Foreign tourists visit Beijing Drum Tower. Photo by Li Nanhua, reporter of People's Daily

"The air tickets for returning to China on May Day are almost fully booked." Xiao Liu, who studied in Japan, said that early May is also Japan's Golden Week, and many Japanese are preparing to travel to China.

As my country's orderly expansion of independent opening and unilateral opening, my country's inbound tourism market has continued to heat up since the beginning of this year. In the first quarter of this year, 9.215 million foreign tourists entered the country, an increase of 40.2% year-on-year. Recently, many departments have fully promoted measures such as "buy and refund" for overseas travelers' shopping and departure tax refunds, which has added a lot of "fire" to inbound travel, and the popularity of inbound travel during the May Day holiday has continued to rise.

"We often see foreign tourists who come to 'buy' with a few large suitcases. They like to buy electronic products the most, as well as some consumer products with Chinese characteristics such as traditional crafts, tea and cooling oil." The tour guide Xiaoji said that since the peak season, there has been a shortage of English tour guides, and there are so many reservation orders for the May Day holiday that they cannot be received.

"Preferential policies such as departure tax refunds should become normalized practices to attract international tourists and expand inbound consumption." Qi Yudong, dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration of Beijing Normal University, believes that the implementation of "buy and refund" measures such as departure tax refunds will help stimulate international tourists' consumption and purchases in my country, and expand the market demand and production supply of my country's time-honored products, consumer products, smart products, and arts and crafts products.

The reporter learned from the online travel platform that the popularity of inbound travel is comparable to that of inbound travel, and the demand for travel for Chinese residents during the May Day holiday has increased significantly.

Meituan Travel data shows that as of April 27, the search popularity of travel during the May Day holiday increased by 326% year-on-year; Ctrip data shows that the popularity of hotel search in China soared by 100% month-on-month in the past week, and the popularity of air ticket search soared by 80%; Tuniu data shows that the number of people who choose 3 to 5-day trips accounted for 62%, and nearly 10% of users chose 6 days and more travel itineraries; Qunar data shows that the booking volume of "May Day" and "Good Old Tour" scenic spots increased by more than 30% year-on-year.

During the May Day holiday, many young tourists choose to "port tour", including the Arshan Port in Inner Mongolia, the Alashan Port in Xinjiang, the Dongxing Port in Guangxi, and the Mohan Port in Yunnan... Tourists stand in front of the solemn national gate buildings, boundary monuments and landmark attractions such as "The Motherland is in My Heart", and their feelings for family and country are infinitely inspired. You can experience the unique geographical culture of other countries without having to work too much. This kind of tourism method is becoming a new hot spot for cultural and tourism consumption.

Some people like the lively atmosphere, while others like the quiet travel experience. Many tourists pay more attention to the quality and cost-effectiveness of travel, and the "small place and big experience" has gradually become more attractive. Many county destinations have completed supporting upgrades through the "micro vacation complex + intangible cultural heritage activation" model. For example, the Overseas Chinese Ancient Town of Chikan, Jiangmen has transformed film and television IP into cultural and tourism consumption scenarios, and has added intangible cultural heritage exhibitions such as Cantonese opera, lion waking, and dragon dance.

Qi Yudong said that in recent years, the people's demand for cultural and tourism consumption has been continuously escalating. The cultural and tourism department should strengthen strategic planning, optimize the tourism environment throughout the business, all processes and cycles, and promote the sustained and rapid development of the tourism industry. Tourism enterprises should truly implement the concept of "tourist-centeredness", comprehensively optimize the environment of "food, accommodation, transportation, entertainment, tourism and shopping", and enhance tourists' experience and satisfaction throughout the process.