(Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT)
The "Su Super League," officially called the Jiangsu City Football League - an amateur football league in East China’s Jiangsu Province that has become a national sensation - has attracted a surge of fans traveling across cities to attend matches, helping fuel regional consumption activities.
Several Chinese travel platforms on Monday reported a notable year-on-year increase in hotel bookings across the league’s six host cities, with the figure surging as much as 150 percent for attractions in certain cities.
The tournament has generated widespread buzz since its kickoff on May 10. As of press time on Monday, the related hashtag "Jiangsu City Football League" on short video platform Douyin alone had amassed more than 1.82 billion views.
This standout example of integrated cultural and tourism development is gathering strong momentum, with its influence expanding from online popularity to in-person consumption, becoming a key engine driving summer spending.
Fueled by its strong local atmosphere and viral cross-demographic appeal, the event has triggered a surge in travel ahead of the fourth round on June 14. Hotel bookings in Huai’an, one of the host cities, have risen 150 percent year-on-year, while two other cities in Jiangsu - Suqian and Xuzhou - have seen increases of 67 percent and 54 percent, respectively, according to data from Chinese online travel agency Qunar on Monday.
Qunar told the Global Times on Monday that many fans are choosing to arrive one to two days early to better experience the local cultures of the host cities, contributing to a surge in weekend tourism.
Moreover, bookings for scenic spots across Jiangsu Province jumped 110 percent year-on-year during the first three rounds of the matches.
Policy support from local authorities also contributed greatly to the tourism boom. For example, when Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu and one of the main host cities, hosted matches on June 1, the city’s cultural and tourism department rolled out targeted incentives to engage fans. Ticket holders were eligible for discounts at 30 popular attractions, while additional offers were made available at restaurants, shopping malls, and hotels to boost in-person spending, according to media reports.
Such efforts are also seen in many places across China. In May, multiple local governments actively leveraged the May Day and Dragon Boat Festival holidays to tap consumer potential and boost spending. As summer kicks off, tapping into trending topics, especially sports events, to drive regional consumption has become an increasingly prominent focus among local authorities.
For example, during the 2025 Qinhuangdao marathon held in May in North China’s Hebei Province, participants were served freshly cooked seafood dumplings at the race venue and received dining discounts at 100 designated restaurants across the city, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
This marathon directly generated 1.68 billion yuan ($231 million) in consumption, according to estimates by the Qinhuangdao Sports Bureau, per Xinhua.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0610/c90000-20325573.html