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

Source: Securities Times Network Author: Cao Chen

Recently, multiple scenic spots announced free admission policies. The combined effect of spring outing demand and “free ticket effect” has rapidly warmed the traditional off-season tourism in March. After the holiday, the tourism market shows signs of “off-season not dull.”

According to incomplete statistics, until now, many provinces across the country, including Jiangxi, Henan, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Anhui, and others, have launched limited-time free ticket discounts for scenic spots (some spots limited to specific visitors). Data from the Tongcheng Travel platform shows that over the past week, search popularity for keywords like “scenic spot free tickets” and “off-peak travel” has continued to rise, with a month-on-month increase of 358%. Among them, Yuntai Mountain Scenic Area, Shenyang Imperial Palace, Lushan Scenic Area, Tianji Dragon Gate, and Qingtian River Scenic Area ranked among the top 10 in the national list of popular free scenic spots.

As of March 4, the platform’s search and booking activity for hotels and scenic spot tickets has significantly declined from the peak during the Spring Festival, but still remains over 10% higher than the same period last year. The search volume for some popular scenic spots has increased by up to 2.6 times compared to the previous period, demonstrating the “off-season not dull” phenomenon. In terms of visitor sources, the dominant return trips and inter-provincial travel during the Spring Festival are gradually cooling down, while local and surrounding area travel are becoming more active.

Specifically, in March, Lushan Scenic Area in Jiangxi is offering free admission to all domestic and international visitors. Over the past week, searches for Lushan Scenic Area increased by 156% month-on-month, and hotel bookings around the area rose by 23% year-on-year. Additionally, in March, Yuntai Mountain Scenic Area in Henan is offering free tickets to visitors from Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei, which has driven a 244% increase in searches for the scenic area and an 18% rise in nearby hotel bookings compared to the same period last year. From March 3 to March 8, the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum released 3,000 free tickets daily for local residents to reserve; on the Tongcheng platform, searches and reservations for the museum increased by 163% month-on-month, and the free tickets were quickly booked out after opening reservations on March 3 and 4.

Qunar data shows that the “free ticket effect” directly boosted hotel bookings around several scenic spots. On February 25, Jiangxi’s Lushan announced that from March 1 to 31, 2026, all domestic and international visitors could enjoy free admission, covering core scenic spots such as Lushan Scenic Area, San Die Quan, and Bailudong Academy. After the announcement, hotel reservations in the Lushan commercial area surged significantly. As of now, bookings for hotels around Lushan in March have increased fivefold compared to the week before the announcement.

Data also shows that hotel reservations in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, were similarly boosted, increasing by 2.6 times month-on-month, reflecting a trend of tourists taking advantage of free tickets to explore surrounding cities more deeply.

In Zhejiang, Quzhou has been offering free access to 13 core scenic spots for global visitors until March 31, 2026, starting from November 2025. Quar data indicates that hotel reservations across Quzhou increased by nearly 20% year-on-year during the free ticket period. The effect is especially notable near scenic spots: hotels near Jianglang Mountain increased by 47%, near Nianba Duzhen Ancient Town by 21%, and around Shuitingmen and Confucius Temple by 18%.

On February 25, Henan’s Jiaozuo Yuntai Mountain announced free tickets for visitors from Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei in March. So far, hotel bookings in Jiaozuo for March have increased by 2.5 times compared to the previous month.

On February 11, Anhui Ma’anshan announced that five major scenic spots would be open to global visitors for free until March 31. Data from Quar shows that within 15 days of the announcement, hotel reservations in the area for March increased by 3.1 times compared to the previous period.

Yang Han, a researcher at Quar Big Data Research Institute, analyzed that free admission reduces the decision-making threshold for travelers. Exchanging ticket “subtraction” for visitor “addition” can quickly activate surrounding traffic and generate significant spillover effects in consumption, radiating to local and cross-regional cultural tourism. At the same time, free tickets also raise higher requirements for scenic spot service quality, pushing the industry to improve refined and professional operations.

It is worth noting that this weekend will celebrate International Women’s Day. Scenic spots such as Huangshan in Anhui, Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan, and Pingshan Forest Park in Nanjing are offering limited-time free tickets for female visitors, leading to a more than 1.8 times increase in related scenic spot searches compared to the previous weekend. The “free ticket effect” combined with the weekend and Women’s Day has caused related travel product bookings to increase by over 65% week-on-week.

Tongcheng Research Institute believes that the post-holiday cultural tourism market this year shows the characteristic of “off-season not dull,” mainly driven by three factors: first, many scenic spots launched free ticket discounts, directly stimulating tourists’ willingness to travel; second, local and surrounding area travel have become mainstream, with shorter travel radii but increased frequency; third, some office workers and silver-haired groups choose to travel off-peak after the holiday, seeking higher cost-performance travel experiences. As the weather warms, searches for keywords like “flower viewing” and “spring outing” on the Tongcheng platform have increased by over 110% week-on-week, and a new travel peak is expected nationwide in late March.