China Economic Review: "City Walk" opens up new ideas for expanding consumption | citywalk | Comment
The essence of "local deep tourism" represented by Citywalk is the integration and upgrading of culture and tourism. It is closely related to consumer behavior, which can activate a region's catering and shopping, and is also an innovative channel for regional and commercial marketing.
Shopping, also known as taking a walk, taking a bend, or crossing the road, now has a more stylish name: citywalk. In the eyes of enthusiasts, Citywalk can "add coffee" and visit coffee shops throughout the city; You can add delicious food and use your taste buds to select exclusive private dish routes; It could be a different way to open hutongs at night; You can also take a pet and follow a book for a walk.
In the first half of 2023, the search volume on the Xiaohongshu platform increased by more than 30 times year-on-year, reaching its peak in July, presenting an interesting phenomenon: elementary school students in study groups, college students in special forces tourism, adults in Citywalk, and the main force is "post-95s" professional women.
Where there are people, there is business. Recently, there have been people organizing citywalks on social media platforms, with fees ranging from over 30 yuan to hundreds of yuan per person. Many people's first reaction when they see this message is that they feel a bit amused. Similarly, if they go shopping and change their English name, they will need to pay for it?
In fact, the true theoretical foundation of citywalk is called "archaeological studies", which, in contrast to archaeology, focuses on studying contemporary culture and society. There is an important branch of "Kaoxian Learning" called "Road Observation Learning". For example, in the same neighborhood, architects can discover architectural aesthetics such as Roman columns and French balconies in a plain and ordinary way; Someone plays the role of a lifestyle expert and uses the "15 minute life circle" theory to study whether the community's food, clothing, housing, and transportation are convenient; Some people, from the perspective of historians, have discovered some forgotten historical imprints.
Slow down and experience deeper - this is not only the relaxing feeling that citywalk attracts, but also the focus of opening up consumer ideas. No wonder cultural and tourism departments across the country are eyeing this activity: this summer, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism has launched 30 themed "Strolling Beijing" routes and 15 "Rural Walk Maps" for summer vacation and escape; The official account of Shandong Culture and Tourism is "Hospitality Shandong", with a dedicated tweet "Citywalk, go as you please!" introducing the route; Shanghai also held the "Road Life Festival", which attracted over 200 performances, exhibitions, street light concerts, and food flash mobs, attracting 400 brands and businesses to participate and welcoming over 200000 citizens and tourists to the streets.
Of course, most of the routes launched by the tourism department are free. The essence of "local deep tourism" represented by Citywalk is the integration and upgrading of culture and tourism. It is closely related to consumer behavior, which can activate a region's catering and shopping, and is also an innovative channel for regional and commercial marketing. This approach may only be a small lever and may not become the main force in promoting consumption, but consumers should try to use it whenever they are interested in it.
In the past two years, various regions have actively created "retro streets and alleys", "characteristic streets", and "night economy", many of which are not located in core scenic areas, but these locations often cater to the taste of Citywalk. As long as you join the Citywalk route, even the smallest store has a chance to make an appearance; As long as consumers can leave their homes and attract more people, business can come to life.
If it's just a friend meeting to go shopping, it's purely a personal act; But if someone organizes and pays to participate, citywalk becomes a business behavior that requires consideration of responsibility allocation, unexpected risks, etc. At present, Ctrip and other platforms have launched multiple citywalk routes, most of which are undertaken by tour guide teams. The cost of over 100 yuan is mainly for explanation fees, which may be adding the suffix "citywalk" after past "one-day tours" in an attempt to catch up with this trend. This change itself indicates that tourists have a more diverse understanding of travel, shifting from seeing scenic spots and taking photos to pursuing personalized travel experiences. This is the change that the tourism industry needs to seize.
Citywalk has also presented a new topic for urban management. The government must attach great importance to comprehensively improving the consumer experience and creating an honest and trustworthy consumption environment, rather than just focusing on key scenic spots. With the footsteps of tourists scattered throughout every corner of the city, any small shop or individual may inadvertently make mistakes and damage the city's reputation that has been painstakingly built. From this perspective, city walk enthusiasts play the role of market supervisors.
The scorching heat is gradually passing. Let's wait for the crisp autumn weather and invite a few friends who specialize in their fields to start the first city walk of autumn. Let's take a look at the familiar city from a different perspective.
