Tourism sector launches events to tap International Children's Day

As the International Children's Day is around the corner, a scramble for China's family trip market is underway, with travel agencies, hotels and theme parks putting more efforts to attract customers.

Trip.com, China's largest online travel agency, together with domestic zoos, such as Beijing Aquarium and Nantong Forest Safari Park, recently launched an "online zoo" event to livestream star animals such as pandas, penguins, marmots and killer whales.

Besides online travel agencies, hotels such as the Westin Beijing Chaoyang and Grand Hyatt Beijing are also unveiling their respective event "2021 Children's Day Carnival" and "Ancient Egypt Family Room" to capture the market share.

When talking about family trips, theme parks cannot be ignored. Beijing Happy Valley, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park and Tianjin Polar Haichang Ocean Park all unveiled a series of events to take their best shot at the International Children's Day, which is celebrated on June 1.

In fact, since the COVID-19 pandemic, China's family trips market has undergone some changes, with customers mainly focused on short-distance trips close to cities, among which zoos have long been popular.

Last year, the market share of short-distance family trips showed a sharp rebound and the number of tourists travelling to non-first-tier cities even surpassed the pre-epidemic level, according to a report released by online travel platform Tongcheng.

Short-distance family trips during weekend have become a popular type, accounting for 40.5 percent of weekly passenger flows, the report said. Meanwhile, people prefer customized travel products and services, instead of package tours, driving up the ratio of family trips.

With a steady recovery of domestic tourism consumption, this year, it's expected to see the consumption of domestic family trips recover to the level in 2019, and some regions are even predicted to surpassed the pre-epidemic level, the report added.

Due to the impact of international pandemic, some tourists chose to travel within the country rather than abroad. China's family trip market will enter a boom in this year's summer vocation, Wang Xingbin, a senior tourism export, said.

However, in terms of travel contents and types, more innovations should be carried out, and develop diversified children-oriented products, he said. Short and medium line trips are expected to be top choice for more tourists, Wang added.