Camping tourism rebounds as pandemic eases and spring comes

Camping tourism around the nation has witnessed robust rebounds as the country eased its pandemic responses last December and people have begun to enjoy the coming spring season, news portal ThePaper.cn reported on Thursday.

Data from online service platforms Meituan and Dianping showed that "camping" related searches have skyrocketed 450 percent over the last two weeks, with relevant notes having increased 300 percent on a yearly basis. Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan and Kunming have become the hottest city spots for camping around the nation.

Big data from Chinese travel service and social networking platform Mafengwo also indicates that the popularity of search terms related to "camping" has increased significantly in the past week, with searches for "camping base", "camping guide" and "camping play method" jumping 350 percent, 270 percent and 230 percent, respectively.

According to A Dan, person in charge of a camping site in Lin'an district, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, as business begins to boom again, around 30 to 40 percent of camping tents for the weekends have been reserved during weekdays over the past two weeks. Their camping sites located in Foshan, Guangdong province have received 100 to 200 visitors per event during the past two weeks, about two times compared with the National Day holiday period in 2022.

As camping activities started to become popular during the pandemic, it is gaining more popularity after the country has eased its responses to the pandemic since December of last year.

Data from travel portal Qunar showed that camping reservations in February this year have increased 60 percent compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the rise of camping demands has also boosted sales of accommodations, caterings, coffee shops and home party houses. Data from Meituan showed that camping related merchants have increased more than 70 percent as of March this year, while data from Mafengwo showed that "camping" related searches have seen a 115 percent rise since March this year.