Guangdong Tourism May Day Big Data Report 2017

Data from the Guangdong Tourism Industry Big Data Platform show that during the 2017 May Day holiday (April 29-May 1), Guangdong received 12.89 million tourists, 1.71 times the number during the Qingming Festival. Among them, 100 key scenic spots included in the statistics received 5.771 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 23%. The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a world-class tourist destination is full of charm. Self-driving tours and surrounding tours continue to be popular, and coastal tours are rapidly heating up.

1. Tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is developing rapidly. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area includes 9 cities in Guangdong, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and two special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macao, with rich tourism resources. According to the Guangdong Tourism Industry Big Data Platform, the number of tourists received by the 9 cities in Guangdong during the May Day holiday accounted for 60.5% of the total number in the province, among which the number of tourists received from other provinces increased by 29% year-on-year; according to the data from Lvmama Travel Network, the number of bookings for free travel products in Hong Kong and Macao during the May Day holiday increased by 50% compared with the same period last year. The "May Day Cashless Outbound Report" released by WeChat shows that Hong Kong ranks second among the most popular overseas destinations, surpassing South Korea to become the region with the most WeChat cross-border payments.

2. Coastal tours have become a hot spot for May Day travel. The weather on May Day this year was fine and the temperature rose significantly, making it suitable for travel. According to data from Tongcheng.com, the sales of coastal tour products exceeded 30%; according to data from the Guangdong Tourism Big Data Platform, the number of tourists received by 14 coastal cities was 9.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%, an increase of 68.4% compared with the Qingming Festival, accounting for 73.7% of the province's tourist reception; among them, Maoming, Chaozhou, and Yangjiang had the largest year-on-year growth, increasing by 172.4%, 126.6%, and 77.7% respectively; according to data from Lvmama Travel Network, among the top 10 popular scenic spots in South China, Guangdong coastal tour scenic spots such as Zhuhai Chimelong, Kawashima Style, and OCT East are on the list.

3. Rural tourism continues to be popular, and the Nanyue Ancient Post Road has become a new highlight. The Nanyue Ancient Post Road has become a new hot spot for rural tourism. The number of tourists in the eight demonstration sections of the ancient post roads has increased rapidly. The surrounding villages, ancient villages, homestays, and leisure farms are very popular. Shaoguan Nanxiong Meiguan Ancient Road received about 19,100 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%; Zhuhai Qi'ao Ancient Post Road received a total of 70,700 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 1.3%; Chaozhou Raoping Xipian Ancient Road received nearly 30,000 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 35%; Yunfu Yunan Nanjiang Ancient Waterway received nearly 10,000 tourists, a year-on-year increase of 13.4%. Jiangmen Taishan Meijia Courtyard-Haikou Port, Shantou Zhanglin Ancient Port and other places received more than 10% more tourists year-on-year.

4. The supply measures for all-region tourism have achieved significant results. According to data from Tongcheng.com, all kinds of live performances were packed this May Day, and ticket sales were hot for Chimelong International Circus, Zhuhai Chimelong Hengqin Island Theater, Zhuhai Ocean Spring Bay Dream Theater, Shenzhen Liu Laogen Nalai Yihu Hi Dinner Theater, and 2017 Dinghushan Music Festival; Guangdong cruise tourism has become a new growth point, with 38% of tourists from outside the province.

5. The majority of tourists to Guangdong come from the Pan-Pearl River Delta provinces. According to the Guangdong Tourism Industry Big Data Platform, Guangxi, Hunan and Sichuan are the top three in terms of tourists to Guangdong. Sichuan, Hebei and Yunnan have seen large year-on-year growth, with Sichuan increasing by 151% year-on-year.

6. Tourists’ accommodation choices are equally divided between mid-range and low-end hotels and high-end hotels. According to data from Tongcheng.com, high-end and luxury hotel bookings accounted for 46%, with high-end hotels becoming the most popular choice, accounting for 31% of the province’s bookings; the demand for high-end hotels, economy hotels, and comfort hotels showed a rapid growth momentum, with year-on-year growth of 21%, 20%, and 16%, respectively.

7. “Labor Day” holiday travel has become popular. The three-day holiday of May Day plus paid leave, it has become fashionable to take an overseas trip or a domestic long-distance tour. According to data from Lvmama Travel Network, a high proportion of tourists choose 6-7 days for May Day overseas travel, and about 50% choose to take a holiday a week before the holiday. According to data from Tongcheng.com, during the May Day period, 13% of tourists chose domestic long-distance travel, a year-on-year increase of 150%.

8. Short-distance self-driving tours have become the mainstream of travel. According to the Guangdong Tourism Industry Big Data Platform, during the May Day holiday, Guangdong received a total of 9.73 million self-driving tourists, accounting for 75%.

9. "Internet +" makes travel more and more convenient. According to the Guangdong Tourism Industry Big Data Platform, Mobike, ofo and other shared bike apps have made it to the top five of the popular travel app rankings for the first time. Bikes have effectively alleviated the last mile problem. It is worth mentioning that Hong Kong App (MTR Light Rail) ranks tenth. The Internet helps tourists travel around the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

10. Nearly half of out-of-province tours are tours of surrounding provinces, and cities in the Pearl River Delta are more likely to travel out of the province. According to data from the Guangdong Tourism Big Data Platform, during the May Day holiday, the total number of out-of-province tourists increased by 6.9% year-on-year, and 56% of tourists chose surrounding provinces, with the number increasing by 5.5% year-on-year; the provinces that received the most tourists from Guangdong were Guangxi, Hunan, and Jiangxi; the cities in Guangdong that loved to travel out of the province the most were Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Dongguan, accounting for 18%, 17%, and 12%, respectively, and the fastest growing city was Shanwei, with a year-on-year increase of 44.2%.

11. Inbound and outbound tourism is developing well, and cooperation with Maritime Silk Road countries has begun to show results. According to the Guangdong Tourism Big Data Platform, the source countries of tourists to Guangdong and the destinations of Guangdong's outbound tourism are mainly the Maritime Silk Road countries. Maritime Silk Road countries account for five of the top 10 source countries for inbound tourism (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), accounting for 58% of the total number of inbound tourists; according to the data of the National Tourism Administration's team management system, the fastest growing outbound tourism destination countries are Malaysia, Russia and Vietnam, with an increase of 11.8%, 11% and 3.4% respectively. The number of tourists choosing Maritime Silk Road countries increased by 19.9% ​​year-on-year.