On the occasion of the 8th anniversary of the opening of Shanghai Disneyland Resort, the China Tourism Research Institute released the "2024 Shanghai Disneyland Resort Happy Tourism Trend Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") on June 13. Based on the excellent practices and operational concepts of Shanghai Disneyland Resort and the consumer insight research of the resort over the past 8 years, this report interprets the new hotspots, phenomena, and trends emerging in the current tourism industry.
Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Research Institute, said that with the recovery of consumption, people's demand for happiness is showing a more urgent and strong trend. The accelerated release of consumer demand in the domestic cultural and tourism market has provided new opportunities for cultural and tourism projects represented by theme parks and other tourism destinations, promoting the continued transformation of cultural and tourism demand towards high quality and diversification, further restructuring, reshaping, and upgrading the entire cultural and tourism industry.
Public data shows that in 2023, the number of domestic tourists reached 4.891 billion, an increase of 2.361 billion compared to the same period last year and a year-on-year increase of 93.3%. The total cost of domestic tourists traveling was 4.91 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.87 trillion yuan from the previous year and a year-on-year increase of 140.3%.
The report points out that China's tourism industry is facing a transformation from low-level demand to high-quality and diversified demand. High emotional value is becoming a traffic code for tourism destinations to expand, bringing more relaxation to participants. The rising popularity of flat tourism, reverse tourism, and healing tourism is a direct manifestation of these signals transmitted to the tourism market. It is people's yearning for a better spiritual life, as well as a diversified presentation that showcases individuality and self pursuit.
Theme parks have become the vanguard of embracing a "happy economy". Based on the research blueprint of Shanghai Disneyland Resort, official data shows that as of December 20, 2023, Shanghai Disneyland received over 13 million visitors in less than a year, setting a record for passenger flow since its opening. Driven by Shanghai Disneyland, the Shanghai International Tourism Resort, with the Shanghai Disneyland Resort as the core area where the park is located, also set a record for passenger flow in 2023. The entire Shanghai International Tourism Resort, which includes major attractions such as Shanghai Disneyland Resort, Bist Shanghai Shopping Village, and Ecological Park, had an annual passenger flow of 25.627 million people.
According to consumer insight data from Shanghai Disney Resort, over 40.99 million people watched live entertainment performances at the resort in 2023. Among them, the iconic daytime themed float parade "Mickey Fairy Tale Train" at Shanghai Disneyland attracted over 10.21 million viewers in 2023. The willingness of tourists to play again is as high as 85%. On average, Shanghai Disneyland annual card users check in to the park 12 times a year, and the average number of days a card is held exceeds 700 days.
Since its opening 8 years ago, Shanghai Disney Resort has continued to expand. On December 20, 2023, the world's first "Zootopia" themed park officially opened. Walt Disney announced at a previous investor summit that it will invest $60 billion in the Disney Experience segment over the next decade to expand its amusement park and develop its cruise business, which is equivalent to doubling the total investment of the past decade.
According to Han Jinfang, the data director of the Data Analysis Institute of the China Tourism Research Institute, from the perspective of customer source structure, in the composition of tourists at Shanghai Disneyland in 2023, the combination of tourists traveling without children and those traveling with children will be evenly distributed. Family tourists over 30 years old without children make up approximately 30% of Shanghai Disneyland visitors. The enthusiasm and demand for travel among the silver haired generation have become a new force in cultural and tourism. Compared to 2019 before the pandemic, the number of elderly tourists with one day and two day tickets at Shanghai Disneyland increased by about 75% in 2023.
According to Dai Bin's analysis in the report, tourism is no longer just a single leisure activity centered around "food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping, and entertainment". Emotional value has gradually become an important driving force and dominant factor for consumers to travel and play, and has an impact on consumer psychology, decision-making, and behavior from multiple aspects. The accelerated release of consumer demand in the domestic cultural and tourism market provides new opportunities for cultural and tourism projects represented by theme parks and other tourism destinations, promoting the continued transformation of cultural and tourism demand towards high quality and diversification, and further restructuring, reshaping, and upgrading the cultural and tourism industry.