China's growing performance market boosts tourism, consumption

NANNING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- With the recent boom in China's performance market, it has become increasingly common to see people traveling long distances to see shows, dragging their suitcases from city to city.

Xiang Xinya, in her 20s, has just made the two-day trip from southwest China's city of Chengdu to the southern city of Nanning for a concert by her favorite singer, a treat she had been anticipating for a long time.

The national performance market saw a huge surge in both supply and demand in 2023.

Data from the China Association of Performing Arts shows that in the first three quarters of 2023, the number of commercial performances reached 342,400 nationwide, an increase of 278.76 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the box office revenue of performances stood at 31.54 billion yuan (about 4.44 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 453.74 percent year on year.

The huge influx of audiences brought by the performance market has greatly boosted the consumption of host cities, with booming demand for catering, accommodation and transportation.

Sutakim, an Indonesian music enthusiast living in Guangxi's city of Liuzhou, visited Nanning several times in 2023. "I came to Nanning mostly for cultural activities like the China-ASEAN Film and Music Festival, and the Mid-autumn Festival Gala. Every time I came here, I would try different restaurants," he said.

After the performance, Xiang also visited several famous scenic spots, such as Qingxiu Mountain in Nanning, and tried local specialties, including the Laoyou rice noodles. "It was my first visit to Nanning and I enjoyed it a lot. Now, a concert can be the driving force for young people like me to start a trip," she said.

In cities like Nanning, the vibrant performance market also injects vitality into the night economy.

"After the performance, many people will come to the night market and eat snacks, even till midnight," said Qin Xianke, who runs a food stand at a night market in Nanning. He said that the number of visitors in the night market has increased significantly following the growth of performances.

With the strong recovery of the performance market, cities such as Guangxi's Beihai, Qujing in southwest China's Yunnan, and Quzhou in east China's Zhejiang emerged as hot tourist destinations.

Local governments have also taken various measures to welcome the flow of people. Nanning has extended the operating times of buses and subway trains, and organizes fleets to meet travel demand when concerts are held. In the city of Beihai, audience members can enjoy free or discounted meals in local restaurants with ticket stubs from the music festival.

Yao Hua, director of the Institute of Sociology, Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that the performance market has been further standardized, and the booming performance economy has continuously driven consumption growth to meet people's spiritual and cultural needs.

"The host city should take the opportunity to improve infrastructure construction and enhance service capabilities," added Yao.