Guangdong has become one of the most popular destinations for tourists during the May Day holiday period, with the province attracting just over 47 million visitors in the first five days of the month, according to the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province.

The number of tourist arrivals in the southern province grew 2.1 percent year-on-year. Tourism revenue over the festive period rose 0.9 percent on a yearly basis to 29.77 billion yuan ($4.36 billion).

The growth of Guangdong’s tourism can be attributed to the new driver of “economics of experience”. The combination of cuisine, entertainment shows and culture has provided further emotional connection and participation compared to traditional tourism, enhancing travelers’ tourism experience.

Hosting the Guangdong City Football Super League and the Guangdong City Basketball League — known as “Yuechao” and “YueBA” —ignited people’s enthusiasm for sports tourism. According to online travel agency Trip.com Group, hotel bookings within 5 kilometers of competition venues in Shenzhen, Zhongshan and Shantou surged by over 600 percent during the holiday compared to the same period last year.

The province held a total of 19 large-scale performances that involved more than 5,000 people each during the holiday. The concert by Teens in Times in Guangzhou, for example, attracted more than 200,000 fans, generating related consumption of nearly 1.4 billion yuan.

The economics of entertainment shows boasts a significant “agglomeration effect”, which will drive the growth of visitor numbers and related consumption activities, such as tourism, transportation, accommodation and catering, according to research published on Chinese Social Sciences Net.

Guangdong’s premier tourist sites welcomed more than 16 million visitors over the five-day holiday period, a 1.7 percent year-on-year increase. Rural tourist sites and ancient historical villages received 1.923 million visitor arrivals, up 1.8 percent year-on-year.

Chen Ziyu contributed to this story

Contact the writer at sally@chinadailyhk.com