60,000 people visited the store in one day, "May Day Feasting Festival," the catering staff are simply crazy busy.

The May Day holiday ushered in the long-awaited "feast" for the catering industry!

During the just-passed May Day holiday, the scene of "crowds of people" reappeared. According to preliminary statistics from the transportation department, the total inter-regional population flow from May 1st to 5th is estimated to be about 1.36 billion person-times, with an average of over 270 million person-times per day, an increase of 24.1% compared to the same period in 2019.

This year, the 1.36 billion "tourists" during the May Day holiday have become the "main force" of catering consumption.

Near scenic spots, in food streets in sinking markets, and in business districts of popular tourist cities... "being unable to move" is the norm, and queuing for a long time is "basic operation."

According to the actual situation of catering stores near popular cities and scenic spots:

The main store of Wenheyu in Hisense Plaza, Changsha, Hunan Province, received about 60,000 visitors on the first day of the holiday, the highest number of visitors since the beginning of this year;

Restaurants near scenic spots such as Tongheju in Shichahai, Beijing, Qingfeng Baozi Shop in Beihai, and Sanzuoqiao achieved double revenue during the "May Day" period. "Revenue doubled in May compared to March, and doubled again during the 'May Day' period compared to April."

Feifei Xiazhuang store on Jianghan Road Pedestrian Street, a "landmark" in Wuhan, had a waiting time from 11 am to early morning. The daily customer flow increased by 15% compared to last year, and the front of the store was filled with customers waiting in line, many of whom were out-of-town tourists dragging their suitcases.

Fei Da Chu's chili fried pork at the Changsha Huangxing Central Plaza store has a daily maximum of nearly 3000 tables for reservations. The Xidan Joy City store in Beijing operates continuously from 10:30 am to 9:30 pm, with over 700 tables reserved for dining and takeout each day. In the three days before the "May Day" holiday, Fei Da Chu's nationwide stores sold close to 100,000 servings of their signature dish, chili fried pork. Many stores located in popular business districts have over 1000 tables reserved for dining and takeout throughout the day, with an average waiting time of over 90 minutes. The daily restaurant turnover rate exceeds 10 rounds.

The official data from Haidilao also shows that from May 1st to May 4th, the cumulative number of customers received by Haidilao's mainland stores was about 7.5 million, an increase of about 15% compared to the first four days of the "May Day" holiday last year, with more significant growth in stores in lower-tier cities. On the first day of the holiday, Haidilao's more than 1300 stores nationwide received a total of about 2 million customers, an increase of over 10% compared to the same period last year.

According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce, the consumption of catering and leisure during the "May Day" holiday remained hot, with the sales of key monitored catering enterprises increasing by 7.1% year-on-year. Data from Meituan also shows that during the first three days of the holiday, the scale of catering consumption nationwide increased by 92% compared to the same period in 2019; the number of dine-in orders nationwide increased by over 73% compared to the same period last year, and some restaurants had waiting queues of over 1000 tables.

A firsthand exploration of the hot tourist city - Changsha, "Can't walk! Really can't walk!"

This May Day, the internal reference also went to Changsha, known as a "popular tourist city" and "food paradise", and experienced the flow of people at "Changsha May Day Square" on the spot.

On April 30th, despite the bad weather, the special forces who came to visit Changsha had already arrived, and the hashtag #The first batch of tourists have arrived in Changsha# quickly trended on Weibo. The popular May Day Square began to fill up with young people tasting stinky tofu.

On the evening of May 1st, the internal reference personally experienced this "scene". From Furong Square to Huangxing Road Pedestrian Street, there were initially not many people, but as we walked further, the crowd grew larger. By the time we reached Guojin Square, we didn't need to walk on our own anymore, as we were pushed along by the crowd. It felt like the special forces were all gathering here, comparable to a "great migration" similar to the Spring Festival travel rush.

It was a real struggle, but Neican Jun finally made it to Guojin Street and planned to take the return trip at Wuyi Square. However, when he went from B1 to B2, he was once again startled by the solid crowd - the entrances of popular tea drink brands such as "Bawang Tea Princess," "Chayanyuexi," and "Guoyaya" were packed with people, and the wait time was at least 20 minutes.

The popular Changsha snack restaurant "Black and White TV" may serve dishes quickly, but it can't withstand the continuous waves of people, and you may have to wait for more than 20 minutes for a table. "Queueing" has become the main theme of the May Day holiday in Changsha, with thousands of people lining up at the restaurant, and a small restaurant like "Guangnaoke Xiangcanguan" requires a 2-hour wait, and it takes another half an hour for the dishes to be served. "I give up. I went to eat at Benluobo and lined up at two stores, but there were so many people that I didn't get to eat. I had a fight with my mom and went back home."

