The era of “where there are lawns, there are tents” is expected to become a thing of the past. On June 6, the reporter combed and found that in recent years, many places have studied and issued relevant camping industry specifications. Among them, Chengdu has issued the “Chengdu Park (Greenway) Sunshine Tent Area Opening Pilot Plan”, which defines 22 camping sites and the basic principles of pilot management. Previously, cities including Shanghai and Nanjing have also issued regulations or are preparing to introduce new regulations for the camping industry. Since this year, the camping market has been on the rise, which has driven the relevant industrial chain and also attracted many tourism enterprises such as Ctrip, CYTS and Swiden to make layout. Industry insiders said that at this stage, China’s camping market is still in the early stage of development, and there are still land issues, camp design and related specifications to be solved.
The tent has its own area
With the popularity of the camping market, many cities have recently issued new regulations to guide the orderly development of the camping industry.
Recently, the Chengdu Municipal Park and Urban Construction Administration issued the “Chengdu Park (Greenway) Sunshine Tent Area Opening Pilot Plan” (hereinafter referred to as the “Pilot Plan”), which mentioned that a number of parks (greenways) lawns or understory spaces with an area of more than 1000 square meters have been sorted out in the “11+2” area of Chengdu as the park (greenway) sunshine tent area opening pilot area, through further improving the park (greenway) identification system, Facilities such as convenience, sports and entertainment should be appropriately added to the surrounding areas to further meet the needs of citizens for outdoor activities. The Pilot Plan also defines 22 camping sites and the basic principles of pilot management, including the regulation of tourists’ behavior.
In addition to Chengdu, Guangzhou also launched the first batch of 24 green lawn tent areas at the beginning of this year, and designated special areas for tourists to set up tents in eligible parks; In Shenzhen, 22 parks have also designated tent areas.
In Nanjing, in addition to trying to operate camping bases, some scenic spots and resorts also try to standardize camping. On April 18, this year, Nanjing Xuanwu Lake Scenic Area published the “Tent Construction Management Measures for Xuanwu Lake Scenic Area (for Trial Implementation)”, which stipulates that tourists can build tents in designated areas and places, and shall not use tents with wind ropes and need to be fixed with ground nails. In the middle of May, Nanjing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the Bureau of Culture and Tourism also successively held a symposium on camping work to listen to the opinions of all parties and formulate countermeasures for the development of camping.
Industry insiders said that the new regulations issued by various regions are expected to end the “barbaric growth” model of the camping industry and tend to standardized development.
Sales of camping related commodities increased by more than 6 times year-on-year
The popularity of the camping market has also driven the development of relevant industrial chains. In the past Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the “figure” of camping appeared on the list of many OTAs.
According to the data of the same journey, during the small and long holiday of the Dragon Boat Festival this year, the attention of camping around the city continued to rise, and the search fever rose 54% month-on-month. From the perspective of the types of camping, the relevant data of Mafengwo also shows that “hydrophilic camping”, “forest camping” and “seaside camping” have become the most popular camping themes for young people during the small and long holidays.
The popularity of camping activities also boosted the sales of related products to a certain extent. The Beijing Business Daily reporter learned from the Meituan flash purchase that the overall sales of camping related goods during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday increased by more than 6 times over the previous year. The disposable barbecue rack, picnic mat, casserole and tent are the most urgently needed camping equipment for consumers, among which the sales of disposable barbecue rack increased by 37 times over the previous year.
“In addition to outdoor related products, the popularity of the camping market has also driven self-driving tours,” said the relevant head of a camping enterprise. According to the data of Gaud Map, the number of personal guides with the theme of “camping” released by users on Gaud Map has increased significantly. In the past April, the number of this type of guide released is nearly three times of the total number of guides shared with the theme in the first quarter of this year.
In addition, camping has also attracted many tourism enterprises. Non-standard accommodation operator Svidden Group recently launched the “Svidden Light Luxury Camping Wonderful” camping product, and officially arranged the camping market. Previously, CYTS Aoyou.com also released a new brand “Aoyoucamper”, announcing its entry into the field of exquisite camping. In the view of industry insiders, camping is the hottest field in the tourism industry at present, so it also attracts more and more enterprises. However, in the rapidly expanding market, it also needs to be standardized.
The design and environment of the campsite should be considered
While the camping industry has entered the fast lane, some unsolved problems have emerged.
Ms. Zhang, the “post-90s” working in Beijing, is an outdoor camping enthusiast. She often takes her tent to the open park to enjoy the weekend. During a camping trip, she found that many people left garbage in the park. Because there were too many people, there would always be situations that could not take care of the surrounding environment. Ms. Zhang told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that “the management of camping sites and camping activities in the park needs to be further strengthened. Many people don’t know where to camp, so they find a place to camp in the park”.
In fact, before the planning of the camping area in the multi-land park, some campers told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that it was difficult to find fixed campsites around Beijing due to land restrictions, while enterprises seeking cooperation in some parks or large wetland parks would be subject to other restrictions.
In response, Liu Hanqi, Secretary-General of the Self-driving and Camping RV Branch of the China Tourism Vehicle and Boat Association, believes that at present, land leasing is still one of the main challenges facing the development of the camping industry. “Camp investment is mainly based on the cost of land, but the process for investors to get land is relatively complex. Moreover, the government has high requirements for camp land, and many cities will not specifically take out land for camps”.
Gu Huimin, dean of the School of Tourism Science, Beijing Second Foreign Languages University, also believes that there are some problems in the construction of campsites in China at present. We should not only be professional in design, but also pay attention to the environment and maintain sustainable development. At the same time, it is also necessary to improve consumers’ awareness of protecting the surrounding environment when camping.
With regard to the next development of the camping industry, Liu Hanqi said that the China Tourism Vehicle and Boat Association hopes to promote and lead the further development of the camping industry through standardization, camp level recognition and other measures. It is also hoped that more relevant policies will be introduced in the future to promote the development of campsites.