National Day travel costs have reached a low point, the industry: this year's peak season is expected to be extended

This year's "October" will be the first tourist peak and consumption golden week of the year.

The 8-day National Day holiday is approaching. The price of Daoyuan’s Homestay has not been increased like last year's peak season. The price this year is only the price level of last year's off-season tourism. Liu Daoyuan, the owner of this high-end homestay, told reporters from China Business News that the luxury suites priced at 650 yuan/night on National Day last year were only priced at 450 yuan/night this year, and the overall price of all rooms was only about 60% of the same period last year.

This year's National Day travel prices are not the only thing that is going down. On August 8, Hubei Province announced the launch of "Walking with Love, Traveling in Hubei with Benefits". All A-level scenic spots in Hubei Province will be free of charge this year, including the National Day holiday. Statistics from the Ctrip Travel Big Data Lab show that there are more than 1,500 scenic spots across the country for free or discounts this year. At the same time, OTA platforms such as Ctrip and Fliggy have introduced travel subsidies, and local governments such as Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu have also issued travel coupons. "After the ticket is free, there are indeed more tourists. We will also issue 50 yuan petrol cards to tourists who come by car."

The Suobuya Stone Forest in western Hubei is one of the scenic spots where tickets are free. Zhang Junhui, the marketing director of the scenic spot, told reporters that from the current ticket booking data, the number of tourists to Suobuya this year is expected to reach or exceed the level of last year's National Day.

According to the official report of Hubei Province, as of September 24 this year, the province's participating A-level tourist attractions received 21,981,600 tourists, and achieved a comprehensive tourism income of 1.95 billion yuan. Xi'an tour guide Pei Qing (pseudonym) and her husband are both tour guides. The couple obviously felt the increase in tourists recently: "There are quite a lot of tourists in Xi'an during this period, but this year there are'small groups' with less than 20 people. It will be more than in previous years."

A person in charge of the CYTS Travel Marketing Department told reporters that the average price of tourism products during the "11th" this year was around 5,000 yuan, which was a significant drop from last year’s average price of 15,000 yuan, mainly due to the stagnation of outbound travel.

According to the "China Domestic Tourism Development Report 2020" recently released by the China Tourism Academy, tourists' willingness to travel in the third quarter reached 80.2%, which is 90% higher than the same period last year.

With multiple preferential measures, many parties look forward to "good results" in tourism data for this year's National Day holiday.

Ctrip predicts that the number and proportion of domestic inter-provincial long-distance group tours and free travel products will hit a new high this year. This year's "November" will become the first tourist peak and consumption golden week of the year.

Professor Pan Helin, Executive Dean of the Institute of Digital Economics of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, told reporters that the idea of the first tourist peak during the year is valid. Everyone’s "May 1st" long holiday and other travel plans in the first half of the year may be concentrated on changes. During National Day. However, the overall number of tourists may still be affected by the epidemic. After all, the epidemic has not been fully controlled, and there is still a psychological acceptance process for everyone.

"This year there are many discounts on air tickets, scenic spots, and hotels. Local governments are also stimulating consumption. In addition, many businesses have also adopted large-scale promotions. This must be a time period when tourism costs are relatively low." Pan Helin said. The National Day holiday is one of the few long holidays available this year, and businesses may put their marketing expectations throughout the year into this time period. "The number of group registrations is still not as high as in previous years, less than 60% of previous years." A travel agency staff member in Wenjiang District of Chengdu said frankly that this year the travel agency reduced the group registration fee, but the number of applicants is still far less than in previous years. Faced with the long-overdue tourist peak, industry insiders hope that the tourist season can last longer.

A person in charge of the Cultural Tourism Bureau of Enshi City, Hubei Province told reporters that this year's tourism activities started relatively late. In October, the bureau will organize marketing trips to Shenzhen and Hangzhou, hoping to postpone the end of the peak season this year. Pan Helin said that tourism is not rigid consumption and can be delayed to a certain extent. The end of the peak season is related to the psychological impact of the epidemic on tourists. However, the intensity of "retaliatory consumption" this year may not be very high. If the epidemic is effectively controlled, the end of the peak season may be delayed.