Southeast.com, February 18 (Reporter Chen Nan) The 2024 Spring Festival "8+1" super long holiday has ignited people's enthusiasm for travel and consumption. Going home in the first half and traveling in the second half have become a new "fashion" for the Chinese New Year this year, and at the same time, it has also driven many new consumption phenomena. The reporter learned from the "Observation of the "New Ideas" of Spring Festival Consumption in the Year of the Dragon" released by WeChat and Tongcheng Travel that the travel fever has brought fireworks and prosperity, and Fujian has become a popular tourist destination.
"New ways" for the Chinese New Year: the consumption of sports and health and cafes increased by more than 60% and 40% year-on-year respectively, and the travel economy drove the growth of fast food and snacks significantly; The "new face" of the city: people who go home and travel constitute the "new face" of the city, bringing new vitality to various cities, and the search volume of some Internet celebrity cities has increased by 5 times week-on-week; The "new trend" of travel: Hong Kong residents going north for the Chinese New Year has become a new flow direction, with the number of online and offline transactions of Hong Kong people in the mainland increasing by nearly 5 times, and the transaction value increasing by more than 3 times; The "new atmosphere" of outbound travel: With the expansion of the "circle of friends" in visa-free countries, the popularity of outbound travel has been driven. Compared with the daily average in January this year, in Southeast Asia, South Korea, and Japan, the number of consumption transactions through WeChat Pay for transportation has increased significantly. Among them, the Grab overseas ride-hailing applet that provides services to 500 cities in Southeast Asia has increased by 20 times compared with the beginning of its launch, reaching 2,078%.
Mobility has led to many new opportunities. Among them, compared with the Spring Festival in 2023, the offline consumption of fast food and snacks increased by 59% and 35%, which is higher than the main meal that is more commonly chosen for Chinese New Year reunions. At the same time, "sports" fitness has become a New Year goal for many people. Thanks to the demand for sports equipment purchased by travel and the demand for fitness brought by users, the purchase of fitness and sports equipment during the Spring Festival increased by 63% year-on-year.
With the change of people's living habits and the return of young people to their hometowns, coffee consumption has also become a "new habit". Young people who returned to their hometowns did not forget to have a cup of coffee, and the consumption of cafes increased by more than 40% year-on-year.
This year, Hong Kong and Macao residents who go north to visit relatives, sweep goods, and travel have become a "scenic line". Consumption and life have become more and more convenient because of the "one-hour living circle" in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The number and value of transactions (both online and offline) of Hong Kong residents' consumption in the Mainland have both increased sharply, of which the number of transactions has increased by nearly 5 times year-on-year and the amount has exceeded 3 times compared with the Spring Festival in 2023, and the number of visits to the Mini Program of BayStone's integrated cross-border service has also increased by 365% month-on-month.
Hong Kong residents are the "favorite" food and beverage delicacies during the Chinese New Year in the Mainland, and the offline catering industry has grown the fastest among the mainland people's consumption transaction value, exceeding 30 times. At the same time, there was also a surge in the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong and Macao during the Spring Festival. The average daily number of offline transactions in Hong Kong skyrocketed by 5 times year-on-year; Macau's average daily offline payments doubled to 106%; Among them, the average daily consumption of Hong Kong travel codes increased by 18 times year-on-year.