Enthusiasm grows for learning while on vacation

During this winter vacation, many students from across the country beat a path to the Baling River Guizhou Bridge Technology Museum in Anshun city of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

Liu Xizheng, a student from the Beijing No 5 Experimental School based in the capital's Fengtai district, was among dozens of students and faculty members blown away by the extraordinary design and construction feats behind various bridges, and the interesting bridge science classes and experiments during their visit to the museum in mid-January.

Liu said that through high-tech teaching tools, he gained a deeper understanding of the working principles of bridge deck cranes while the activities also fostered teamwork skills.

The museum has established learning tour partnerships with more than 100 travel agencies, as well as more than 100 schools across the country, including those in Beijing and Shanghai, and Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

The museum is among myriads of destinations that have drawn in travelers who want to mix pleasure with learning while on winter vacation.

Liu Xin, general manager of educational travel operations for China CYTS Tours Holding Co, said, "The themes of study tours have grown increasingly diversified in recent years."

Visiting leading tech companies and soaking up the history and culture behind the country's heritage sites have become popular choices among study travelers, she added.

Her company's tours focused on museums, traditional Chinese medicine and Beijing's Central Axis are consistently popular among study travelers.

During this year's Spring Festival holiday, the number of people who signed up for ice and snow-related study tours increased by 30 percent compared to the same period last year, she said.

With the release of policies and measures to promote the development of ice and snow tourism at the end of last year, related study tour products have now become a major trend, Liu Xin added.

Winter sports experiences with professional ski coaches and outdoors survival instructors have been among the most popular with student travelers, she said.

"The demand for customization is growing rapidly. An increasing number of schools and groups are seeking precise and personalized study itineraries. They hope to tailor the study routes and activities according to such factors as age, learning goals and personal interests," Liu Xin said.

Li Mengran, marketing manager at Beijing-based travel agency Utour, said inquiries after study tours have been on the rise since the National Day holiday in October last year, and peaked during the winter vacation.

"Parents have started planning for their children's winter vacation earlier, with more clear goals and purpose. They are paying more attention to the quality and uniqueness of study tours, with the aim of providing their children with special and sought-after resources in the market," Li said.

The company's winter camps highlighting science and language learning in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, with a duration of about 12 days, as well as ecological exploration in Singapore and Malaysia, have been popular with winter learning travelers this year, she said.

According to market consultancy iiMedia Research, the overall market size of domestic study-based tourism will exceed 240 billion yuan ($32.95 billion) by 2026.

The vast market potential has attracted an increasing number of companies to compete in this field.

According to data from business registration tracker Qichacha, there are approximately 40,700 companies engaged in study tourism in China, including more than 4,700 new companies registered last year.

The recent study tourism development report released by the China Association of Travel Services revealed that the educational travel market continues to expand and is becoming more stable.

With the improvement of living standards, consumer demand for study-based travel products is constantly upgrading, according to the report that surveyed more than 230 businesses in the field nationwide.

To date, the main consumer groups for study tours come from Beijing, Guangdong province and Shanghai. The most popular themes of those tours revolve around nature, revolutionary and traditional culture and technological innovation.

The report noted that localization and multi-industry cooperation are among the major future directions of the market. It pointed out that study tourism should have clear educational objectives and cultural connotations, ensuring educational value and cultural depth to meet consumer needs for learning.

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