Picture this: Industry serves desire for quality of life

The travel photography industry maintained a high growth rate last year, with the number of orders in the second half exceeding the same period in 2019, according to a report released in April by Fliggy, a popular online travel platform.

The growth happened despite the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. The 2019 industry development report of the China Portrait Photography Society said the total output value of the travel photo industry in 2018 hit 22 billion yuan ($3.4 billion), with a market increase of more than 30 percent.

Fliggy listed travel photography as an independent service category in 2018. The company said commodity turnover increased by more than 240 percent year-on-year in 2018 and 310 percent year-on-year in 2019.

The industry's 2021 report also showed that the top three reasons for users to use travel photography services were "being able to focus on appreciating beautiful scenery", "unsatisfied with photos taken by themselves" and "having beautiful pictures to post on social media".

It said people born before 1970 and after 2000 were behind the surge, with the post-2000 generation now accounting for the majority of customers.

Couples, friends, families and lone travelers were all major customers. The most popular destinations were the provinces of Yunnan, Hainan, Sichuan, Fujian, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Chen He, founder of Yimeiyipai, a travel photography service provider, told the 21st Century Business Herald that the rise of the business is fueled by the desire of younger people for a higher quality of life.

"People's demand for quality of life is rising, giving birth to their desire for more refined memories. Capturing beautiful moments during travel is one way," he said.

Huang Peng, director of Fliggy's travel photography service, told the Business Herald in an interview in 2019 that while travel photography has become increasingly popular among young people, it was still a "new thing"; yet, public demand developed strongly.

He added that the sector has huge potential. With the upgrading of consumption, users seek out more novel, personalized travel experiences. As a result, services will be pushed to become more customized and more closely integrated with travel destinations.