The wave of leisure health and fitness activities has arrived, and a new round of "uphill and下乡" is increasingly based on self-driving. Currently, the proportion of self-driving tourism consumption to group tour tourism in our country has exceeded 50%, and this trend will be more obvious in the future.
On March 28, People's Daily Online, Beijing (Zhang Xi), the "2011 Fifth Northern Tourism Resources Exhibition - And Tourism Industry Development Trend Forum" was held on March 25. This conference focused on the national "12th Five-Year Plan" tourism development theme. Yang Xiaodong, Director of the Planning Department of the National Development and Reform Commission's China City and Small Town Reform and Development Center, made an in-depth interpretation of the tourism development trend from the national economic level at the meeting.
Yang Xiaodong said that during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the development of China's tourism industry would present four major trends. The status of the six elements of tourism will be challenged, and health and leisure will be added to the elements of tourism and become an important part of future tourism. Self-driving tours and independent tours will sweep across the country. Car clubs will enter the tourism market and compete. The tourism industry will enter the development model of leisure and vacation.
Yang Xiaodong also believed that the soul of the tourism industry is culture. 2011 has been designated as the "Chinese Culture Tour" themed tourism year by the China National Tourism Administration. Cultural heritage tourism should be vigorously promoted, and the inheritance and protection of cultural heritage should be strengthened. The transformation of the tourism industry and cultural ecology will be deeply integrated.
This conference focuses on the national "12th Five-Year Plan" tourism development theme. The meeting invited discussions, and more than 300 tourism enterprises participated in the meeting. Yang Xiaodong, Director of the Planning Department of the China City and Small Town Reform and Development Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, spoke at the meeting and made an in-depth interpretation of the tourism development trend from the national economic level. Liu Zhongbo, Director of the Tourism and Service Industry Development Committee of Zaozhuang City, introduced the successful experience of the "Zaozhuang Practice" and elaborated on the role of government guidance in the development process of the tourism industry.
The development of e-commerce has always been a focus of attention in the tourism industry. This meeting specially cooperated with the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to conduct an in-depth discussion on the combination trend of tourism and e-commerce. Group-buying websites triggered huge shocks in China over the past year, and this new marketing platform attracted the attention of all manufacturers. This meeting specially convened a tourism group-buying sub-forum and invited more than 20 leading enterprises in the group-buying industry to participate. The organizer of the meeting, Souku Network, published predictions on the development trend of tourism marketing.
The Northern Tourism Resources Exhibition is the largest surrounding area tourism exchange meeting in the north. Nearly 100 tourism resource providers released new policies and showcased resources at the meeting.
[Knowledge Link] Background, Process, and Prospect of the Development of Self-Driving Tours in Our Country
Self-driving tours originated in the United States, which was called the "country built on wheels" in the 20th century, and quickly became a popular way of travel for the middle class in developed countries, regarded as a synonym for freedom and spontaneity by travelers. As the name suggests, self-driving tours refer to a way of traveling outside by driving one's own means of transportation, including cars (sedans, off-road vehicles, travel RVs), motorcycles, and bicycles, mainly privately owned, but can also be rented, borrowed, or other ways. In reality, after long-term development, the connotation of self-driving tours has changed: the driver can be oneself, the car owner, or a companion; the vehicle mainly refers to cars. As the research object of this article, self-driving tours refer to the process of tourists traveling to their destination with private or rented cars as the main means of transportation, driving themselves or companions, with leisure or experience as the main purpose. The special research team analyzed the development background, development process, current development status, market characteristics, and the impact on tourism development, and proposed ideas and suggestions for the development of tourist attractions under the background of self-driving tours.
First, the development background of self-driving tours in our country
1. People's income level
In the 30 years since the reform and opening up, China's economy has continued to grow at a high speed, and the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of rural residents have maintained a high growth rate for consecutive years. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, China's GDP reached 33.5353 trillion yuan in 2009, an increase of 8.7% over the previous year, with per capita GDP reaching about $3603; the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of rural residents were 17,175 yuan and 5,153 yuan respectively, with actual growth rates of 9.8% and 8.5%. It can be seen that although we experienced the financial crisis of 2008, the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of rural residents still maintained a growth rate of more than 8%, providing a solid economic foundation for the development of self-driving tours.
2. Number of cars owned
With the continuous development of the economy and the abolition of road maintenance fees, the number of cars owned in our country, especially privately owned cars, continues to increase, with an annual growth rate exceeding 20%. By the end of 2009, the total number of cars owned nationwide had reached 76.1931 million, of which 26.05 million were privately owned cars, an increase of 33.8% over the end of the previous year. In addition, the prosperity of the car rental industry helps more people realize their dream of self-driving tours and plays a promoting role in the development of the self-driving tour market. Therefore, it can be seen that there are no problems with the means of transportation for people who have the demand and ability to take vacations, and self-driving tours have quietly become a popular way of tourism and leisure among young people in large and medium-sized cities in our country. The vigorous development of self-driving tours in China will gradually become a new growth point of the tourism economy.
