Quzhou, Zhejiang Province has established a dedicated office for organizing concerts. Activities | Events | Office
During this period, major cities across the country are holding intensive concerts. People talk about the "concert economy" and marvel at the economic income that a concert can bring to a place. For first - and second tier cities, hosting a concert is not surprising, but for Quzhou, a concert may be an opportunity to gain popularity. On August 6th, Quzhou, Zhejiang held its fourth large-scale concert of the year, with an unprecedented frequency and intensity in Quzhou.
The Quzhou Sports Center, which was put into use in October last year.
Establish an office for the concert
Previously, due to limited venues, Quzhou had almost never held a large-scale concert. Last October, the Quzhou Sports Center was officially completed and put into use, which gave Quzhou a performance venue that could accommodate more than 30000 people.
On March 18 this year, the first stop of star Jacky Xue's solo concert was in Quzhou. "Artists are very famous, will they be affected when they come to Quzhou for concerts?" Gong Xiaofeng, director of the Tourism Development Center of Quzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, once had concerns. Quzhou's popularity is not high, and people may think that small places cannot hold concerts well, "after all, many people don't even know how to read Quzhou's Quzhou."
This concert was actively won by Quzhou, which is related to a newly established office.
At the beginning of this year, Quzhou planned to focus on the newly completed sports center, introducing major sports events and large-scale events through venues, to stimulate consumption and revitalize the economy. At this point, there is an urgent need for a specialized organization to tinker with this matter. In February, a leadership group for major sports events in 2023 was established at the municipal level, forming a joint meeting mechanism. The Office for Promoting Major Sports Events in 2023 was established, with the director of the Office jointly serving as the Director of the Sports Bureau and the Deputy Secretary General of the Municipal Party Committee Office. The member units mainly include various committees and bureaus throughout the city, as well as some unexpected ones, such as the Petition Office, which is responsible for following feedback from netizens, supply and marketing cooperatives, and "promoting" Quzhou famous snacks and local specialties.
Zhi Le, Deputy Director of Quzhou Sports Bureau, serves as the Executive Deputy Director of the Promotion Office. Not long after the establishment of the institution, Zhile moved the office desk to the functional room attached to the sports center. There are about 12 people working together with him in a centralized way, including the Housing and Construction Bureau, the Public Security Bureau, the Sports Bureau, the Culture and Tourism Bureau and other units, as well as the relevant responsible person of the the Pearl River Culture and Sports Center operating unit, and the relevant responsible person of Quzhou local performing arts company Grand Garden Group.
The first concert held in Quzhou this year was actively coordinated with the execution team of the promotion office. "The artist's itinerary was originally scheduled, and the first event would be held in Nanning on April 1st. We calculated the time, and it would take about 2 weeks to demolish the stage and rebuild it. We contacted in advance and suggested that they come to our place to hold it on March 18th. After several communications, the other party submitted an application for the event.". The concert approval was approved within one day, and the additional venue approval was approved within half a day.
The concert audience rushed from all over the country to Quzhou.
"We mainly do two things, the first is to connect with the performing arts company, and the second is to provide good service to the audience who come to see the concert." Zhile introduced that as a government service agency, they approve the activity application of the performing arts company according to the principle of maximum one visit; At the same time, the entire viewing experience for the audience is guaranteed, such as negotiating with the hotel, refusing price increases, coordinating with the public security department, controlling traffic, and cooperating with the publicity department to guide the audience to enter and leave safely. Considering that there are currently no commercial buildings around the sports stadium, we will coordinate with the Commerce Bureau and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to hold food festivals nearby. The form of subsequent activities will be fixed, forming a food street operated by the market entities, which many local residents will also visit.
After several practices, Quzhou, which had never held a concert before, gradually formed a series of norms and standard processes. "When the performing arts market takes shape, everything will be managed and managed by someone, and the operation will be smooth, so there is no need to promote the promotion of the event." Zhi Le said, which may be the reason why the full name of the promotion event was added with "2023". He joked, "Our work goal is to promote the early dissolution of the event."
The follow-up effects of the concert
What can a concert bring? Quzhou can provide a wide range of answers.
