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The ideal weather during the May Day holiday, together with Anhui's free pass policy for vehicles with seven or fewer seats on expressways, added to the great enthusiasm for residents to take a trip.
Altogether, Anhui province received 20.61 million tourists, 18.98 percent higher than usual; among them, 3.24 million spent a night away, which were 3.67 percent fewer than before. The number of one-day trip tourists amounted to 17.37 million, 24.44 percent higher than usual. And tourism income rose by 32.56 percent to 6.39 billion yuan ($1.025 billion). Both the tourist numbers and tourism income hit record highs for the short holiday. Fourteen cities in Anhui received over 500 thousand tourists, compared to 12,000 last year, and income from 13 cities exceeded a hundred million yuan, compared with 9m last year.
Additionally, not a single major complaint was received and no major accident happened.
Four features can best summarize Anhui's tourist market during the holiday:
1. More diversified means of travel
Ecological trips have become the No.1 choice for both tourists and travel agencies. Ecological tourist attractions, such as Huangshan Mountain and Tianzhu Mountain, saw a significant increase in tourists during the holiday, especially on May 1.
Urban travel has also become more popular. Urban areas attracted tourists through their advantages in brand, price level, service quality and comprehensive infrastructure. Businesses in Hefei city specially introduced various discount policies, creating a shopping frenzy in the city.
Equally popular are the rural trips, which have been a focus of Anhui's tourism publicity in recent years. Rural hotels and farm stay spots were almost all fully booked during the holiday. In Ma'anshan city alone, farm stays received over 180 thousand tourists.
Two new trends appeared. Firstly, an increasing number of tourists are choosing to travel in a low-carbon way. For example, many were riding their bikes to nearby rural areas. Secondly, smart phones made it possible for tourists to plan their trips beforehand through various travel websites and apps. Over 70 percent of orders through Ctrip (a travel service website in China) were made on the phones.
2. Various travel activities
During the May Day holiday, tourist attractions in Anhui province introduced all kinds of featured activities. For example, performances and cultural exhibitions could be enjoyed in the scenic spots of Yuexi county; the first Countryside Travel Festival was held in Ma'anshan city. Other special events included a Disney-themed carnival at the Putang Sports Leisure Industry Park and a dinosaur model exhibition at the Yaojiazhai Ecological Park.
3. More self-drive tourists
The number of tourists going without joining a tourist group has increased a lot, with many of them driving their own cars. Many scenic spots, such as Huangshan Mountain received many more self-driving tourists this year. Most of them came with their friends, families, driving club fellows or people they met online.
4. Destinations at a longer distance become available
As traffic conditions improved, people are now able to travel to further-away places over a rather short holiday. More Hefei citizens took to high-speed rail to cities like Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Changsha. The number of tourists driving to nearby cities, especially cities in the Yangtze River delta region also saw a significant increase.
Still, several deficiencies surfaced. First of all, the quality of public service remains to be improved. Several popular sites were overcrowded during the holiday, making the quality of public services hard to maintain. Public service facilities need further improvement, and the tourism information system needs to be enhanced by integrating multiple means such as the Internet, TV, radio, and cell phone.
Traffic conditions were also not ideal. Though the road condition had already been improved, it was still not sufficient for the large number of tourists during the holiday. The traffic development needs to focus more on tourism. For example, it is advised to arrange more tourist bus lines and to improve the condition of parking lots in tourist attractions.
Lastly, tourism products, especially flower appreciation trips, still have huge untapped potential. Flower appreciation trips are essential for rural tourism development, yet the trips in Anhui are still regarded as very conventional.
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