Holiday Camping Booms in China amid COVID Lockdown Fears

Sales of picnic items, including hammocks, tents, and mats, increased over 100% on the e-commerce platform JD.com (09618: HK) during the May 1 holiday compared to the same period of the previous year.

The boom is a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, which has deterred tourists from longer journeys since it started in 2020.

Consequently, camping-related firms also mushroomed. According to Tianyancha, a business registration information provider, China is home to about 47,000 camping firms, 43% of which were established in 2021, up 144% year on year. Over 7200 more camping companies have been registered this year.

The companies are primarily located in Shandong in the east and Guangdong and Hainan in the south.

"Short trips became the trend, which spurred the camping business," Long Weitao, founder of the camping firm Go Safari, told Southern Metropolis Daily. He added that most of the company's products were aimed at longer-haul tourism, which was hit hard by the epidemic.

Data from iiMedia, a market intelligence agency, showed China's camping market size surged from CNY 7.71 billion (USD 1.156 billion) to CNY 29.90 billion. The figure is expected to hit CNY 35.46 billion, surging at a rate of 18.6% in 2022.