With the upcoming May Day holiday, which has been extended “from 1 day to 4 days,” domestic tourism is seeing a surge in popularity. According to industry experts, the number of domestic travelers during the May Day holiday is expected to reach nearly 160 million. In recent years, as consumer demands have continued to rise, travelers are placing greater emphasis on the unique culture and lifestyle of their destinations. As a result, cultural tourism destinations have become a new preferred choice for many, with visitor numbers to ancient towns, historic streets, and cultural centers increasing year by year.
Notably, in recent years, domestic film companies have successively entered the cultural tourism industry, creating distinctive travel destinations based on film IPs, which have also become popular new choices for travelers. Among them, Huayi Brothers is one of China's earliest film companies to venture into the real-scene entertainment sector. It has now completed multiple projects across the country, and several officially opened film tourism destinations are becoming national hits for leisure travel.
Projects in Haikou, Suzhou, and Changsha open to record-breaking holiday crowds
In June 2014, the Hainan Movie Town by Huayi Brothers and Feng Xiaogang officially opened at Mission Hills. The Feng Xiaogang Movie Town was Huayi Brothers’ first operational real-scene entertainment project. It features architectural elements from classic films directed by Feng Xiaogang such as “Back to 1942” and “Youth,” combining real-scene tourism, physical commerce, and film production into one large-scale movie-themed attraction. It also includes the world’s largest 8,000㎡ film studio and supporting service areas.
Since its opening in 2014, the Mission Hills Huayi Brothers Feng Xiaogang Movie Town has seen a steady increase in visitor numbers year after year. According to statistics, it attracted over 2 million visitors in both 2016 and 2017, and welcomed nearly 200,000 visitors during the 2018 Spring Festival, quickly establishing itself as Haikou’s top tourist destination. During the 2019 Lunar New Year, the “Family Fun: Celebrate Spring Festival in the Republican Era” series of themed events also drew a new peak of nearly 200,000 visitors.
Huayi Brothers Film World (Suzhou) officially opened in July 2018. It is Huayi Brothers’ first film world product and the first large-scale immersive film culture experience project in China centered on its own Chinese film IPs. The park incorporates seven high-quality film IPs from Huayi Brothers, including “If You Are the One,” “Tai Chi,” “Assembly,” and “Detective Dee: The Mystery of the Phantom Flame,” and features five major themed zones: the Avenue of Stars, If You Are the One, Assembly, Tai Chi, and Empire of the Gods. Since its opening, Huayi Brothers Film World (Suzhou) has not only attracted repeat visits from local tourists in Suzhou but also drawn visitors from across the country and even abroad for a joyful experience.
Data shows that during the 2018 National Day holiday, visitor numbers at Huayi Brothers Film World (Suzhou) climbed steadily, with an average daily flow of 30,000 people for three consecutive days, continuously breaking records for visitor reception. On New Year’s Eve 2019, the Suzhou Film World welcomed 30,000 people for a countdown event. During the 2019 Lunar New Year, the park held a “Family Fun: Celebrate Spring Festival in the Tang Dynasty” themed celebration, showcasing the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty, and welcomed over 30,000 visitors on the second day of the Lunar New Year to experience authentic Tang-era festivities.
In December 2018, the first phase of Huayi Brothers Film Town (Changsha), themed around the Italian hill town of Assisi and the water city of Venice, officially opened. Upon launch, it was ranked among the “2018 Most Unique Leisure Tourism Streets (Towns) in Changsha.” The Umbria Jazz Festival held during its trial operation period was also named the “2018 Most Popular Leisure Tourism Event in Changsha.”
During the 2019 Spring Festival, Huayi Brothers Film Town (Changsha) launched a “Family Fun: Celebrate Spring Festival in Italy” themed event, featuring a traditional New Year parade, DJ San Taizi performances, castle pillow fights, aerial art performances like “Haitai Ge” (HTaige), lion dances, and drum performances.The blend of trends and tradition attracted nearly 100,000 visitors.
Tri-city collaboration creates unique events; Huayi Brothers’ cultural tourism projects highly praised
Compared to most domestic theme parks, Huayi Brothers, with its roots in the film business, has a stronger advantage in understanding and extending IP content. Its extensive IP portfolio and continuous ability to create high-quality IPs are also core innate strengths that give it an edge in entering the real-scene entertainment field.
In developing entertainment projects, Huayi Brothers not only makes full use of its content advantages but also continuously innovates post-launch with fresh experiences and unique events to attract visitors. During the 2019 Spring Festival, Suzhou, Haikou, and Changsha collaborated under the theme “Travel Through Time to Celebrate Spring Festival,” offering the public a colorful “New Year Family Reunion” journey through time. Visitors could enjoy the splendid ancient charm of the Tang Dynasty in the Film World, experience the collision of Republican-era elegance and Southeast Asian vibes in the Film Town, or immerse themselves in the fusion of exotic Italian flair and Chinese New Year spirit in the Film Town. Over the seven-day New Year period, the three locations welcomed approximately 350,000 visitors.
Taking Huayi Brothers Film World (Suzhou) as an example, to enhance the visitor experience, the park specially invited KOLs representing the themes of “fashion, travel, family, and film” to serve as experience officers. They shared their genuine insights afterward, providing visitors with detailed travel guides.
Additionally, Huayi Brothers Film World (Suzhou) introduced various ticket types, including family tickets, parent-child packages, and annual passes, enriching options for family travel and quickly becoming one of Suzhou’s new go-to destinations for family outings. The park also offered birthday visitors half-price entry on their special day, giving them a chance to feel like the “star of the show” in the Film World. On April 23, 2019, at the Ctrip 2018 China Travel Reputation Awards, Huayi Brothers Film World (Suzhou) was honored as the “Most Popular Online Attraction.” This recognition was based on travel data from over 200 million Ctrip users, as well as reviews and sharing from hundreds of millions of users. The award identified outstanding representatives across various segments of the tourism industry through multi-dimensional evaluation, offering travelers reliable and valuable travel references.
With the deepening impact of policy, market, and other factors, along with rising consumer demands, China’s cultural tourism consumption market continues to expand. Judging by the performance of Huayi Brothers’ real-scene projects, the feasibility and first-mover advantages of its cultural tourism market layout have been validated. In the future, as the domestic cultural tourism market matures and enters a period of booming returns, the revenue performance of Huayi Brothers’ real-scene entertainment segment is expected to rise significantly, and the scale effect of multi-location project collaboration will gradually emerge. According to announcements, Huayi Brothers has 2–3 additional projects expected to open sequentially within 2019.