Hunan province saw a tourism and consumption boom during the May Day holiday. According to the Hunan Department of Culture and Tourism, from May 1 to 16:00 on May 5, the 102 provincially-monitored A-level scenic spots received over 7.8 million tourist trips, increasing by 187.3% year on year; and, raked in a revenue of 1.04 billion CNY, growing by 175.45%. A total of 188 cultural service units received 741,600 tourist arrivals, up 160.7% over last year.
 
The top 5 hot destinations were: Yuelu Mountain Scenic Area in Changsha; Orange Isle Scenic Area in Changsha; Shaoshan Tourist Resort in Xiangtan; Dongjiang Lake Tourist Resort in Chenzhou; and, Liuye Lake Tourist Resort in Changde. 

The suppressed demand for tourism has been fully released during this five-day holiday.
 
Six scenic areas and resorts made revenue of more than 50 million CNY, including Liuye Lake Tourist Resort; Dongjiang Lake Tourist Resort; Shaoshan Tourist Resort; Jiuyi Mountain Emperor Shun’s Mausoleum; Mangshan Mountain Scenic Area; and, Luowen Sea of Flowers.

Changsha was among the ten hottest tourist destinations in China. The hotels around the hot spots and subway stations had been booked out before the holiday, with their prices surged. In the first two days of holiday, the Orange Isle, Yuelu Mountain, and the Hunan Provincial Museum reservations were hard to make. Many snack restaurants and bubble tea cafes were filled to capacity.

Zhangjiajie entered the list of the most rapidly growing destinations in this holiday, according to the 2019-2021 comparison of the top 100 cities in tourism orders.

The post-80s and 90s were the main force of tourism in this holiday, while the post-00s made considerable contributions.
 
In order to attract young generation tourists, many scenic areas organized various activities. For example, the Liuye Lake Tourist Resort held a lakeside music festival and created a Liuye Lake creative cultural IP. It ranked first among all Hunan scenic areas in May Day holiday revenue, with a total amount of nearly 140 million CNY.

The Taohuayuan Scenic Area, which was added to 5A category this year, launched a HUNAN TV variety show “Back to Field” themed tourist route and related selfie show and lucky draw activities, which had attracted numerous participators.
 
Rural tourism flourished. Data shows that, the 69 provincially monitored rural tourism receptions handled 892,300 visits, increasing by 123.97%, and making a revenue of 148 million CNY. The occupation rate of monitored accommodations reached 85.73%, with that of the B&B rooms surpassing 97%.
 
Driving tours from Guangdong, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Guangxi were popular during the holiday.

On the occasion of the 100th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Party history study tours were highly welcomed. Visitors swarmed into revolution-themed spots to learn about stories of martyrs.
 
Shaoshan Tourist Resort received 347,700 visits, up 563.66% over last year; the Peng Dehuai Memorial Hall saw 55,700 visits, rising by 206.95%; the Su Yu Memorial Hall in Huaihua handled 33,000 arrivals; and, the Memorial Hall of the Anti-Japanese War and the Acceptance of the Japanese Surrender, and the Tongdao Red Army Long March Transfer Memorial Hall received 31,000 visits respectively.
 
During the five-day holiday, the scenic areas across Hunan carried out online reservations and tourist number restriction measures, monitored and made public their capacities, and gave risk reminders. Online provincial reservation system is available for all 4A-level and above scenic areas. The cultural and tourism market operated in order in general, with no serious tourism safety incidents taken place and no serious complaints received.
 
This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.  

Translator: Pang Yuehui 

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn