Haichang Ocean Park aims for nighttime tourism

Trip.com Group and Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd recently unveiled Haichang's upgraded nighttime tour products during a news conference in Shanghai.

The tours tend to fill a gap in the high-end nighttime tourism market.

During a two-day tour package in Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, for example, tourists can learn about marine animals, such as sharks and mantas, via a guided tour, and observe penguins closely through glass while dining in a restaurant. At night, they will pitch a tent on their own in the venue in front of a giant aquarium tank and spend the night with the marine animals.

Trip.com Group held a livestream during the event and introduced Haichang's improved nighttime tour products in its 10 venues in nine Chinese cities, which are especially popular among parents and children.

Haichang's CEO Zhang Jianbin said the central government's guiding policies on boosting the nighttime economy is a great push. The company's new tour products are one-stop service with in-depth experience, satisfying visitors' demand of sightseeing, having fun, dining and accommodation.

The company's data showed that over 70 percent of their nighttime visitors were aged between 21 and 35. During the periods when they were open at night, the occupancy rate of their hotels was 20 percent higher than when there were no nighttime tours.

Trip.com Group's recent report about China's nighttime tourism for the first half of 2021 revealed that its users had experienced nighttime travel 1.3 times on average, spending 187 yuan. Sales of nighttime tickets for scenic areas and other tourism businesses increased by 106 percent over the same period in 2019.

About 34 percent of nighttime travelers were born in the 1990s, 29 percent were born in the 1980s, and 12 percent were born in the 2000s.