This summer, mass tourism consumption continued to upgrade, travel demands became increasingly diversified, and the integration of culture, sports, and tourism continued to deepen. "Traveling with the sporting events" and "going to a city for a performance" are no longer isolated phenomena, but are gradually becoming large-scale and normalized. Regional sports events such as the Jiangsu Super League, Northeast Super League, and Guangdong Super League, as well as concerts and music festivals, gained widespread popularity. Various regions launched a series of consumption initiatives that effectively extended tourists' stays, driving consumption growth in catering, accommodation, shopping, and other sectors, injecting strong new momentum into the cultural and tourism market.

Multiple forces combined to drive the integration of culture, sports, and tourism towards market normalcy.

"Behind this phenomenon lies the convergence of three forces at the same time: demand, policy, and supply," said Wang Xiaoyu, professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Management, Beijing Sport University. From the demand side, residents' consumption structure is undergoing profound adjustments—both the pursuit of cost-effectiveness in material consumption and the continuous upgrading of cultural experiences coexist, leading to an increasingly clear trend of stratified consumption demand. Niche demands (marathons, music festivals, plays) and mass-market emotional herd consumption ("Suzhou Super League," "Village Super League," concerts) are simultaneously increasing in volume, with sports events and performing arts precisely at the intersection of these two types of demand. From the policy side, in March 2025, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Special Action Plan for Boosting Consumption," explicitly listing the integration of culture, sports, and tourism as a key driver for consumption promotion; the "15th Five-Year Plan" further elevated the coordinated development of culture, sports, and tourism to a national strategy, and this high-level policy support provides institutional support for market expansion. From the supply side, grassroots events such as the "Suzhou Super League" and "Village Super League" have revitalized county-level cultural tourism, diversified the supply of performing arts products such as concerts, music festivals, and dramas, and the increased efficiency of high-speed rail network and social media dissemination has significantly reduced the time and economic costs of "traveling across cities for an event".

“It’s not a coincidence that the traffic is so high, but rather a structural shift in the integration of culture, sports and tourism from ‘policy advocacy’ to ‘market norm’,” Wang Xiaoyu pointed out.

Sports events: From venue creation and expanding to audience retention

Popular mass sports events during the summer have a significant impact on cultural and tourism consumption in related destinations. Data from the Tongcheng Travel platform shows that during the "Northeast Super League" competition, the number of out-of-town tourists from Shenyang, Harbin and other cities increased by more than 70% compared to before the competition. Out-of-town spectators from the host cities of the "Jiangsu Super League" stayed an average of 2-3 days longer than ordinary tourists, which had a significant boosting effect on accommodation consumption around the competition venues.

Data from the Tuniu platform also shows that the "Northeast Super" event has become a catalyst for Shenyang's cultural tourism market. This summer, the number of users booking trips to Shenyang through Tuniu increased by nearly 20% compared to the same period last year, with hotel and flight bookings increasing by 49% and 31% respectively. Since July, the popularity of travel to Shenyang has continued to rise, peaking in late July and continuing until mid-to-late August.

“The operation of sports event traffic generally goes through a three-stage path: ‘creating a venue’, ‘breaking out of the circle’, and ‘retaining’. Creating a venue means turning the event into an IP and creating an immersive experience, upgrading the game from a ‘90-minute sports event’ to a ‘3-5 day city experience’. Breaking out of the circle means using emotional communication and social media virality to trigger emotional resonance among the public. For example, the Village Super League triggers local identity, the Jiangsu Super League triggers city honor, and concerts trigger idol emotions. Retaining is about converting short-term traffic into continuous consumption growth.” Wang Xiaoyu believes that the key to an event’s success lies not in the competitive level of the event itself, but in whether the event can become an emotional carrier that allows the public to “resonate” with it. The first six rounds of the Jiangsu Super League drove 37.96 billion yuan in revenue from cultural, sports and tourism services, a year-on-year increase of 42.7%, which is essentially a monetization of the public’s sense of city honor.

For cities, how can they capitalize on this "overwhelming wealth" and leverage the event's IP to create a lasting cultural tourism brand? "Differentiated positioning—not replicating Zibo or imitating Harbin, but finding a unique local emotional anchor; full-chain scenario creation—embedding the event into the entire chain of 'eating, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment,' avoiding a singular ticket-based economy; multi-party collaborative governance—government guidance, market entities, and community participation forming a synergy to prevent a rapid cooling after initial popularity," Wang Xiaoyu believes. He argues that the integration of culture, sports, and tourism requires three major transformations: from static resource display to dynamic content operation; from a single ticket-based economy to a comprehensive profit model; and from government investment-driven to market demand-driven operational logic. "Only by completing these three transformations can the event IP move from 'one successful event' to 'every successful event.'"

Performing arts empower cultural tourism: from selling tickets to selling experiences

Data released by the China Association of Performing Arts shows that in the first half of 2026, there were 1,300 large-scale commercial performances, including concerts and music festivals with more than 5,000 attendees, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.06%; box office revenue reached 17.111 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.70%; and the number of audience members reached 23.2828 million, a year-on-year increase of 20.37%. It is worth noting that the operation of large-scale music festivals is increasingly focused on enhancing brand value, designing personalized lineups, and segmenting audiences, shifting from "competing for viewership" to "competing for experience." Solo concerts, themed concerts, music festivals, and other large-scale performance projects continue to stimulate mass cultural and entertainment consumption.

Behind the phenomenon of "traveling to a city for a single performance" lies the deep integration of the performing arts economy and cultural tourism consumption, reflecting the willingness of young people to pay for transportation, accommodation, and other out-of-town expenses for their passions. Wang Xiaoyu believes this isn't simply a matter of "young people having money," but rather the simultaneous influence of two logics: rational demand in niche markets and emotional, herd-like consumption in the mass market. Leisure consumption is shifting from "spatial consumption" to "time consumption." In the past, people asked "Where to go?"; today, young people ask "How to spend this time?" Traveling to another city to see a concert is essentially reorganizing one's leisure time around an emotional anchor.

From watching a show to staying overnight, from selling tickets to selling experiences, the humble ticket stub represents a profound shift in consumption logic. Wang Xiaoyu offers his thoughts on this: Upgrade tickets to interconnected vouchers, allowing ticket stubs to be redeemed for discounts and benefits at local scenic spots, restaurants, accommodations, and commercial establishments, transforming a single ticket purchase into a city-wide consumption gateway; transform ticket stubs into social currency, leveraging their identity and community attributes to guide secondary consumption and develop derivative products; and solidify ticket stubs into data assets, building user profiles and membership systems to achieve a transformation from one-time ticket sales to full-lifecycle operation.

Ultimately, the value of integrating culture, sports, and tourism lies in enabling tickets to transcend their single function as mere "admission credentials." Only by effectively managing visitor flow can cities transform a single cross-city trip into a lasting attraction that encourages repeat visits. (Source: CNR.cn)