An elderly visitor at Shanghai Disney Resort. China Daily
A new report says Chinese travelers are increasingly seeking emotionally rich and fun-filled experiences, and Shanghai Disney Resort is looking to give them.
The 2024 Shanghai Disney Resort Happiness Travel Trends Report, released on Thursday, takes the resort as a sample and aims to provide new insights into ongoing trends and changes in the tourism industry as travellers’ desire for emotional fulfilment increases amid tourism recovery.
According to a report compiled by the China Tourism Academy (a data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), Shanghai Disneyland welcomed more than 13 million visitors in the year leading up to Dec. 20, 2023. This is the highest number of visitors to date since the park opened about eight years ago.
According to the report, the resort’s live entertainment was viewed by guests 40.99 million times in 2023, with Mickey’s Storybook Express daytime parade in particular being viewed more than 10.21 million times.
“Over the past eight years, Shanghai Disney Resort has provided tens of millions of guests around the world with high-quality entertainment experiences that blend Disney storytelling and creativity,” said Joe Schott, president and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort.
“As we mark this important milestone of our eighth anniversary, we are honored to cooperate with the China Tourism Academy in their in-depth study on happiness tourism in China and reaffirm our commitment to delivering happiness. We are also proud to share our best practices and experience with the industry through this comprehensive report, further advancing the industry’s development,” he said.
While families remain a key customer demographic looking to bond through travel, the report identifies the emergence of two growing guest demographics who actively seek emotional value from their holidays: adults traveling alone and seniors.
The guest mix at Shanghai Disney Resort in 2023 was split evenly between families and groups of adults without children. Additionally, the resort saw a 75% increase in visits from senior guests with one- and two-day passes in 2023 compared to 2019 levels.
According to the report, resorts’ efforts to offer new experiences also play a key role in attracting guests, with 97 percent of visitors surveyed being aware of the Zootopia-themed area before arriving and a third citing it as their main reason for visiting.
Less than two years after opening, the resort introduced its seventh themed land, Disney Pixar Toy Story Land.
Shanghai Disney Resort hosts alternating seasonal events and celebrations for about 300 days a year, and 85% of guests expressed an intention to return in 2023, while the proportion of guests who would recommend the resort to others increased by 11% compared to 2019, the report said.
The report also states that consumers are demonstrating strong self-expression. According to statistics from the report, headwear, including headbands and hats, ranks in the top five most popular product categories by sales in 2023.
According to the report, the resort’s location and convenient transportation have enabled it to reach multiple markets. In 2023, the Yangtze River Delta region remained the main visitor market, with visitors from the Pearl River Delta region recording the strongest year-on-year growth. Among weekday guests in spring and autumn, Shanghai locals with annual passports held the highest proportion.
In addition to providing an in-depth look at the resort experience, the report also examines how Shanghai Disney Resort is using practices to shape lifestyles and deliver well-being through sustainability initiatives, community outreach programs and international exchanges.
Murray King, vice president of public relations and communications for Shanghai Disney Resort, said the new report builds on the collaboration on the 2019 Happiness Report and recognises the opportunity to revisit travel happiness research as consumer behaviour patterns evolve.
“The 2024 report leverages multiple research methodologies, including in-depth guest surveys, to interpret Shanghai Disney Resort’s efforts to create happiness and emotional value for its guests as more guests seek higher levels of satisfaction from their travels,” he added.
“I believe that even as individuals, guests can satisfy different emotional needs through diverse visiting choices,” said Rong Jing, director of consumer insight measurement and analysis at Shanghai Disney Resort. “The core is excellence in content, experience and service quality, which can have a subtle impact on everyone and ultimately bring about real change.”
Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, highlighted the vital role that happiness plays in developing the tourism industry and realizing a better life for all.
“The most important goal of developing the tourism industry is to create a good life and meet people’s need for a better life, in which happiness is a key element,” Dai said.
“As a world-renowned cultural enterprise and resort operator, Disney has a proven track record of success. We hope to explore the ‘happiness gene’ in travel by studying Disney as a model and learning from their experience in creating happiness, so that more travelers can enjoy a rich life.”
Dai further highlighted key observations from the report, including that happiness transcends gender and age barriers, the ripple effect of happiness created by Shanghai Disney Resort is encouraging more industry players to adopt similar models, and the ability to meet diverse happiness needs is evolving.
“We came to Disney in the hope of discovering the Disney gene and providing further cultural impetus to China’s modernization efforts,” he added.
zhengzheng@chinadaily.com.cn
