"Transportation Hub" transforms into "Consumption Engine" - New Changes in the Spring Festival Travel Season Showcase China's Economic Vitality and Resilience

CCTV News: These days, train stations, airports, and highways are quite busy. CCTV reporter Wang Lei—Old Wang in Finance—has discovered that this year’s Spring Festival travel rush is full of new surprises, all found in the details.

As the Spring Festival approaches, are you already on your way home? Over the past few days, Old Wang has observed at train stations and airports that this year’s Spring Festival travel season features many new changes. Every detail contains more services and also hides lucrative business opportunities.

First, let’s look at the railways. In the past, travelers carried large and small bags to catch trains, but now there is a “light travel” service covering 111 stations nationwide, offering door-to-station and station-to-door luggage delivery, allowing people to enjoy a “bag-free” Spring Festival travel. By deeply integrating passenger and logistics services, it not only provides convenience but also creates new profit growth points for companies. Truly a win-win situation.

This year, the railway has also opened up the “pet economy” track. Pet owners who raise cats and dogs understand that bringing their “furry children” home for the New Year is a big challenge. This year, high-speed rail pet shipping services have been expanded nationwide to 110 stations and 170 trains, so “furry children” can celebrate the reunion with their owners.

You might think this is just a small service or business, but Old Wang has some figures: by 2025, China’s urban pet consumption market is expected to reach over 310 billion yuan. High-speed rail pet shipping is not just a service; it also breaks through the bottleneck of long-distance pet travel, driving growth in related industries such as pet airline carriers, pet insurance, and shipping accessories. An inconspicuous service is leveraging a hundred-billion-yuan track.

Looking at civil aviation, many airports have launched New Year goods markets this year, and some even offer takeaway services, with over 400 meal options delivered directly to boarding gates. This is not only a convenience measure but also an extension of “scene-based consumption,” turning waiting time into spending time, transforming airports from “transport hubs” into “consumer engines.”

Highways are also bustling. The number of new energy vehicle trips is expected to reach 380 million, a record high. This presents a great opportunity for the charging industry. Shenzhen has deployed mobile energy storage vehicles at highway entrances, installed fast-charging stations at many highway service areas, and equipped mobile charging robots. This is not just to solve the pain point of charging queues but also a forced acceleration of charging technology and infrastructure during Spring Festival travel, alleviating people’s “range anxiety” about new energy vehicles. Behind this is a trillion-yuan-level new energy vehicle industry chain.

There is also a rise in “reverse tourism,” with parents traveling to their children’s cities for the New Year, making first-tier and new first-tier cities no longer “ghost towns” during Spring Festival. Hotels, catering, and local tours are all activated, achieving a “seasonal breakthrough.” It is estimated that the direct consumption driven by this year’s Spring Festival travel will exceed 1.5 trillion yuan. These new changes hidden in stations, airports, and highways showcase China’s economic vitality and resilience.

Source: CCTV News