Qunar's cultural trips indulge domestic travelers

Rock rubbings, protection of wetlands along the Yellow River, participation in performing arts, craftwork, and opportunities to experience folk customs - these are some of the offerings coming the Chinese travelers' way, thanks to Qunar, an online travel firm.

Owned by China's largest online travel agency Ctrip, Qunar is redefining domestic tourism by harnessing the power of cultural elements.

It launched over 100 culture-themed tours in late June. These include in-depth trips, group excursions, and individual tours. Most trips are in the economy class. The most expensive tour - it lasts seven days and covers the Tibet autonomous region - sells for less than 6,000 yuan ($873).

Travelers are encouraged to write or recollect and sing folk songs, and attend traditional Chinese dramas such as Beijing opera, Shaanxi opera and Sichuan opera.

They can also go to the historical Qianmen Street in Beijing to watch a Beijing opera show in virtual reality, try on related costumes and interact with some famous opera artistes.

More than 60 culture-themed tours of Qunar target destinations in southwestern China. Provinces such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and the municipality of Chongqing are popular.

These tours are expected to help drive local tourism, reinforce the region's vitality and promote local talent.

"Some of our customers were born in the 1990s. They account for over one-third of the total. There is a trend among younger consumers to buy Chinese-made fashion and other trendy items like clothes, signifying style and taste, and we think they should also go on domestic tours and explore traditions, history and culture," said Huang Fan, general manager of destination marketing at Qunar.

"Culture-oriented travels are expected to become a new growth point in the next decade. We would like to revitalize the rich and longstanding historical and cultural heritage in China through niche travel products. China has top tourism resources, and we will keep developing and exploring more routes in western China, and attract more foreign travelers to visit those scenic spots."

Last year, the culture and tourism departments of the government joined forces, which spurred culture-oriented travels. During the weeklong National Day holiday in October last year, the number of domestic tourists reached 726 million. More than 90 percent of them participated in cultural events.

Besides, more than 78 percent of the tourists spent more than two days in experiencing culture, according to the China Tourism Academy.

"In the 'new era', soft power like culture is important. Trips to places with intangible cultural heritage can help young travelers to strengthen their confidence in the national culture," said Cheng Lu, chairman of the Association for Promotion of West China Research and Development.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), more than 80 million people are expected to work for the cultural tourism sector.

The sector is foreseen to account for 15 percent to 18 percent of China's GDP, according to a paper by Li Ji, a professor of the Guanghua School of Management, which is part of Peking University in Beijing.