Eric's Insight: Is Yunnan ready for post-Covid tourist surges?

Yunnan province received a record high of 45.14 million tourists in the just-concluded 2023 Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year increase of 244.7%, said local tourist authorities on January 28. With a gross tourist revenue of 38.43 billion yuan, Yunnan ranked first in tourism income among the 21 Chinese provinces that publicized their tourism performances during the golden holiday.

The Fengyangyi village in west Yunnan's Dali, where the typical scenes in the popular TV play Meet Yourself are shot, is occupied by tourists on Feburay 1. Photo/Yunnan Daily

The Yunnan tourism surge in the 2023 Spring Festival holiday can be attributed to the following factors. First, Yunnan is endowed with favorable natural conditions for tourism, especially the warm sunshine and enchanting sky in winter, making it a paradise or shelter for northerners shivering in severe cold to cope with the harsh days.

Second, efforts for tourism development are made by provincial authorities. The Yunnan Party committee and government have been dedicated to improving tourist services over the years, featuring the smart and direct tourist information services via the Go-Yunnan app. They tried hard to brand Yunnan into a destination for healthy life styles, making the province more appealing to global tourists.

Third, the tourism surge is ignited by some recent developments in the country, including the super popular TV play Meet Yourself and the loosened Chinese Covid restrictions. The TV play is arguably a strong boost for Yunnan rural tourism and cultural tourism, allowing the Shaxi old town on the ancient Tea-Horse Road to be better known to Chinese and international travelers. The loosened Covid restrictions motivated nationwide residents to have a change by traveling, contributing to a consumption surge in the province.

In the consumption surge, the hospitality of Yunnan locals was again manifested in the episode. A family of three from east China’s Hangzhou city visited Yunnan during the Spring Festival holiday, but one scenic area was so touristy that most visitors had to wait in line for hours for a meal. At the sight of such crowds, they found a local household outside the scenic spot and offered 600 yuan for a lunch and a dinner. Unexpectedly, the host not only treated them generously, but also quietly returned the money, leaving a note: "We Chinese are one family wherever we are, and welcome to my home again if you’re free."

 

Villagers perform for visitors in Laodabao, southwest Yunnan’s Lancang Lahu autonomous county during the Spring Festive holiday. Photo/Yunnan Daily 

Well, it’s really something rosy and heart-warming. However, the episode also presented us another side of the reality: Yunnan seems not to be fully-prepared for the recent tourism surge, or the Hangzhou family couldn’t have chosen to seek a meal in a private residence. In fact, quite a few complaining voices have appeared on the Chinese social media.

Some drive tourists from other Chinese provinces found it hard to book a room in many Yunnan destinations, and the prices of some home stays and holiday inns have been hiked. Others complained about poor tourist services, citing overcrowded sight-seeing areas, traffic jams on roads, taxis shortages, rate increases by drivers, compulsory items in consumption, and more. These are all real problems when traveling, and Yunnan needs to make fast changes and improvements to sustain local tourism prosperity.

It is at such backdrop that the Yunnan tourist authorities rolled out 16 measures to improve order in provincial tourism market, saying the golden brands of Yunnan tourism should be cared for by practical actions. Highlighting tourist market supervision, case investigation, corporate faiths, case exposure, labor affairs, and disciplinary accountability, the measures have conveyed a clear message to the public: the said problems are just temporary and Yunnan has confidence in tackling all of them.

The timely measures are not only a reaffirmation to further improve Yunnan tourism market order, but also a responsible reflection or warning. When the province is rejoicing in the full recovery of tourism, it seems more than necessary to calmly face the squeezed tourist resources, rising prices and overloaded scenic areas. The tourist sector in Yunnan needs to seriously reflect on its weak links in resource allocation, reception capacity and service quality. Actually, Yunnan has been serious in creating a favorable tourist market and improving tourist services.

 

The across-border tours are resumed at the Daluo crossing near the China-Laos boundary. Photo/Yunnan Daily 

In the years before the Covid-19 outbreak, Yunnan implemented 22 measures to regulate provincial tourist market, imposing zero-tolerance on those who dared to break the rules. Amid the past three years of Covid restrictions, provincial tourism and tours within the city were encouraged, with out-dated tourist facilities renovated. In Kunming city, the Dianchi lake has been decorated by scores of wetland parks in its surrounding areas. In this sense, Yunnan has been gearing up for tourism surges. So long as provincial tourist authorities and travel services work together in implementing the new 16 measures, the said problems will be diminished.

As China further optimized its practices in Covid control, the neighboring countries hold high expectations that Chinese tourists could contribute a lot to post-Covid economic recovery in the region. Starting on Feb. 6, China resumed outbound group tours, and on the following day, Kunming-based Jin'ai International Travel Services organized the first post-Covid tourist group to Laos via the China-Laos Railway. The Southeast Asian countries, especially Thailand, is still the first choice for Yunnan tourists, said a Yunnan Daily report.

In the future, Yunnan should forge more tourism cooperation with its domestic peers and international partners, serving as a key stopover for tourists in the tri-junction of China, ASEAN and South Asia. While inviting in more tourists from the coastal Chinese provinces and the neighboring ASEAN and South Asian countries, the province, using its favorable location, can encourage more international tours. In this way, Yunnan can grow to be a hub for people-to-people bonds in the region.

(The writer Eric Wang Shixue is an English editor with the Mekong News Network based in Kunming, Yunnan province. The view in the article does not necessarily represent that of Yunnan Gateway.)