Abstract:
“The era of national self-driving is here.”
During the National Day, data shows that an average of 300 million people move across regions every day. Highways carry more than 90% of the traffic, and self-driving accounts for more than 90%, becoming the absolute main force.
Brother Dao felt that when he encountered a huge traffic jam while traveling outside during the National Day, the driver once explained that many of the vehicles were self-driving from other places, while local cars were not so jammed.
Under this wave of big changes, the most embarrassing thing is not people without cars or drivers at scenic spots, but a group of people who seem to have nothing to do with each other - hotel owners.
Because young people not only like to drive themselves, but also directly cancel the hotel booking process.
Some people fold the back seats of their cars flat, put inflatable mattresses on them, cook noodles in the car, and set up a canopy outside the car. There is no need to line up to check out the next morning, which has become the norm for many people on vacation.
More people began to set up tents directly outside the car. During the National Day, if you look around Wuhan river beach, the suburbs around West Lake in Hangzhou, Sichuan Yanxi Wetland, Guilin Jinji River grassland and other places, you can see tents all connected together.
There are many industries that are being rectified by young people. Why is it the hotel’s turn this time?
Hotels are not fixed during the National Day, and "wandering" becomes popular
This National Day, the style of Moments has completely changed.
When traveling during the National Day in the past, those born in the 1980s and 1990s had a very fixed rhythm: book a hotel half a month in advance, and then check in with your luggage when you arrive in the city.
But rebellious tourists have directly subverted this habit. The most fashionable young people nowadays have begun to choose hotels when traveling: instead of staying at a fixed point, they can stop at any time along the way.
This year’s National Day, many people on the Internet were not posting about the hotel they were staying in, but the tent string lights, the car trunk table and the starry sky.
Camping used to be a hobby for a small number of outdoor enthusiasts. Why is this method becoming more and more popular this year?
First of all, there is one point that cannot be separated:
The hotel assassin is too ruthless.
When holidays come, hotel premiums soar. In some popular cities and areas around scenic spots, hotel prices that usually cost two to three hundred on weekdays can go up to eight hundred thousand or even higher during the National Day.
The room is still the same, other conditions have not been upgraded, and the price has tripled first. It’s not that the young people can’t afford it, but they don’t want to be wronged.
In addition, now
the information on the Internet is too transparent
, many people do not dare to act rashly on their own because they are unfamiliar with the place they live in. They can only stay in hotels when they arrive in a different place.But now, if you search on the Internet, you will find various bed and truck strategies, such as "free parking spots", "Which campground can take a bath", "Which service area has hot water".
The more people know, the less willing they are to be kidnapped by high-end hotels. Even if it is the first time for a novice to camp, he can get started in half a day by following the short videos to buy equipment.
Why do people try so hard not to stay in hotels? Behind this, today’s young people want not just a simple place to live, but a more unique experience.
After all, even the best five-star hotels only have the same services: beds, air conditioners, TVs, and nothing new at all.
But camping is obviously different. There are always a variety of non-man-made attractions that exceed expectations during the trip: watching the stars at night, listening to birdsong in the morning, and being in a daze while the wind blows in the afternoon, all are unique experiences.
So young people think very clearly. Instead of spending more than 1,000 yuan a night to live in a standard room, it is better to save the money to buy tents and equipment, and completely turn living into "playing".
So there is a very obvious contrast during National Day this year:
On one hand, some high-priced hotels cannot be sold, and on the other hand, camping orders have increased significantly.
Meituan data shows that camping orders during the National Day surged 410% compared to May Day, and searches for camping equipment in some scenic spots increased by more than 400% year-on-year.
These "rebellious" young people made the hotel owner completely dumbfounded.
From bed cart to tent,
Stealing business right under the nose of the hotel
In recent years, people have chosen camping instead of staying in hotels when traveling. Just like self-driving travel, it is no longer a niche hobby.
According to iiMedia Consulting data, the core market size of China’s camping economy has reached 248.32 billion in 2025, driving the scale of the upstream and downstream industrial chains to exceed 1.44 trillion; by 2030, the core market is expected to approach 487.98 billion, and the related market can exceed 2.4 trillion.
A cake worth hundreds of billions was made quietly under the nose of the hotel.
Behind this trend,
it can be said that new energy vehicles are a key driver.
In the past, people slept in gas trucks, and turning on the air conditioner was afraid of wasting fuel and carbon monoxide, and the space was too small to fit in.
But now many new energy car companies are becoming more and more popular, and they are constantly upgrading in details. They not only have external discharge, large space, parking air conditioning, but also a double seat in the trunk, which directly meets the needs of accommodation. Some car companies have also launched coffee machines, and car owners can make freshly ground coffee and tea in the car, which directly steals the business of Starbucks.
In addition, the power can be replenished in service areas and campsites, so there is no need to worry about battery life in the past. Driving a tram to spend a few days and nights outside is not as complicated as many people think.
As a result, more and more people choose the tram + tent method. Some people travel on the Qinghai-Gansu Line and stay in the car for 13 days, saving thousands of dollars compared to hotels along the line. Others travel to the suburbs of East China, skipping scenic hotels and only stopping by the lake for one night. Combining transportation and accommodation also saves money.
