During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, Foshan has notched up 1.3-billion-yuan tourism revenue and 75.9-million box office.

Resurgence of local tourism market

For this Spring Festival that was guided by the “Stay Locally for the Holiday” (就地过年) Initiative, Foshan prides itself as a heated tourism destination, attracting 2.6 million tourists and generating a revenue of 1.3 billion yuan.

Foshan’s tourism market has seen a greater increase in small trips, among which “red tourism sites”, parks, rural areas, intangible cultural heritages are the most desirable choices. In addition, tourists also planned short trips for family reunion or Inquiry-based Learning (IBL).

Diversified cultural products to create a bigger marketplace

In order to deliver a festive and warm new year for everyone that stayed in Foshan for the CNY, Foshan Government has launched "Lingnan Flavor, Experience in Foshan – Spend a Happy New Year in Foshan" (“岭南味 佛山品——我在佛山过大年”), an event that gave away benefits to citizens in cultural, tourism, and sports activities. Participants were provided with tons of coupons, vouchers, “Wechat Hongbao” (lucky money), online entertainments and so on.  

Based on its own local tourism resources, each district in Foshan has also tailored something special to add festive and cozy atmosphere for consumers.

Targeted cultural promotion, all eyes on folk customs

This holiday, major media like CCTV and GRT Satellite Channel have given large coverage on Foshan’s local activities. For instance, Focus Report on CCTV featured Shunde’s government keeping employees on-site for the New Year’s holiday; new-year delicacies in Nanhai were aired on CCTV-4; new-year wood-cut pictures in Chancheng were included on Hunan Satellite TV...

Record-high box office, well-produced blockbusters for ALL

With a hot wave of “family viewing”, 7 movies went on screen this Spring Festival holiday. Foshan has registered a record high performance in both viewers and box office sales - 1.7 million and 75.97 million yuan respectively. Such frantic tickets sales in theaters have been a driving force behind this “holiday economy”.

Films on screen this holiday are diverse in themes, among which Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, mom are the biggest winner, creating 37.7 million yuan and 22 million yuan respectively in ticket sales so far in Foshan. For many viewers in Foshan, Detective Chinatown 3 is a good choice for the holiday for its fascinating narratives and hilarious characters. At the same time, Hi, mom has emerged as a dark horse that celebrating the selfless love of motherhood. With its emotional storytelling, this tear-jerker hit so many so hard, topping 3 billion in box office nationwide.    

More records set to inject confidence into Foshan’s film and television industry

Interestingly, a Guangdong-produced film, titled Boonie Bears: The Wild Life, also landed on theaters this CNY. Targeted toward kids and parents, the work has raked in box office takings of 405 million yuan across the country by now. Seeing this remarkable sales, Mo Jiaping, executive chairman of the Foshan Film Industry Association, said: “I hope Southern Film and Television Center can be home to more crews. For the major theater scheduling coming up next, I wish more are made and produced in Foshan.”

Booming box office this CNY has also injected vitality into the building of the Southern Film and Television Center. Wang Jianzhang, chairman of Foshan Broadcasting and Television Network Audiovisual Association, said: “Large-scale production, quality content and strong teams are the key for developing movie cinemas. We are expecting the center to create more outstanding works, and promote a stronger film and television industry in Foshan.”

Author | Jersey

Revisor | Jessica, Eleanor