3. Formation of the transportation network
The development of self-driving tours is closely related to transportation, especially the improvement of the highway network can greatly promote the development of self-driving tours. In recent years, China's highways have developed rapidly and are now firmly ranked second in the world, only behind the United States. By the end of 2009, more than half of the provinces in the country had highway mileage exceeding 1000 kilometers. The first stage construction goal of the "five vertical and seven horizontal" national trunk road system has been completed, meaning that the "two vertical and two horizontal three important sections" are fully connected.
The rapid development of highways has greatly shortened the distance between urban and rural areas, providing traffic convenience for self-driving tours. Especially in those economically developed areas, not only are there many self-driving vehicles, but the transportation is also well-developed. These hardware facilities directly promote the popularity of self-driving tours.
Second, the development process of self-driving tours in our country
Self-driving tours have developed along with the increase in private car ownership, the improvement in people's living standards, and the transformation of leisure concepts. From 2001 to 2002, self-driving tours emerged as a new form of tourism in the domestic tourism market, with the appearance of group self-driving tours. From 2003 to 2007, self-driving tours became a highlight of the Golden Week tourism market; the "self-driving tour economy" drove related industries even more widely, with greater economic potential; self-driving independent tours rose sharply, unstoppable, surpassing group tours and leading the tourism market. Since 2008, self-driving tours have begun to show explosive growth and are gradually maturing.
Third, the supply and current development status of self-driving tours in our country
Currently, apart from self-organized self-driving tours in our country, there are mainly three suppliers in the market: car clubs, car rental companies, and travel agencies.
1. Car Clubs
In recent years, many car clubs have been established in various places, some of which are run by car dealers, such as Volkswagen Car Club, Mercedes-Benz Car Club, etc.; some are professional car clubs, such as Continental Car Club, etc. These car clubs gather a large portion of car enthusiasts and self-driving tour enthusiasts, and also occupy a certain share of the self-driving tour market. Car dealers establish car clubs to better serve customers, enhance customer loyalty, and strengthen communication with customers. Each brand club has its own members, some of whom are relatively fixed and participate frequently. These fixed participants often transition from being single participants to being both participants and organizers, offering many excellent suggestions and helping organize events. Professional car clubs are among the earliest organizers of self-driving tours, targeting professional tourism enthusiasts. Compared to car dealer-run car clubs, they are more professional and complete in self-driving tours and have a good reputation. These clubs develop from vehicle-based services to organizing self-driving tours and provide professional services in self-driving tours to maintain and develop their customer base, winning the source market for self-driving tours. However, regardless of the situation, the business operations of car clubs are still centered around cars, and organizing self-driving tours as a non-core business function serves to expand other business developments.
2. Car Rental Companies
The main function of car rental companies is to provide cars for tourists who do not have a car or do not want to use their own vehicles, including maintenance and repair services. Conducting self-driving tours is not the main business of car rental companies, but due to their control over a large number of customers, self-driving tours are viewed as an extension of their business chain. The advantage of car rental companies conducting self-driving tours lies in their ability to provide relatively complete car services, which is very convenient for tourists from different places. However, they face the same problem as car clubs, which is the lack of sufficient tourism services.
3. Travel Agencies
Self-driving tours are one of many forms of tourism, and it makes sense for travel agencies to organize them. However, in our country, travel agencies initially participated in self-driving tours passively. In 1985, a classic car fleet organized by a French travel agency departed from Paris to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and the Chinese side arranged the overall itinerary through a travel agency. This indicates that travel agencies were exposed to self-driving tours much earlier than self-driving clubs, but it was the car clubs that truly took action. Later, when the self-driving tour market had already developed hotly, travel agencies joined the self-driving tour market with the intention of sharing the profits. Even now, travel agencies still hold a small share of the self-driving tour market, with many travel agencies stating that they rarely organize self-driving tours. This is mainly caused by the following reasons: First, compared to car clubs or car rental companies, they lack market customers. For travel agencies, without tourist resources, everything is impossible to start. Second, they lack expertise in car services. Most of the tours organized by travel agencies are long-distance self-driving tours, which require high-quality car services, but travel agencies lack the talent in this area. Third, their management models conflict with the needs of self-driving tour enthusiasts. Those inclined towards self-driving tours seek a sense of freedom without constraints, while the existing models of travel agencies contradict this. To ensure the safety of tourists, travel agencies often intervene too much, which may cause resistance from self-driving tourists. However, travel agencies organizing self-driving tours also have significant advantages. Due to their extensive experience, they can effectively integrate the six elements of tourism, allowing self-driving tourists to enjoy spiritual happiness.