If tram companies have solved the problem of how to live, then camping equipment manufacturers are also the second wave of key help:
solved how to play.
Just like this year’s National Day, automatic quick-opening tents and portable sleeping bags have become hot items, with users aged 20-35 accounting for 68% of searches for camping equipment.
There are tent brands that specifically design quick-open tents for novices. The prestressed spring frame reduces tent setup from more than ten minutes to just a few seconds.
In the past, many people would be discouraged from camping because there were too many equipment, but some companies have directly packaged the equipment into a set: the smart sleeping bag fabric is mosquito-proof, flame-retardant, and waterproof, and it also comes with positioning and health monitoring. It not only reduces a lot of equipment, but also directly solves traditional camping pain points such as "cold at night and many mosquitoes".
Of course, the more powerful player is the camp equipment dealer. It does not compete with hotels for facilities, but sells public space.
Some camps are close to the river beach and provide campsites, showers, and charging stations. The average number of people per night is from dozens to more than 100. Others are specifically close to scenic spots and provide tent rentals, canopies, and barbecue grills. Novices can stay overnight without buying equipment, and they also perfectly avoid the problem of queues and congestion during holidays.
More players even make efforts to create "small scenic spots" on their own. Meituan data shows that the number of orders from merchants that provide “camping + theme activities” during the National Day is more than three times that of simply providing campsites.
After a series of adjustments to the camping army, many hotel owners have begun to feel the pressure. Data for the summer of 2026 show that hotel occupancy rates and average room rates across the country have declined year-on-year, and some long-distance destinations are fully booked with no increase in revenue.
So this magical scene appeared:
The parking lot in the scenic spot is full of cars that are used as temporary bedrooms, but the serious hotel is not yet full.
With 200 billion new outlets, who can really eat meat?
Actually, back to the original question, why don’t young people stay in hotels?
On the surface it seems expensive,
but the essence is that traditional hotels can no longer satisfy young people.
Hotels solve the immediate needs of living, but young people need additional emotional value when traveling, such as socializing, being able to take photos, and being able to arrange their own pace. Camping complements these things and also gives a taste to all niche entertainment.
In the past few years, various niche entertainment methods have changed again and again. From skateboards, Frisbees, and paddle boards to Citywalk and hyrox, they were all niche at first.
As time has proven, some sports died out after they became popular, while some sports became even more popular.
Whether niche sports can finally "eat meat" does not depend on who can do more gimmicks, but only on whether they have two hard-core tricks.
On the one hand,
lowers the threshold for ordinary people to try it for the first time.
Camping is popular because automatic tents, rental campsites, and short video guides have solved the problem of "not knowing how to set up".
If a niche project feels difficult and expensive, it will always be a niche project. Only when the equipment, teaching, and venues are carefully crafted can it be possible to break through the niche.
On the other hand,
you can’t just do a “one-shot deal.”
The first thing I relied on for camping was to get out of the circle with a certain "production" scene, build a famous swing, and post a few sets of photos online, and people would come to check in on the weekends. But the problem also arises. If you go to the same grass and the same angle for the first time, few people will go there for the second time.
This is also why many camping companies became popular and cooled down faster in the early years. Scenery and gimmicks alone obviously could not retain people.
After all, even 4A scenic spots have the possibility of being delisted. If camping only relies on holidays or scenic spot signs to do business, it will only cool down after the heat.
In fact, what more ordinary tourists care about are nothing more than the simplest and most difficult to achieve pain points:
I don’t want to be manipulated by holiday premiums, I want to control my own itinerary, and spend my money wisely...
Even more than whether it is a 5A scenic spot, young people care more about whether it provides a truly unique and unforgettable experience.
For example, Dongshan Qike in Ezhou, Hubei Province has directly abandoned the old routine of "camping + barbecue" and instead focuses on creativity. The experience of "planting rice in spring, fishing for shrimps in summer, harvesting rice in autumn, and making glutinous rice cakes in winter" directly turns the farmland into a natural classroom. Tourists can buy experience cards to enter farmers' orchards, and by the way, it can also help sell agricultural products worth more than 100,000 yuan.
Many mountain camping are most afraid of turning the grassland into an artificial park. The idea of building camps along the Qiandao Lake Zitong Valley is to use it as an activity to avoid homogeneity. In order to have more flexible operation and scheduling, accommodation areas, functional areas, and activity areas are specially separated. Guests do not just come to take photos and leave, but are willing to stay for two more nights.
This is why the theme activity orders in recent years have been more than three times those of pure campsites. When a campsite is the hottest, it can also drive surrounding catering and transportation, which is no less powerful than a 4A scenic spot.
In the final analysis, it’s not that there is no market for the niche market, but the fear is that it will only serve the niche market.
To truly seize this wave of opportunities, camping players should think about one thing: continue to lower the experience threshold and raise the emotional value.
By meeting the needs of the public, entertainment, no matter how niche, can become a new way of life.
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