Camping Flourishes in China’s Holiday Tourism Market

The recently concluded May Day holidays last April 30 to May 4 created a spectacle as tents of different colors and shapes filled the beach of Binhai Park in Rongcheng, a coastal city in East China’s Shandong Province.

“While long-distance travel is not feasible amid the COVID-19 epidemic, camping in parks and on beaches around the city is an ­excellent choice for vacation,” said Pan ­Mingyue, who was camping on the Binhai Park beach.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in short-distance leisure camping as people were forced to cancel long-distance travel plans. Since then, the camping market in China has only experienced a boom, especially with the advent of summer, according to a report.

A campsite staffer in Tiexi District in Shenyang, the capital of Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, said the campsite was fully reserved on the holiday’s first day.

Camping-related searches increased by 117% in the past month while forests and islands were the two most popular campsite locations, according to a report released by Tongcheng Travel, an online travel services provider.

Camping has offered an opportunity for tourist attractions to recover from the impact of the pandemic. 

“We launched the ‘highway tourism campsite’ initiative by highlighting the geographical advantage of being close to the highway exit to attract tourists,” said Zhao Yuping, from the Hongyeshiyan tourism area in the Zibo City of Shandong Province.

Zhao said they had around 30 tents on the terrace camping site, and all the tents were reserved before the holiday. People promenaded in the breeze, dined together in the warm sunshine, and slept under the stars.

Camping enthusiast Gao Liying called camping a new way of life. He said it helps children develop hands-on skills and enhance their environmental awareness while getting close with nature.

China’s camping market is expected to ­continue growing in the coming days. ­According to a report released by Guangzhou-based research firm iiMedia Research, the scale of China’s camping market increased from 7.71 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) in 2014 to 29.9 ­billion yuan in 2021. The trend is expected to grow by 18.6% this year to 35.46 billion yuan.

In addition to camping-related products, kites, frisbees, barbecues, bonfires, and open-air movies, recreational vehicle trips and other outdoor activities have also become increasingly popular.

The camping industry in China has become one of the indispensable forms of outdoor tourism, according to a report.

“As the country’s outdoor recreation tourism grows, camping near urban areas will become increasingly popular, as it has fewer requirements and doesn’t need long-distance travel,” said Zhang Sining, a researcher with the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

This article originally appeared on People’s Daily.