Boom in red tourism over China’s weeklong National Day holiday

Red tourism is a new highlight of China’s National Day holiday, according to a report on tourism during the holiday in 2018.

The report by lvmama. com, a domestic tourism ecommerce website, revealed that the tourist spots where red culture and natural scenery blend are attracting tourists from all over the world.

Revolutionary sites with historical significance become a good place for older generations to look back and young people to learn history, the report said.

To attract tourists, authorities cut the price of tickets for some of its red tourist destinations starting in June. Beijing, with the largest concentration of red tourist attractions, also offers 20 red tour themed routes for tourists to choose.

Chinese students and young people are the main force visiting military-themed attractions including theme-parks, former battle sites, and military museums as the government promotes red tourism for patriotic education.

According to the latest report from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the first half of 2018, 484 million people visited 436 classic red tourist attractions across China, totaling 17.13 percent of the number of domestic tourists.

According to The Beijing News, more than 1.3 billion people visited red tourist attraction in 2017, equivalent to the total population of China and accounting for 26.5 percent of domestic tourists. This was the peak number of red tourists in the past decade. Figures for this year are not available, but are expected to be even higher.

Meanwhile, local governments have invested heavily in red tourism projects. More than 100 million yuan ($14.56 million) was invested in red tourism scenic spots in Beijing from 2011 to 2017, according to China National Radio.

Red tourism has been one of the ways to promote economic development in revolutionary areas, such as East China’s Jiangxi Province. The province will build 15 red tourist highways by 2020.