To escape from this "explosive scene," Neican Jun quickly headed towards the subway entrance at the May 1st Square. However, the real "nightmare" began as the subway entrance was "blocked" due to the large crowd, and could only move slowly. After 30 minutes of shuffling through the dense crowd, he finally entered the station smoothly.

Big data modeling analysis shows that during the 5-day May Day holiday in 2024, Changsha received a total of 6.1748 million visitors, with a total visitor spending of 7.246 billion yuan. Food and beverage brands not only have to handle this huge flow of people, but also try their best to convert this flow into greater brand potential.

Walking on the streets of Changsha, you can see large "snacks" everywhere, such as large spicy strips, large potato chips, and large biscuits. Like Chayanyuexiang, which has launched giant bread knives and large crispy sticks. These huge snacks act as mobile billboards, "screening" in the streets and alleys, capturing consumers' minds.

Businesses not only want to make money from "in-store" sales, but also want to make money from "home delivery" sales. They not only want to make money now, but also want to make money in the future. Many brands have launched the service of "free delivery of Changsha specialties to your home". The Momo Dim Sum House has a gift box jointly branded by three major brands. When you buy a complete set, it will be delivered nationwide for free, including sauce duck, tea from Tea Yan, and Momo's dim sum.

Tea Yan Yue Se has also launched a limited-time promotion of topping up 400 and getting 200 for free. In order to promote the event, the Tea Yan guys have already rushed into the subway station, directing traffic while promoting the top-up event, and even rushed to the door of the Overlord Tea Princess.

"Up first, down later, watch your step, top up 400 and get 200 for free, limited time for two days..."

The crowds in Changsha are overwhelming, and the city's dining brands not only manage to keep up, but also do so skillfully, capturing offline foot traffic and online mindshare.

Two-tier differentiation: lower-tier cities and tourist destinations are bustling with restaurant business, while "trendy internet-famous eateries" are surprisingly quiet.

It's not just Changsha; this year's "May Day holiday" has brought a festive atmosphere to many popular cities and "lesser-known county towns."

>> In Beijing,

Guijie, Niujie, Nanluoguxiang, Wangfujing and other food gathering places are packed with people, and it's hard to find a seat at well-known old brands and eateries near tourist attractions. The "food landmark" Hu Da, in Beijing, had nearly 800 tables queued up by 5 p.m., with some customers saying, "It feels like being in a 5A-level scenic spot."

In Chongqing, the Guanyinqiao Food Street is so crowded that it's "impossible to move." After 6 p.m., every food stall is packed with consumers, and you can even see tourists dragging their suitcases on the street. On the first day of the "May Day" holiday, the customer flow at Guanyinqiao Food Street exceeded 200,000, and the sales reached 2.24 million yuan, an increase of 2.05% in customer flow and 10.05% in sales compared to the same period last year.

In Wuhan,

The landmark of Wuhan, Jianghan Road Pedestrian Street, almost every snack shop has long queues in front of it, especially local snack shops in Wuhan. During the May Day holiday, the total customer flow on Jianghan Road Pedestrian Street reached more than 500,000, setting a new historical record.

In some newly popular "niche county towns," there has also been a peak in dining consumption.

For example, in Zibo, barbecue skewers are popular, from last year's "rush for barbecue" to this year's "repeated rush for barbecue," the popularity remains high; the Sichuan spicy hot pot that became popular at the beginning of the year in Tianshui, Gansu, single-handedly drove "category innovation," with over 400,000 visitors on the first day of the Tianshui holiday...

However, the tide has turned.

In contrast to the popular city and landmark snacks and scenic area dining, some "trendy internet-famous restaurants" have been quite deserted this year.

In Beijing's trendy check-in spot Sanlitun, many "internet-famous restaurants" have gone from having long lines of up to 1000 people to just a few; a "internet-famous" Sichuan cuisine restaurant in a popular business district in Guangzhou, which once caused a large number of consumers to queue for 3 hours at its opening, has turned into a "you can come directly, no need to wait in line" during the May Day holiday...

In the era of practical consumption, consumers who used to "travel on a budget" and "window shop on a budget" are waking up from the "vanity bubble" and choosing to immerse themselves in the hustle and bustle, setting their sights on small shops and quality stores that offer value for money, good taste, and good reputation. Restaurants that rely solely on traffic and internet fame are finding it difficult to capture consumers once again.

Even with traffic, it still needs to rely on "professionalism" to sustain, otherwise, even if the wealth and glory are poured down from the sky, whether it can be sustained is another matter.