In the short term, the concert will bring direct economic income to Quzhou. Before the first concert, the relevant departments of culture and tourism set up a data model to calculate the economic benefits of the concert - Jacky Xue's concert was held twice in Quzhou, with 56000 fans entering the concert alone, bringing 124 million yuan of tourism revenue and driving 690 million yuan of consumption.
Before and after the concert, there was a long queue at the entrance of the Confucian Temple.
In the long run, concerts have a significant driving effect on tourism in Quzhou. The Confucian Temple in Quzhou was the place where Confucius' eldest grandson lived, which is why it was called a family temple. Another family temple is located in Qufu, Shandong. In recent years, Quzhou has placed great emphasis on promoting the "Southern Confucian Culture", but the number of tourists visiting the Quzhou Confucian Temple has always been limited. "A few days before and after the concert, there were queues at the entrance of the Confucius Temple, which were several hundred meters long and all young people." Gong Xiaofeng was surprised, and when the concert was not held, the number of tourists had also increased several times compared to previous years. Quzhou has introduced a policy of offering free admission to some scenic spots within a month with concert tickets. Gong Xiaofeng later learned that more than 100 people bring concert tickets to the Longyou Grottoes every day, "maybe there will be returning customers for the concert here.".
The Songyuan vegetable market in Quzhou unexpectedly became popular on social media. "Normally, only uncles and aunties would go to the vegetable market to buy breakfast and some vegetables. Now, the main body of the market has become young people." Gong Xiaofeng said that among the young people who watch concerts, the most common snacks in the eyes of the locals, such as bagged pancakes, Quzhou pancakes, and Quzhou duck heads, have been filmed and posted online, becoming internet celebrities. The cake seller expanded the number of boilers from 1 to 4, and the queue for buying cakes was arranged from morning to noon. Netizens have also given the snack street a new name, "Carbon Water Street". A few days ago, Zhi Le's younger brother traveled from his hometown of Jiangxi to Quzhou and also went to visit the vegetable market and eat pancakes. "I didn't expect his reputation to have spread to Jiangxi," Zhi Le felt a sense of achievement.
The pine garden bagged cake has been ignited.
In the first half of this year, Quzhou received 6.797 million tourists and nearly 5 million overnight tourists. "The number of tourists may not be comparable to other cities in Zhejiang, but the proportion of overnight tourists is 75%, which is very high," Gong Xiaofeng said. Previously, this number was less than 50%. The tourist attractions in Quzhou are mainly sightseeing oriented and not very attractive to visitors. "For example, the Longyou Grottoes in Quzhou can be visited for up to 2 hours and even climbed out." However, foreign tourists who come to see concerts usually have to stay overnight. If a foreign tourist can stay for an extra day, the resulting consumption will double. "We definitely have to stay and eat, and the hotel and catering business can benefit."
In addition, several successful concerts are expected to revitalize the performing arts market in Quzhou and become a new economic growth point. "After the first concert was successfully held, Quzhou's reputation was established, and people knew that Quzhou was a city that could host concerts well." Zhi Le said that in order to improve the reputation of the concert, they put in a lot of effort - because the sports center was spacious, they coordinated the opening of 4 concert dedicated lines from high-speed rail and passenger stations, 10 hotel bus dedicated lines, 200 bus shuttle buses, 2500 shared bicycles and shared electric vehicles, making it convenient for the audience to travel; Considering the possible shortage of supply in surrounding hotels, we have allocated 680 rooms to the audience, including the Quzhou Municipal Party School, Qujiang District Party School, and Quzhou Open University.
The market and snack streets are filled with young people.
Going further, Zhi Le and Gong Xiaofeng constantly mentioned "young people" in interviews. "The people who come to watch the concert are all young people, and those who go to the vegetable market and queue up at the Confucius Temple are also young people. It is still young people who post their travel experiences in Quzhou on social media." Gong Xiaofeng said that the group that the concert can impress is mostly young people, and when they come to Quzhou, they should also try their best to showcase the charm and attractiveness of the city. "Perhaps because of a concert, a young person will choose to work, start a family, and build Quzhou in the future, and that would be even better."
