This aerial photo taken on Oct. 1, 2023 shows tourists going sailing in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)
BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- As winter sets in, an increasing number of long-stay tourists, much like "migratory birds", are flocking to southern provinces and regions such as Yunnan, Guangxi, and Hainan to escape the cold.
Such a trend not only revitalizes the traditional off-season of the tourism market, but also supports the transformation and upgrading of local cultural tourism sector.
-- New travel style of "living as the locals"
According to a report on long-stay tourism in China released by the China Tourism Academy this July, the long-stay tourism market, particularly in the forms of senior travel and wellness travel, shows broad prospects for development. Overall, well-established long-stay tourism destinations such as those for winter escapes, summer retreats, and coastal vacations continue to be sought-after spots, with "migratory bird style" being the mainstream in current long-stay tourism market.
In terms of travel duration, the report shows that more than 90 percent of these tourists stay for less than six months, with those staying for 1-3 months accounting for 63.8 percent. Longer stays allow these tourists to experience local life in greater depth, experts say.
In late November, Zhang Hua and his wife, residents of Xicheng District, Beijing, flew to Haikou City of Hainan Province. Their family had pre-arranged the rental for a two-bedroom apartment, where they will stay until March of the next year.
Grocery shopping and Chinese chess time with friends for the morning, a pot of black tea or coffee with snacks over casual chatting in an alley cafe for the afternoon and square dancing for the evening...During their time in Haikou, the couple could live just like the locals, relaxed and at ease.
As for younger long-stay tourists, "new" experiences are on top of their lists when travel in a new city.
Cui Miao, a tourist born in the 00s, visited Yanji in Jilin Province "for a particular cup of coffee" and ended up falling in love with the city with its "slow lifestyle". During this summer vacation, she made a special trip to stay there for two months. Each day, aside from working part-time for four hours at a cafe, she explored every corner of the city. As she got to know the city better, Cui Miao discovered more "highlights" of Yanji such as the ethnic traditions, cuisine, and festive culture. "There are an increasing number of young visitors coming to Yanji," she noted.
-- Strong booster for tourism upgrading
Last March, Yunnan Province sent out an invitation through the internet, inviting all to go to Yunnan for experiencing "A Lifestyle Called Yunnan", which soon went viral and became the new IP for Yunnan tourism sector. The province has made great efforts in building itself into an ideal destination for long-stay travel, driving upgrades in relevant sectors and a 10.7 percent year-on-year increase in the number of long-stay tourists coming to Yunnan during the first ten months of this year.
Local government of Yunnan's Tuguachong Village, for example, has revitalized its idle resources and turned the village into an exemplary site for rural long-stay tourism. The village now offers the full package including rural homestays, cafes, restaurants, and bakeries featuring both local characters and contemporary amenities, drawing numerous long-stay tourists to the village.
Changing from "travel" to "long-stay travel" implies major transformation in the tourism sector, said Zhao Guoliang, head of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.
Yunnan recently released an action plan to accelerate its long-stay tourism development, eyeing to establish over 3,000 key rural long-stay tourism villages in the province by 2027, along with the development of a batch of leading long-stay tourism enterprises.
-- New sources of vitality and development
The above-mentioned report also reveals such major group for long-stay travel as "digital nomads", who enjoys a life of "working on the go" while traveling thanks to the advances in communication infrastructure and digital economy.
This July, Yi County in Anhui Province officially launched the "Huangshan NCC (Nomad Co-living Co-Creating) Digital Nomads Community" · "Heiduo Island" and welcomed its first group of "islanders", primarily young individuals who previously worked in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. With backgrounds in fields such as program development, creative design, and we-media, they were drawn to the region's stunning natural environment, relaxed work atmosphere, and promising local development potential. After settling in, they engage in incubation, innovation, and entrepreneurship focused on the construction of beautiful and harmonious countryside, the preservation of traditional villages and historical blocks, the development of the cultural tourism sector, and the R&D of creative products.
In early November, the 2024 2nd Digital Nomads Conference, initiated by the NCC Community, was officially launched in Yi County. The conference aims to combine "technology empowerment, youth leadership, rural revitalization, and artistic co-creation" to integrate the digital nomad lifestyle with rural development. It seeks to promote communication and integration between urban and rural areas while exploring ways to achieve rural vitalization and youth innovation.
The settling of digital nomads could play a critical role in developing digital creative industry and make great contributions to local development and rural economy, experts say. (Edited by Niu Huizhe with Xinhua Silk Road, niuhuizhe@xinhua.org)
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