Fourth, Characteristics of the Self-driving Tour Market in Our Country
In recent years, with the rapid increase in the number of car owners and licensed drivers, self-driving tours have become very popular. The booming self-driving tour market has drawn significant attention from professionals and relevant scholars, resulting in a growing number of research papers. Many scholars have collected primary data using questionnaires to study the behavior of self-driving tourists in multiple cities in our country. Through analyzing these primary data, we find that self-driving tourists in our country exhibit some common traits.
(1) Demographic Characteristics
In terms of gender, male self-driving tourists dominate, accounting for 70%-80%, while females tend to join self-driving tours by riding in others' vehicles. However, this trend is gradually changing, with an increasing proportion of female drivers.
In terms of age structure, the majority of tourists are middle-aged and young adults, with those aged 25-40 accounting for over 70% of all tourists, highlighting a youthful phenomenon.
In terms of education, a trend towards higher education is evident, with those holding associate degrees or above forming the majority, indicating a higher awareness and sophistication in tourism.
Self-driving tourists generally have good economic conditions and mostly belong to the middle and high-income groups of urban residents.
From the perspective of occupation composition, white-collar workers and enterprise managers dominate, covering various positions such as professional technicians, service salespeople, and civil servants.
(2) Motivation Analysis
Self-driving tourists seek a free and personalized space for relaxation, primarily motivated by leisure combined with sightseeing tours. Some specialized tours, such as adventure, camping, and photography, are showing strong growth momentum.
(3) Time and Distance Features
a. Time Factor Analysis
Self-driving tourists usually choose weekends, short holidays, Golden Weeks, or paid leave periods for self-driving tours. Among these, weekends or short holidays are particularly popular. The duration of most self-driving tours falls within 2-5 days, followed by 1 day, with a lower proportion lasting more than 5 days. In terms of frequency, nearly half choose to go on 2-5 trips per year, followed by larger proportions choosing 5-10 times and 1-2 times, with very few participating in more than 10 self-driving tours annually.
b. Distance Factor Analysis
Due to factors such as traffic conditions, travel time, consumption levels, and automobile technical standards, self-driving tourists generally choose destinations within a one-way distance of 500 km. Among these, choosing distances between 100-300 km, with a travel time of 2-2.5 hours, accounts for nearly half. Choosing distances over 500 km is relatively rare.
(4) Preference Analysis
a. Destination Selection
In terms of destination types, similar to regular tourists, most self-driving tourists prefer natural landscapes and scenic spots, with fewer opting for higher-level cultural or adventure tours. Local tours, especially local surrounding tours, are favored by self-driving tourists. Many central cities offer leisure resorts, agritainment, and folk activity festivals, making them preferred choices for self-driving tourists. Regarding the development level of tourist destinations, most tourists prefer already developed and well-known sites, with only a few daring to try undeveloped ones.
b. Travel Mode Selection
Self-driving tourists tend to travel with friends or participate in organized self-driving tours. Few opt for solo travel, mainly because self-driving requires higher skills in driving, car maintenance, and handling emergencies, which most general self-driving tourists in our country cannot meet. Therefore, traveling with friends or group members ensures safety.
c. Information Acquisition Method
Self-driving tourists are mostly young people with high education and income levels, sharing similarities with internet users. Research shows that the internet is their primary source of information, followed by radio and television. Recommendations from family and friends also play a significant role.
(5) Consumption Features
The consumption level of self-driving tourists in our country is higher than traditional tourism methods, concentrated around 200-400 yuan per day. Expenditure on food, accommodation, and transportation accounts for 80%, while spending on sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment is minimal. The reasons are mainly twofold: firstly, high transportation and accommodation costs restrict spending, and secondly, the product system for self-driving tours in our country is not yet perfect, lacking distinctive tourism products and projects.
Through the above analysis, the self-driving tours in our country exhibit the following four characteristics:
1. Self-driving tours in our country are still in the initial stage.
From the survey findings, the motivation for self-driving tourists in our country is still in the leisure and sightseeing phase, and they tend to choose short-distance scenic spots. This is significantly different from the mature self-driving tours abroad. For example, American self-driving tourists emphasize experiences, enjoying the spiritual pleasure brought by unfamiliar and highly attractive environments; whereas our self-driving tourists are not much different from ordinary tourists, merely replacing trains and planes with their own cars as the mode of transportation. The unique forms of entertainment, consumption, accommodation, and vacation associated with self-driving tours have not been fully realized in our country.
2. There is a clear correlation between the distance traveled, time spent, income level, and travel purpose of self-driving tourists.
