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During the May Day holiday that just passed, tourism data reached a new high.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Transport, from May 1st to 5th, there were 1.358 billion cross-regional person-times in the society, with an average of more than 270 million people per day, an increase of 23.7% over the same period in 2019; railway passenger volume increased over the same period in 2019 23.3%; civil aviation passenger volume increased by 11.1% compared with the same period in 2019.
At the same time, a phenomenon that attracts attention is that "concert + travel" has become a popular traffic attraction model in various places. Many tourists go to specific cities for a concert or music festival. According to data monitoring from the ticketing information collection platform of the China Performance Industry Association, there were 34,400 commercial performances (excluding performances in entertainment venues) nationwide during the May Day holiday this year, an increase of 10.66% compared with last year’s May Day holiday; box office revenue was 2.084 billion yuan. , a year-on-year increase of 37.17%; the number of viewers was 10.2673 million, a year-on-year increase of 18.63%.
Phoenix Legend, Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan, Hua Chenyu, Wilber Pan, Soda Green, Li Ronghao, Times Youth League and many other singers all chose to sing on this May Day. As a result, from Beijing to Xiamen, from Yantai to Chengdu, many cities have seen such a grand scene: a large number of foreign tourists carrying suitcases rushed to the local stadium as soon as they arrived at the airport or high-speed rail station. They gathered to sing together outside the venue, and some even started communicating with other fans at airports and high-speed rail stations. Many of them have a sense of ritual to chase stars. From planning their itinerary, traveling together, to dressing up carefully and attending gorgeously, the meaning of "going to" has long transcended the concert itself.
So here comes the question: Why has "traveling to a city for a concert" become a new trend?
01 Concerts have made a strong recovery, and fans "travel thousands of miles"
In the past year, the concert market has been showing a strong recovery trend.
According to statistics from the China Performance Industry Association, in 2023, the number of large-scale concerts and music festivals with more than 5,000 people will reach 3,100, an increase of 97.23% compared with the same period in 2019, and box office revenue will reach 17.796 billion yuan, an increase of more than 3 times year-on-year. . The proportion of large-scale commercial performances in the overall performance box office has increased from 19.8% to 35.4%, and has driven up the income of transportation, accommodation, supermarkets and other cultural and tourism consumption formats around the venues. Among all the ticket-buying audiences, nearly 50% of them traveled across provinces to attend the event.
Behind the strong recovery of the concert market is the unprecedented willingness of young people to pay.
Ticket prices vary for different concerts. Taking Jacky Cheung's Xiamen concert as an example, the ticket price is divided into five tiers: 580 yuan, 980 yuan, 1680 yuan, 1980 yuan, and 2280 yuan; while Hua Chenyu's Yantai Sunrise Concert, the ticket price is divided into 380 yuan and 680 yuan. , 980 yuan, 1280 yuan four levels. For out-of-town fans, including one to two days of accommodation and round-trip transportation, the average cost is about 3,000-4,000 yuan, which is equivalent to a month's living expenses for many young people.
If you go to watch a concert overseas, the cost will increase exponentially. For example, American singer Taylor Swift previously held a concert in Singapore, attracting a large number of Chinese fans to grab tickets. Although the number of places is limited (on average, only one person out of 80 people has a chance to grab it), Swift still brought tourism revenue of up to SGD 500 million to Singapore, which can be called a "walking GDP". QuestionPro's survey shows that during Swift's concert tours, the average audience spent per person up to $1,300 per concert, paying for tickets, clothing, peripherals and travel.
Xiaohongshu Economics Blogger @Sheyuan Economics pointed out that the impact of Swift's concert on Singapore's GDP is far more than SGD 500 million. Borrowing the "multiplier effect" theory in macroeconomics, the SGD 500 million itself is an "independent expenditure", that is, the income generated entirely from tickets, accommodation, food, transportation, and souvenirs brought by Swift's concert. At the same time, local employees in Singapore responsible for conventions and exhibitions, security, transportation, and accommodation can also earn more income from concerts, thereby increasing the demand for other goods and services, which is also "induced expenditure"; and has been called Practitioners who increase demand will also receive higher incomes. If this cycle of "income-demand-consumption" continues, it will create a ripple effect and bring about economic growth of well over SGD 500 million.
And this May Day, the "multiplier effect" brought by the concert also appeared in major domestic cities. In addition to driving the box office of the performance itself, it also drove the growth of cultural tourism consumption in hotels, restaurants, etc., and the income of employees. For example, searches for Phoenix Legend's concert in Beijing and Hua Chenyu's Mars concert in Yantai were very popular, and they also significantly boosted booking activities in surrounding cultural and tourism industries. According to data from Xiamen Daily, among Jacky Cheung's six performances in Xiamen, 70% of the ticket buyers were from outside Fujian Province, which has greatly boosted the popularity of holiday tourism.
02 "Tailor-made" for the city, unlocking a new way of "concert + cultural tourism"
Traditional concert tours are often "copy + paste" everywhere. However, as the role of concerts in promoting urban cultural tourism continues to become more apparent, singers, management companies, and cultural and tourism institutions in various places have begun to try a more "tailor-made" approach, turning concerts into a combination of music and local culture. Give the audience a different feeling.
At 4:57 in the morning on May 4, when the sun jumped out of the sea level, the "Hua Chenyu Mars Concert Day Show" located on Beng Island in Muping, Yantai suddenly became excited. Tens of thousands of fans sang to the song "Born to the Sun" realize the dream of "watching the sunrise together".
Fans are full of praise for the experience of listening to the concert with the sunrise on the sea in Yantai. "It's my first time to watch a concert at the beach. Facing the sea and enjoying the feeling of facing the sun is really romantic. I look forward to discovering more surprises during my stay in Yantai." said Xu Siyi, a fan from Wuhan, Hubei.
