(Zhang Guangwen/Interview report) With the release of new ten measures to optimize epidemic prevention and control, and most provinces and cities across the country have successively introduced optimization policies to gradually relax epidemic control measures, many tourism industry players believe that this year is expected to become the first outbreak of the new crown epidemic. Since the “Homecoming Reunion Year”, in 2023 there will be no “Chinese New Year in situ”.
On December 7, the Comprehensive Team of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the “Notice on Further Optimizing and Implementing Prevention and Control Measures for the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic”. It emphasizes that no nucleic acid test negative certificates and health codes will be inspected for cross-regional migrants, and no landing inspections will be carried out. After the news was released, the search volume of air tickets on the Ctrip platform soared by 160% instantaneously. Among them, the search volume of air tickets on the eve of the Spring Festival soared to the highest point in three years. The comprehensive search volume of big transportation on the same journey travel platform has also risen rapidly. The instantaneous search volume of air tickets has increased by 438% compared with the same period the day before, and the instantaneous search volume of train tickets has increased by 276%. According to Qunar data, the instantaneous search volume for air tickets has increased by 7 times. The popular destinations are Sanya, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing, Harbin, and Changchun. Data from Fliggy shows that within half an hour of the announcement, domestic air ticket searches more than doubled instantly, and cities such as Chengdu, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Sanya became popular search destinations.
Since Guangzhou fired the first shot to lift the temporary control, Zhejiang, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Yunnan, Shandong, Henan and many other places have relaxed their epidemic prevention and control measures to varying degrees. Many tourism industry players said that the new epidemic prevention and control measures are expected to make “going home for the New Year” a reality. Recently, Liang Gaowu, deputy secretary of the Sangzhi County Party Committee and county magistrate in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, even publicly called out to wanderers working abroad: “If you have money or not, you are welcome to go home to celebrate the New Year.” Go home for New Years.” Based on this, although some places have issued the initiative of “not returning to hometown unless necessary” in advance because of concerns about social infection caused by returnees, many tourism operators believe that as the Spring Festival in 2023 is approaching, more and more local governments will respond according to the actual situation. Adjustments have been made to allow more people to go home for the New Year with peace of mind. Sangzhi County has made a good start, and it is worth following up in more places.
The optimization policy still needs to “sink” into the countryside. The Spring Festival in 2023 may usher in a turning point in the tourism market
Guangdong travel agency operators, who expect all Chinese people to have a reunion year this year, reminded that the flow of people during the Spring Festival is the largest in the whole year. At this stage, it is very good to see the implementation of optimization policies in big cities. However, these optimization policies need to be further improved. “Sinking” into towns and rural areas can make travelers go home for the Spring Festival smoothly. On the other hand, there are still new confirmed cases in China every day, and winter is the time when the virus is most likely to spread. During the Spring Festival holiday in 2023, we must strictly prevent the risk of superimposed epidemics of the new crown epidemic and respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza. Therefore, everyone must actively Cooperate with epidemic prevention, especially when going to rural areas where epidemic prevention and control efforts are already weak, so as to avoid large-scale epidemics.
Shanghai travel agency operators emphasized that the new year is approaching, and the new ten measures to optimize epidemic prevention and control will have a significant stimulating effect on people who have been looking forward to going home for the New Year for a long time. Therefore, this year’s New Year’s Day and Spring Festival tourism market may become the most important turning point in the tourism market in three years . In terms of vaccination rate, as of December 21, more than 2.69 billion doses of the new crown vaccine have been administered nationwide, and more than 1.19 billion people have completed the full course of vaccination, which means that the national vaccination rate has exceeded 80%. However, whether it is “welcome home for the New Year” or “don’t return home if it is not necessary” still depends on the pressure of prevention and control faced by various places, and measures should be taken according to local conditions.