Short-distance travelers typically choose weekend trips, with durations usually ranging from 1-2 days. Suburban countryside near cities is the preferred choice. Short-distance travel is least restricted by income, appealing to a broad range of people. In terms of travel mode, they generally choose to travel with friends or family, rarely participating in activities organized by travel agencies or car clubs.
Mid to long-distance travelers typically choose to travel during small holidays, Golden Weeks, or paid leave, including overnight weekend self-driving tours. The duration is usually 3-7 days, focusing on leisure, gatherings, and vacations. Mid to long-distance travelers have higher incomes. In terms of travel mode, they mainly travel with family and friends, but some also choose to participate in activities organized by car clubs.
Long-distance travelers typically choose cross-regional trips, with no fixed time, usually lasting more than 7 days. They generally visit multiple scenic spots along a single route, with the main purposes being vacations, adventures, and recuperation. This group of travelers has the highest monthly income, generally above 5000 yuan. Due to the high requirements for technology and safety in long-distance self-driving tours, most travelers do not travel alone but instead follow professional car clubs or travel agencies.
Additionally, we found that when the distance to the destination reaches a certain level (approximately 500 km), the actual travel distance of self-driving tours conforms to the distance decay theory. That is, most tourists choose to travel within 500 km, and as the distance increases beyond 500 km, the number of tourists decreases progressively.
3. Self-driving tours are showing some new change trends.
Firstly, regarding travel distance, with the improvement in income levels and transportation conditions, most people tend to prefer long-distance travel, hoping to escape familiar environments for different experiences. Therefore, the number of people in this group is gradually increasing.
Secondly, as people's tourism concepts mature, the motivations of self-driving tourists are becoming diversified. Specialized tourism is gaining popularity, with activities like adventure, expansion, and barbecue becoming fashionable. Although the proportion of tourists visiting scenic spots is declining, it is undeniable that sightseeing and leisure will continue to dominate the self-driving tour market for a long time.
4. The consumption level of self-driving tourists is low, and the consumption structure is uneven.
The overall consumption level of self-driving tourists is low. Research reveals that this has little relation to the tourists' income. When considering the factors influencing the decision to go on a self-driving tour, the proportion choosing cost is minimal, indicating that most tourists do not worry about high consumption. The main reason for the low spending of self-driving tourists is the lack of products and projects in scenic areas that stimulate tourists' purchasing desires. Many tourists report having the desire to purchase but finding nothing available, leading to the current situation where the consumption level of self-driving tourists is low and the structure is unreasonable.
Fifth, Changes Brought by Self-Driving Tours to Tourism
After the rise of self-driving tours as a new form of tourism, it has injected some new elements into tourism, causing changes in certain aspects:
1. Promoting the Development of New Industries
After the development of self-driving tours, the biggest challenge facing project developers is how to provide specialized segmented markets for self-driving tourists. Thus, new industries have emerged, the most important being car camps. A car camp refers to a location on a self-driving tour route that relies on a scenic spot with beautiful scenery or is located near a tourist attraction. It has a certain amount of space and facilities and provides self-service or semi-self-service for self-driving enthusiasts. It has specific theme compound functions and is generally the preferred destination for self-driving tourists abroad. An upgraded version of the car camp, adapted to the needs of resort tourism, is becoming more leisure-oriented and personalized, adding outdoor sports, multi-functional swimming pools, entertainment, bookstores, clubhouses, and even golf courses with specific theme compound functions. This form is just beginning in our country but will be the future development trend.
2. Spawning the Emergence of New Trends
Most self-driving tour consumers are urbanites. With the development of the social economy, their demands for tourism products are getting higher and higher, no longer satisfied with simple activities like climbing mountains and viewing natural landscapes. Although ecological environment remains an important factor attracting tourists, they crave to experience novelty, excitement, and modern leisure and entertainment elements in their travels. Therefore, characteristic tourism products that focus on leisure and vacation, exploring leisure, health care, ecology, and culture, will become the development trend of self-driving tours.
Six, New Development Ideas for Tourist Attractions Under the Background of Self-Driving Tours
1. The Development of Tourist Attractions Should Maintain Their Original Ecology
In recent years, the booming development of self-driving tours has brought ample sources of visitors and substantial profits to scenic areas, but it is also causing pollution to the surrounding environment. Especially, the destruction of surface vegetation caused by parking self-driving cars and the exhaust pollution from driving pose significant harm to the scenic area environment and cultural relics. What self-driving tourists value most is the natural ecological environment that can relieve urban environmental and work pressures. Therefore, in the development and daily management of scenic areas relying on natural landscapes, environmental issues must be considered, striving to protect the natural ecology of the scenic area and creating a comfortable atmosphere that allows people to return to nature and enjoy it.
2. The Development of Tourist Attractions Should Focus on Overall Transportation Planning and Infrastructure Hardware Construction
In short to mid-distance