According to people familiar with the matter, in order to hold this sunrise concert, Hua Chenyu’s concert organizer team conducted a nationwide site selection investigation and required that the venue must be on the seaside, where the sunrise can be enjoyed, and it must be large enough to accommodate More viewers. In the end, Yantai won with its unique natural environment and romantic scenery.
When foreign tourists go to a concert, in addition to enjoying the music feast, they usually also hope to experience the local food and culture. When the scale of the concert is large enough, if the cultural and tourism units are not fully prepared, problems such as inconvenient transportation and insufficient services may occur; on the contrary, if the audience’s experience and convenience can be improved during this period, it can maximize Maximize the role of concerts in driving the local cultural tourism industry.
Before Hua Chenyu’s Sunrise Concert, Yantai Culture and Tourism launched a special “Fan Love Action”: giving away Yantai apples, cultural and creative gifts and travel guides to foreign tourists when picking up the station; announcing that Yantai City will be open at night on May 3-4 Restaurant lists and restaurant information are published to facilitate tourists and fans to dine; Yantai Public Transport has opened 9 lines and dispatched more than 300 buses to provide full protection for fans' travel. These measures can not only improve the overall experience of tourists, but also help strengthen the interaction between tourists and local culture and stimulate the consumption of local cultural tourism products.
Coincidentally, Tianjin Cultural Tourism is also actively transforming the traffic generated by concerts into “retention” through product and service innovation. During last year's Jay Chou concert and this year's JJ Lin concert, Tianjin Culture and Tourism cooperated with Ctrip and other platforms to launch a "performance ticket + hotel accommodation" package, which took into account the dual needs of users for viewing and accommodation. Hotels far away from the concert venue also included Pick-up and drop-off services further save fans transportation costs. Xiaohongshu blogger @美女强士 who purchased the package said: "I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the hotel. JJ's songs were playing all the time, and there were posters, tables, keychains, and stickers at the front desk... Tianjin Cultural Tourism went to Oita ! ”
In addition to product innovation, Tianjin Cultural Tourism has also done a lot of work in traffic management, including launching customized buses and extending subway line operating hours to provide tourists with convenient travel services, so that tourists can not only see idols, but also You can gain a rich and complete concert experience.
In addition to these basic services, during the concert tour, celebrities and idols can also give full play to their personal influence and appeal, and integrate with local culture on a deeper level.
For example, during Jolin Tsai's "ugly beauty finale" 2024 world tour concert, wherever she goes, she will go to the most pyrotechnic markets to take photos of local food and showcase local culture.In Guangzhou, she visited the vegetable market accompanied by a local gourmet expert, chatted enthusiastically with local neighbors, and even transformed into a "little soup cook" and cooked peanut, eyebrow, bean and chicken feet soup by herself. In Guiyang, she praised her as "the first sister of Guiyang" after tasting Zheergen. She used the topic of Zheergen to greet the audience at the opening of the concert. She also tried intangible cultural heritage tie-dye, put on an improved version of "Miao costume", and rocked Transform into a Hmong girl.
For singers, these behaviors can provide fans with a richer cultural experience and enhance their sense of participation and belonging; and for local cities, this integration of local culture can also provide benefits to the local economy and tourism industry Make a positive impact. In addition to Jolin Tsai's methods, star singers can also organize some cultural exchange activities, cooperate with local artists in cultural creations, or participate in public welfare activities in local communities, etc., to have deeper interactions with local cities and add personal concerts While enhancing cultural connotation, it can also promote the inheritance and development of local culture.
03 Is it "inner liberation" or "surface carnival"?
"Traveling to a city for a concert", this phenomenon undoubtedly confirms the changes in the travel mentality of contemporary young people.
Before, tourism was regarded as a consumption behavior, and people’s focus was mainly on scenic spots. But with the advent of the Internet, especially the era of short videos, people can sit at home and browse scenic spots on their mobile phones, and many people have even begun to experience aesthetic fatigue. As a result, more and more people are eager to obtain spiritual pleasure through travel, and especially hope to enrich their lives by participating in experiential and highly personalized activities. As an event integrating music, culture and social interaction, concerts can meet this demand and provide people with a novel and unique travel option.
At the same time, today's concerts are not just music performances, but have become mature commercial products. The launch of various peripheral products, the development of the fan economy, and the construction of celebrities' personal brands have all intensified people's fanatical pursuit of concerts.
So, behind “traveling to a city for a concert”, are people looking for an in-depth cultural experience, or are they driven by commercialization and social media? Is this behavior truly integrating into the local culture, or is it just a superficial social showoff? More importantly, does concert travel really bring about the inheritance and development of local culture and long-term promotion of the local economy? These questions are worth pondering.
But what is certain is that the concert is a rare publicity and promotion opportunity for many cities. However, to transform this short-term influence into long-term growth, local cultural and tourism organizations can also launch more measures. For example, they can cooperate with concert organizers to design cultural experience packages, including sightseeing tours and local specialty restaurants. Recommendations, cultural exhibitions, etc., encourage tourists to integrate into local culture during the concert and enrich the tourism experience; they can cooperate with singers to display local cultural traditions and intangible cultural heritage items through the concert stage to arouse the audience's interest in local culture; they can also By cooperating with local businesses, we promote local specialty products and services and bring more benefits to the local economy.
Through the above methods, what singers and cultural tourism organizations present is not only a short-term carnival, but also sows a seed in the hearts of the audience, arousing everyone's willingness to understand the city and return to the city, thereby promoting the city Cultural exchanges have injected new impetus into the city's economic development.
