“Gen Z” shapes holiday travel trends in China

Young people of the “Gen Z” generation are changing holiday travel trends in China, with a trend that combines emotional experiences, entertainment and social sharing.

During the recent 5-day holiday of International Labor Day on May 1, concerts and music festivals became tourist attractions.

According to online travel service platform Meituan Travel (owned by Meituan Group), more than 100 large-scale performances with more than 5,000 attendees over five days nationwide are estimated to attract more than 2 million spectators and contribute more than 2 billion yuan (about 277.7 million USD) in spending related to accommodation and travel services.

According to research by travel service platform Tongcheng Travel, “Gen Z” - defined as those born between 1997 and 2012 - accounts for 65% of visitors, not only buying tickets but also creating a meaningful experience atmosphere through activities such as wearing themed clothes, riding specially designed vehicles, capturing moments at prominent locations and then sharing them on social media...

Tongcheng Travel's research highlights that young people's view of concerts as an opportunity to experience lifestyle is opening up a new consumption trend on online travel and entertainment platforms - one of the factors driving the platform economy , also known as the 4.0 economy.

In addition, during this holiday, "Gen Z" also tends to a new trend of "relax-and-eat" travel, which means avoiding crowded places.

According to data from Chinese social media platform and travel service Mafengwo, searches and interest in less crowded and quiet destinations during the May Day holiday have skyrocketed 200% in the past month.

Data from Trip.com, China's largest online travel agency, shows that bookings for tours to destinations that cater to the need for a quiet, relaxing and close-to-nature lifestyle during the holiday season increased 36% year-on-year, far exceeding the growth recorded in major first- and second-tier cities.

Outbound tourism has also seen changes brought about by “Gen Z”, with more diverse choices. According to research by the China Tourism Academy, the increasing choice of overseas destinations shows that China’s outbound tourism market is not only recovering in scale, but also showing a change towards the restructuring of the tourism market and a shift towards sustainability.

According to HCG International Travel Group - a Beijing-based outbound travel and exhibition services provider, Gen Z often finds travel inspiration from platforms for watching, creating and sharing videos such as Bilibili or Chinese lifestyle social networking app "rednote", and attaches great importance to the element of sharing experiences.

According to HCG International Travel Group, for "Gen Z", a complete trip is not only about where to go, but also how it is perceived.

Therefore, many businesses have developed themed tourism products such as experience tours, photography tours or learning tours to meet the "experience sharing" needs of this generation.

The need to seek higher emotional value of the “Gen Z” generation also motivates them to proactively seek suitable companions on trips, to support travel, take photos and create emotional connections.

Such a “companion travel” trend has become easier thanks to the strong development of social networks today.

On "rednote" - one of the most popular social media platforms for China's "Gen Z" - content tagged with "local companion" has attracted more than 63.43 million views and 1.05 million comments as of May 4./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/gen-z-dinh-hinh-xu-huong-du-lich-dip-nghi-le-tai-trung-quoc-post1036737.vnp