scenic spot tickets throughout the year, the temporal changes in reservation volume, and reservation preferences. The core points are as follows: the average reservation rate of scenic spots throughout the year is 53%, low-level scenic spots have a high degree of online dependence, and high-level scenic spots have a larger market for offline direct sales; the annual reservation passenger flow is more significantly affected by the epidemic in metropolitan areas, and there is a phenomenon of "one place has an epidemic and the whole country is affected"; the center of gravity of passenger flow changes with the temperature, and the climate comfort determines the overall flow of passenger flow; the reservation volume of inter-provincial natural landscapes accounts for the highest proportion, and the reservation volume of intra-provincial theme parks accounts for the highest proportion, and leisure vacations and cultural landscapes are favored. Young tourists like to play and prefer scenic spots with strong experience and participation; older tourists like to watch and prefer natural and cultural landscape scenic spots.

1. The average reservation rate of scenic spots throughout the year is 53%, and low-level scenic spots have a higher degree of online dependence

Figure 1. Average reservation rates for seven regions and tourist attractions of different levels

Among the seven regions, the reservation rate in Central China was the highest at 59.6%, followed by the eastern, western and southern regions. Low-level scenic spots have a high degree of online dependence, while high-level scenic spots have a larger offline direct sales market. The reservation rate distribution of A-level scenic spots is in the shape of an inverted pyramid. 5A scenic spots have great resource appeal, high market recognition, and a larger proportion of direct sales channels. The average reservation rate throughout the year is the lowest, at 41.4%. 3A and below scenic spots are 24.3% higher than 5A scenic spots.

Figure 2. Comparison of average reservation rates of tourist attractions of different levels in seven regions

The reservation rate of 3A and below scenic spots in the west and south is high, while the reservation rate of 4A and above scenic spots in the east and north is advantageous. In Central China, the reservation rate difference between scenic spots of different levels is the largest, with 3A and below scenic spots having a reservation rate 39.2% higher than that of 5A scenic spots. The difference is smallest in East China, with 4A scenic spots having a reservation rate 16.8% higher than that of 3A and below scenic spots.

Out-of-towners make more reservations, while locals make reservations earlier. Out-of-towners account for 77.4% of the total number of reservations for scenic spot tickets throughout the year, while local tourists account for 22.6%. Compared with local tourists, out-of-towners are more willing to make reservations for admission. Compared with out-of-towners, local tourists are more familiar with the reservation channels of local scenic spots and make reservations earlier than out-of-towners. Local tourists book scenic spot tickets 1.4 days in advance on average, 0.3 days more than out-of-towners. Out-of-towners prefer to make reservations while traveling after arriving at the destination.

Figure 3. Booking rate and number of days in advance for local and non-local tourists

2. The annual booking flow was significantly affected by the epidemic, and the focus of customer sources[i] changed with the temperature comfort level

Figure 4. Comparison of the average daily number of tourists booked in scenic spots at different times

Figure 5. Average number of tourists booked per day in scenic spots throughout the year (weekdays)

The average daily number of tourists booked in scenic spots during holidays is 2.6 times that of weekends and 3.7 times that of weekdays. The average daily number of tourists in scenic spots is the highest during National Day and Spring Festival, followed by Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year's Day, Dragon Boat Festival, and Qingming Festival. The number of reservations on Labor Day is most significantly affected by the epidemic. The seasonal changes in the average daily number of tourists in scenic spots of all levels are highly consistent, with peaks after the Spring Festival, summer vacation, and before National Day. Among them, the seasonal changes in 5A-level scenic spots are much greater than those in other scenic spots, which has pushed up the changes in reservations in A-level scenic spots.

Scenic spot reservations are highly sensitive to metropolitan epidemics, and there is a phenomenon of "one place has an epidemic and the whole country is affected". In the second quarter, the epidemic broke out in Shanghai, and many places adopted a lockdown policy. The opening rate of scenic spots decreased, and the passenger flow decreased. May, which should have seen a small peak in the number of tourists, turned into a trough. In June and July, the epidemic was under control, Tibet and Xinjiang attracted a large number of tourists, and the number of tourists nationwide rose slowly; in early August, the epidemic in Tibet rebounded, and the national scenic spot tourism market shrank rapidly from mid-August to early September. The small peak in October was also affected, and the total number of tourists decreased.

Figure 6. Location map of the center of gravity of reservation customers (base map source: National Standard Map Service System)

The outflow center of inter-provincial tourists is located at (115.12°E, 32.87°N), the inflow center is located at (114.91°E, 30.93°N), and the center of gravity of intra-provincial tourist flow is located between the two points.

(Spring (red), Summer (green), Autumn (orange), Winter (blue), All year round (black), Outflow (△), Inflow (○))

Figure 7. Seasonal changes in the flow of tourist reservations in scenic spots

The overall center of gravity of inter-provincial tourist flow shows a characteristic of moving from north to south, and the seasonal flow direction difference is east-west. The overall flow direction of passenger flow throughout the year and in all four seasons is from north to south, among which the center of gravity of passenger flow in summer moves from northeast to southwest, the center of gravity of passenger flow in autumn moves from northwest to southeast, and the center of gravity of passenger flow in spring and winter moves from north to south-east.

