Red tourism contributed more than RMB 1 trillion (USD 154.5 billion) to China’s economic growth in 2020, according to the 2021 Red Tourism Development Report released by Chinese online travel agency platform Qunar on Tuesday.
Red tourism has become a popular travel choice, with sales of tickets rising by about 60% year on year during the recent holidays.
According to Qunar’s report, a total of RMB 1,287 (USD 198.8) was spent on red tourism in 2020 per person, leading the red tourism market to contribute more than RMB 1 trillion to the country’s economic growth last year based on industry estimates.
Younger generations have also become more interested in red tourism, especially travelers under 25 years old, said the report. Tourists under 25 years old accounted for 19.1% of those who booked red tourism products on Qunar’s platform in the recent May Day holidays, the highest level in recent years.
Red tourism can promote the development of small and medium-sized cities and stimulate consumption, Lan Xiang, president of the big data research institute under qunar.com, said in the report, as 80% of the red tourism scenic spots listed by the National Development and Reform Commission are in small and medium-sized cities. Only 39 scenic spots out of more than 200 are located in first- and second-tier cities.