“One ticket to travel to Guandong”: Northeastern Super League events drive deep integration of culture, tourism, and sports businesses

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Currently, the "Northeast Super League" is in full swing. Taking this as an opportunity, the four provinces and regions jointly launched the "One Ticket to Guandong" cultural, tourism and sports business integration gift package, innovating the "ticket economy" model, using "one ticket" to string together the fireworks of a city, and promote the transformation of event traffic into increased consumption.

Thousands of people sang together and the flags danced! On the evening of May 31st, the Changchun Olympic Park Stadium was brightly lit and packed with seats. The focus match of the 2026 Northeast City Football League (hereinafter referred to as the "Northeast Super League") started in full swing. The Changchun team faced the Dalian team at home. 30,915 fans cheered on the spot, and the sound was overwhelming.

Tickets, jerseys, and flags are selling like hot cakes, and there are long queues at shops around the stadium; after the game, "skewers + dinner" has become standard, and barbecues and Northeast home-cooked restaurants are full; the "second viewing venue" in the business district has a surge in passenger flow, and sales of cultural and creative peripherals have increased... A 19.9 yuan ticket not only allows fans to experience the passion of the match on the green, but also allows fans to visit scenic spots, taste delicious food, and enjoy discounts, becoming the "golden key" that connects the entire chain of food, accommodation, travel, shopping, and entertainment.

As the "Northeast Super League" kicks off, many places in Northeast China are exploring new methods of "ticket economy" to promote the in-depth integration of culture, tourism and sports businesses, convert event traffic into consumption increments, leverage "one ticket" to stimulate urban consumption and stimulate cultural and tourism vitality.

Screams and fireworks rise simultaneously

On May 23, the "Northeast Super League" was unveiled simultaneously in Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin, and Hohhot. "Watch a game and visit a city" has become the latest way for many fans to open up about love and distance this summer.

Zhou Zheng, a fan from Dalian, took the fan train to Shenyang two days in advance. During the trip, Zhou Zheng truly realized the "gold content" of a ticket. "The tickets are 'very useful' and there are many discounts. After watching the game, I took my family to visit the Shenyang Forbidden City, and there were discounts on meals and accommodation. This trip was so worth it." There are many fans like Zhou Zheng who "travel with the game". "Watching the game on the first day and traveling the next day" has become a standard itinerary for many fans.

The intense progress of the competition has also expanded the travel radius of tourists. On the evening of May 30, the first match of the second round of the "Northeast Super League" regular season started with excitement at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. After the game, Mr. Wang, a fan from Heilongjiang, tasted Tongliao's local specialties. "In addition to watching football this time, I also want to try Inner Mongolia's mutton. With the football ticket, you can enjoy meal discounts, which is very cost-effective." Mr. Wang said.

The shouts in the stadium have not yet subsided, but the fireworks outside the stadium have risen. During the event, the catering market in Acheng District, Harbin felt the heat of the "event economy". From noon to late at night, many restaurants were packed.

The Acheng District Catering Chamber of Commerce organized member units in advance to launch the "Dine with a match ticket and get a free dish" activity. Some gave away fat sheep, some served beef bone pot, and some brought out the most local pig-killing dishes. The sales volume of "You Zuo Cook" hot pot doubled; in a barbecue restaurant closer to the competition venue, nearly 30 tables in the store were almost full after the competition; Zhao Guofeng, the person in charge of "Zhao Ji Whole Pig Banquet", said that the number of guests received dozens of tables more than usual.

A ticket connects a city

The competition continues to be popular. Many places in Northeast China have taken this as an opportunity to promote the in-depth integration of culture, tourism, sports, and commerce based on regional resource endowments, striving to transform the attraction of the competition into consumption vitality. Four provinces and regions jointly launched the "One Ticket to Guandong" cultural, tourism, sports and business integration gift package, and the "ticket stub economy" has become a key strategy to stimulate consumption.