(Spring (red), Summer (green), Autumn (orange), Winter (blue), All year round (black))

Figure 8. Seasonal changes in the focus of scenic spot reservations

In the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, the outflow center of gravity moves in the southeast-northeast-northwest direction, and the inflow center of gravity moves in the northwest-southeast-southwest direction. The climate comfort determines the overall direction of passenger flow. From spring to summer, the temperature in the eastern region rises, and the proportion of outflows from Zhejiang, Hebei and Hunan increases; summer tourism in high-latitude and high-altitude areas such as the northwest and the west is popular, and the proportion of inflows to scenic spots in Tibet, Gansu, Xinjiang and Qinghai increases. From summer to autumn, the temperature in Northeast China and North China decreases, and the proportion of outflows from Liaoning increases; the climate comfort in the southeast region increases, and the proportion of inflows to scenic spots in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and Guangxi increases. From autumn to winter, the temperature in the area north of the Yangtze River is low, and the proportion of outflows from Sichuan and Xinjiang increases; winter tourism in South China and southern Yunnan is popular, and the proportion of inflows to scenic spots in Hainan Province increases.

Figure 9. Temperature distribution across the country in April (spring), July (summer), October (autumn), and January (winter) (Source: China Meteorological Data Network )

(Spring (red), Summer (green), Autumn (orange), Winter (blue), All year round (black))

Figure 10. Seasonal changes in the focus of local tourists for scenic spot reservations

In spring, summer, autumn and winter, the center of gravity of domestic tourist flows moves in the north-southeast-northwest direction. In spring, the center of gravity of domestic tourist reservations is in the south. In summer, the proportion of domestic tourist sources in Heilongjiang, Tianjin and Shaanxi increases, and the center of gravity moves northward; in autumn, the proportion of domestic tourist sources in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Guangxi increases, and the center of gravity moves to the southeast; in winter, the proportion of domestic tourist sources in Xinjiang and Sichuan increases, and the center of gravity moves to the northwest.

3. The number of reservations for inter-provincial natural attractions accounts for the highest proportion, while the number of reservations for intra-provincial theme parks accounts for the highest proportion. Leisure vacations and cultural attractions are popular.

Figure 11. Proportion of booking sources of tourists for different types of scenic spots in the province

Figure 12. Proportion of booking sources for different types of scenic spots for cross-provincial travel

Reservations for intra-provincial tours are aimed at a better life, while reservations for inter-provincial tours are aimed at beautiful scenery. Intra-provincial tours in the Northwest and Southwest regions prefer natural landscapes, while those in South China prefer theme parks. Other regions have a more balanced preference for various types of scenic spots. Throughout the year, the proportion of customers who make reservations for theme parks and cultural landscapes during intra-provincial tours is 38.7%; the proportion of customers who make reservations for theme parks and cultural landscapes in each month is relatively stable, with the highest proportion of customers making reservations for natural landscapes from May to September, and the proportion of customers making reservations for leisure and vacations increases in winter. Throughout the year, the proportion of customers who make reservations for natural landscapes during inter-provincial tours is 37.8%; from June to August, the proportion of customers making reservations for natural landscapes exceeds 45%, the proportion of reservations for natural landscapes in winter decreases, and the proportion of reservations for cultural landscapes and leisure and vacations increases.

Figure 13. Proportion of tourists to various scenic spots in different months for domestic travel

Figure 14. The proportion of tourists from various types of scenic spots in different months during cross-provincial travel

Young tourists like to play, and prefer scenic spots with strong experience and participation; older tourists like to see, and prefer cultural and natural landscapes. Leisure vacation and theme park scenic spots are more popular with young people, with the average age of tourists making reservations being 22.5 and 25.8 years old respectively. Cultural and tourism towns, rafting, hot springs, skiing, indoor and live performances, ocean parks, ice and snow themes, etc. are popular. Cultural and natural landscapes are more popular with older tourists, with the average age of tourists making reservations being 37.2 and 35.9 years old respectively.

Figure 15. Average age of tourists who made reservations for the five major scenic spots

Figure 16. Average age of tourists who have made reservations for scenic spots in each of the five categories

Data support: China Tourism Academy & Shenzhen University Intelligent Group Recreation Scene Technology Joint Laboratory's "Science and Technology to Help the Economy in 2020" key project: a comprehensive control cloud platform for epidemic prevention and control in the cultural and tourism industry based on time-sharing real-name reservations.

[i] Indicator description: The passenger flow center of gravity is the weighted average of the center points of each province, and the weight is the passenger flow share of each province. The change in the passenger flow share of each region will cause the passenger flow center of gravity to move. For example, if the passenger flow share of the southeast region increases, the passenger flow center of gravity will move to the southeast. The passenger outflow center of gravity is the weighted average of the center points of the source provinces, and the passenger inflow center of gravity is the weighted average of the center points of the destination provinces.

Contributor | Zeng Tian

Editor | Zhang Danyang

Proofreading | Yang Liqiong

Source | China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism)