Many scenic spots across multiple regions are offering free admission policies, and the post-holiday tourism market is showing signs of a "off-season not quiet" trend.

Source: Securities Times Network Author: Cao Chen

Recently, multiple scenic areas have released free admission notices. With the spring outing demand stacked on top of the “free ticket effect,” March—a traditional low season for culture and tourism—has warmed up rapidly, and after the holiday, the culture and tourism market has shown a “low season not low” pattern.

According to incomplete statistics, as of now, across multiple provinces nationwide, including Jiangxi, Henan, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Anhui, and others, scenic areas have rolled out time-limited free-admission preferential policies (some scenic areas offer free entry to specific groups of visitors). Data from the Tongcheng Travel platform shows that over the past week, search interest for keywords such as “scenic area free admission” and “travel in off-peak hours” has continued to rise, with a month-over-month increase of 358%. Among them, scenic areas such as Yun t’ai Mountain Scenic Area, Shenyang Imperial Palace, Mount Lu Scenic Area, Tianji Longmen, and Qingtianhe Scenic Area have entered the national “free-admission scenic areas” heat ranking, with several appearing in the TOP10.

As of March 4, on the platform, search and booking heat for hotels and scenic area tickets has dropped noticeably compared with the peak period of the Spring Festival holiday. But compared with the same period last year, it still shows an over 10% increase. For some popular scenic areas, the month-over-month increase in search volume reaches 2.6 times, presenting a “low season not low” picture. In terms of visitor mix, during the Spring Festival, the inbound pattern led by hometown visits and cross-province travel gradually cools down, while local trips and trips to nearby areas become increasingly active.

Specifically, in March, Jiangxi’s Mount Lu Scenic Area will waive admission for all visitors from across the country and around the world. In the past week, the scenic area’s search volume increased by 156% month over month, and the booking heat for hotels around the scenic area rose by 23% year over year. In addition, in March, Henan’s Yun t’ai Mountain Scenic Area offers free admission to visitors from the “Four Provinces of Rivers and Mountains”—Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei—boosting the scenic area’s search volume by 244% month over month, and the booking heat for nearby hotels grew by 18% year over year. The Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum will allocate 3,000 free tickets per day for appointment by Shenyang residents from March 3 to March 8. On the Tongcheng platform, its search and appointment heat increased by 163% month over month. After free tickets opened for appointment on March 3 and 4, they were quickly snapped up.

According to data from Qunar, the “free ticket effect” directly drives a surge in bookings for hotels around multiple scenic areas. On February 25, Jiangxi’s Mount Lu officially announced that from March 1 to March 31, 2026, it would offer free admission to all visitors from across the country and around the world, covering eight core scenic areas including Mount Lu Scenic Area, Santsi Spring, and the Bailu Cave Academy. After the news was released, the number of hotel bookings in the business district where Mount Lu is located increased significantly. As of now, bookings for hotels around Mount Lu for March stays surged to 5 times the level of the week before the announcement, on a month-over-month basis.

Data shows that, in the same period, bookings for hotels in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi were also boosted, with a month-over-month growth of 2.6 times, reflecting a consumption trend in which visitors take the opportunity of free admission to deeply travel and spend in nearby cities.

Since November 2025, Quzhou in Zhejiang has provided free access to 13 core scenic areas for global visitors through March 31, 2026. According to Qunar data, during the free-admission period, the number of hotel bookings across the entire city of Quzhou increased by nearly 20% year over year. Among them, the driving effect of free-admission scenic areas is especially prominent: hotel bookings near Jianglang Mountain increased by 47% year over year, the area near the ancient town of Basi-eight increased by 21%, and the areas around Shuitingmen and Confucian Temple increased by 18%.

On February 25, Yun t’ai Mountain in Jiaozuo, Henan announced that in March it would waive admission for visitors from the four provinces—Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei. As of now, bookings for hotels in Jiaozuo City for March stays have grown by 2.5 times month over month.

On February 11, Ma’anshan in Anhui announced that five major scenic areas would open free to global visitors through March 31. According to Qunar data, within the 15 days after the announcement, bookings for local hotels for March stays increased by 3.1 times month over month.

Yang Han, a researcher at the Qunar Big Data Research Institute, analyzed that free admission for scenic areas lowers the decision threshold for travelers. Exchanging a “ticket discount” for a “boost in visitor volume” can not only quickly activate nearby foot traffic for scenic areas, but also form a significant consumption spillover effect, radiating and boosting local and cross-regional culture and tourism consumption. At the same time, free admission also raises higher requirements for scenic area service quality, forcing the industry to improve its refined and professional operation standards.

Worth noting is that this coming weekend will mark “International Women’s Day (March 8).” Anhui’s Mount Huangshan, Sichuan’s Jiuzhaigou, and Nanjing’s Pingshan Forest Park, among others, will roll out time-limited free admission policies for female visitors, driving the month-over-month increase in search volume for relevant scenic areas to more than 1.8 times. With the “free ticket effect” stacked with the weekend and the Women’s Day node, the booking heat for relevant travel products this weekend increased by more than 65% month over month compared with the weekend prior.

Tongcheng Research Institute analysis believes that after this year’s holidays, the culture and tourism market shows a “low season not low” pattern, mainly driven by three factors: first, scenic areas in many places have introduced free-admission or discounted ticket offers, directly stimulating visitors’ willingness to travel; second, local travel and trips to nearby areas have become the mainstream, shortening the travel radius while clearly increasing travel frequency; third, some office workers and senior groups choose to travel in off-peak periods after the holiday, seeking higher value-for-money travel experiences. As the weather warms up, over the past week on the Tongcheng Travel platform, search volumes for keywords such as “flower viewing” and “spring outing” have increased by more than 110% month over month. It is expected that in late March, a new round of travel mini-peak will arrive across the country.

(Editor: Wen Jing)

Keywords:

                                                            Scenic areas
                                                            Tourism