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create new consumption scenarios and cultivate new consumption growth points

8.172 million people - this is the number of tourists received by beijing during the mid-autumn festival holiday just passed, according to the data released by the beijing municipal bureau of culture and tourism. on september 12, beijing mayor yin yong announced at the 2024 world tourism cooperation and development conference that in the first eight months of this year, beijing received nearly 250 million tourists, a record high.

behind the rapidly growing data is the continuous increase in high-quality supply in beijing's tourism market, the continuous increase in new scenes, new business forms and new models, which meet the tourists' popular, diversified and personalized tourism consumption needs.

so, what changes have taken place in the current tourism model? what other needs do tourists have? focusing on these issues, the reporter recently conducted an investigation on the new tourism scenes and new formats in beijing.

the picture shows tourists experiencing interactive touch. photo by tang rui

new business model: creating an immersive experience space

with the deep integration of digital technology and the tourism industry, in addition to the traditional sightseeing method of "seeing is believing", new waves of technologies such as "metaverse", vr, and ar have brought different choices to tourists. immersive tourism with experience as the core has gradually captured the hearts of a group of tourists.

many places have seized this opportunity and started to try to create immersive landscapes for tourists with "technological means + cultural elements". in february this year, the ministry of culture and tourism, the national development and reform commission, the ministry of industry and information technology and other departments announced the first batch of national smart tourism immersive experience new space cultivation pilot projects, a total of 42 projects were selected, of which beijing included 7 projects including the immersive experience new space of "shiguang shopping street" in yuanmingyuan.

"shiguang shopping street" is a commercial real-life cultural tourism project in the old summer palace ruins. it is located on ginkgo avenue in the old summer palace. it simulates the "old summer palace shopping street" that actually existed in history, and is intended to create a time-travel experience for tourists. walking through it, you can enjoy the dynamic images brought by the interactive touch technology in the light and shadow interactive space; you can also walk into the "garden in the garden" through the panoramic flight project and appreciate the historical relics that have not been restored.

technological creativity has brought opportunities for the development of the cultural tourism industry and also empowered the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage. when talking about the design concept, the merchant responsible for the panoramic flight project said: "as a historical treasure, the old summer palace was looted and burned by the british and french forces. without the impact of this real-life scene, tourists may not be able to have a heartfelt emotional resonance. our design is all done by the team of tsinghua university. once a tourist came out crying after experiencing it because he was 'shocked'."

as for the project's role in increasing overall customer traffic, merchants believe that "it is very attractive. customer traffic is very high during the summer vacation, and people have to wait in line for a long time to experience it."

new scene: measuring the world on wheels

in 2024, the most common tourist scene in beijing is the fleets of shared bicycles for tourists scattered throughout the streets and alleys.

with the popularization of healthy living and low-carbon environmental protection concepts, the popularity of urban cycling remains high. more and more young people use cycling as a new way of leisure, exploring urban culture with wheels and measuring the wonderful world with helmets. many parent-child tours and study tours use it as one of the ways to deeply experience local culture. for example, during every holiday, chang'an avenue in front of tiananmen square has become a "must-check-in route" for foreign tourists, saying that "you have only been to beijing if you have ridden it".

the reporter learned that there are not only tourists, but also a large number of cycling groups in beijing, which have spawned large and small cycling organizations or cycling enthusiasts clubs, which often combine sports, short-distance travel and social activities. these enthusiasts gather through social media, select suitable routes and then ride together.

the new tourism model has also brought new consumption. the reporter found that in addition to shared bicycles, many businesses also provide bicycle rental services. depending on the brand and grade of the bicycle, the price ranges from 100 to 500 yuan per day. among the consumers who choose to rent bicycles, there are those who want to experience cycling on a whim, and there are also out-of-town tourists who ride for a short period of time. some are preparing to buy a new bicycle and avoid blind buying so they "test the waters" first.

the rising "cycling trend" is also reflected in bicycle consumption. according to data from meiqi.com, the main group of bicycle sports is young people aged 18 to 40, accounting for 69.89%, and the number of users who insist on frequent cycling every week has reached 70.12%. the latest data released by the china bicycle association also shows that in 2023, china's bicycles will have a clear trend of mid-to-high-end development, with the output of bicycles above 1,000 yuan reaching 12.15 million, a year-on-year increase of 15.1%; the bicycle market size has reached 183.81 billion, and will continue to maintain steady growth.

however, as the number of cyclists rapidly expands, can the city's supporting facilities keep up? during the reporter's interview, many tourists said, "the biggest advantage of cycling in beijing is that the road conditions are very good, but the disadvantage is that only the central city or some areas in the suburbs have bicycle lanes suitable for cycling."

new consumption: the "last stop" for tourists who are "tourism + cultural and creative"

after eating, drinking and having fun, taking something home has become an important part of traveling. as a result, stamp collection and check-in items, exquisite cultural and creative products, or unique local co-branded products that can carry memories have naturally become the "favorites" of tourists.

for a long time, the more common tourism cultural and creative products on the market include refrigerator magnets, key chains, stationery, postcards and other cultural derivatives of scenic spots, which are often similar, lack innovation and personalized design, and are difficult to meet the needs of consumers. in a cultural and creative store in the old summer palace scenic area, a tourist said: "i can buy the same ones on taobao, they are the same, and the price is cheaper."

fortunately, many brands have delivered satisfactory "answers", such as the "ceiling" forbidden city ip. in recent years, the cultural and creative products developed by it have become more and more trendy and "young" while retaining the cultural connotation: from national style tapes to watches and scarves derived from the a thousand miles of rivers and mountains, to the double-layer glass cups of the golden ou yonggu and even lipsticks and other cosmetics, each product contains rich cultural characteristics, which not only meets practicality but also has aesthetic value. it can be seen that as young people become the main force of tourism consumption, cultural and creative products need to be truly "creative" in order to attract their attention.

mr. he, who often travels to various cities on business, is a big spender on cultural and creative products. whenever he arrives in a place, he will visit local attractions after work and buy cultural and creative products he likes. during his visit to beijing, he bought several traditional chinese perfumes and specially picked the ones with the beijing logo. "this smells pretty good. i'll take it back as a gift to my relatives and friends."

many time-honored brands have seized the opportunity to innovate by integrating tradition and trends, and have successfully created "internet celebrity brands". wu yutai is one of them. combining its own advantages in the tea industry, it has expanded the matcha-flavored ice cream launched more than ten years ago to a variety of scented tea flavors, which has been widely praised by young people. on social media, wu yutai ice cream has become a "must-eat" feature in beijing. mr. he said that he also queued up to buy it at wu yutai wangfujing store and felt that the tea flavor was very strong.

it is not just merchants like wu yutai. the trend of "younger cultural tourism" driven by the rise of the new generation of consumer groups has been noticed by relevant departments. for example, chaoyang district, which took the lead in exploring the incubation of consumer brands, achieved tourism revenue of 133.24 billion yuan last year, accounting for 22.8% of beijing's total tourism revenue, ranking first among all districts in beijing.

text | reporter zhao xi □ tang rui