Yue Yang, deputy director of the Shenyang Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio and Television, introduced that Shenyang and its surrounding areas have introduced policies such as free first-entry tickets with ticket stubs and discounts for staying in more than 20 hotels at 38 scenic spots, covering more than 2,000 merchants in catering, accommodation, bathing, and supermarkets. Feng Nana, chief of the External Exchange and Cooperation Section of the Tongliao Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television, said that the Tongliao Municipal Culture and Tourism Department publicly solicited cooperative enterprise merchants across the city, and linked nearly 100 cultural and tourism enterprises, hotels, shopping malls, etc. to launch exclusive preferential measures for "Northeast Super" ticket stubs. "Hohhot has launched the 'One vote in hand, benefiting people all over the world' campaign, and the 'watching + consumption' integrated model is expected to drive overall growth of more than 10% in secondary consumption in catering, accommodation, and supermarkets." said Li Shangzhong, chief of the Service Trade Section of the Hohhot Municipal Commerce Bureau.

China UnionPay Jilin Branch, with the theme of "Tesco in the midsummer, the Northeast Super League will play", built a platform through the UnionPay APP and launched two major activities: "Pre-heating Gift Pack" and "Ticket Stub Drawing Gifts". “The ‘Ticket Stub Drawing Gifts’ activity was launched on May 23, and by the end of the second game on May 31, more than 30,000 people had participated. In the past week, the transaction amount of the UnionPay system in Jilin Province increased by 16% compared with the same period last year.” Gong Fandi, business manager of the Government and Industry Business Department of China UnionPay Jilin Branch, told reporters.

At the same time, various places have created "second scenes" for immersive game viewing such as night markets and shopping. Heilongjiang holds beer festivals, food festivals and other special events; Jilin simultaneously launches the midsummer consumption season and carries out market exhibitions and other activities in characteristic neighborhoods; Shenyang has set up 13 indoor game viewing stations, 13 outdoor urban game viewing points, and hundreds of fan gas stations to cultivate new consumption scenarios such as "taking a bath to watch football, playing with skewers to watch football".

In order to promote the transformation of traffic into "retention", various regions continue to enrich consumer supply and enhance tourist experience. Jilin launched a series of 129 theme routes for "super" Jilin tours; 18 key scenic spots in Harbin offered benefits to fans in away cities; Hohhot Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Film and Television held 25 concerts during the competition, setting off a performing arts craze of "big stars every month and concerts every week."

Event traffic converted into increased consumption

The "Northeast Super League" is very lively, with fans rushing to attend, using the event as the core to unlock a one-stop experience of watching games, food, night tours, and leisure. The event traffic is being transformed into a real increase in consumption, and "traveling to the Northeast with the event" has become a powerful fulcrum to leverage the development of cultural tourism.

Meituan data shows that in the first week of the event, cultural tourism bookings in the four cities increased across the board. Harbin’s cultural tourism bookings grew by 41%, Hohhot’s by 53%, Shenyang’s four-star and above hotel bookings by 64% year-on-year, and searches for “food near Tiexi Stadium” increased by 172%. Douyin Life Service data shows that during the first event, local group buying sales in Changchun increased by 83% month-on-month.

"The popularity of the 'Northeast Super League' is the result of the integration of sports and culture, and is of great practical significance to the spread of Northeastern culture and the development of sports." Tang Liang, associate professor at the School of Economics and Management of Northeast Normal University, said that the diversification of cultural and entertainment forms is inseparable from the process of high-quality economic development, and the "Northeast Super League" is of great help to economic development.

Liang Qidong, a professor at the School of Economics of Liaoning University, believes that the biggest highlight of the "Northeast Super League" is to transform the short-term traffic of sports events into sustainable consumption increases through the "ticket economy". "A game ticket connects the entire chain of food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment, making fans 'don't want to leave after coming, and want to come again after leaving'. This model of deep integration of culture, sports and tourism provides new ideas for boosting consumption and activating the market in the Northeast region," Liang Qidong said.

Tang Liang suggested that in order to continue to exert the huge influence of the "Northeast Super League", we must create the unique advantages of the "Northeast Super League" and transform the unique characteristics of the Northeastern culture into the "Northeast Super League's" dazzling business card.

It is reported that the current "Northeast Super League" regular season will last until August 15th, and the knockout rounds will be held from September 5th to October 5th. The competition is expected to promote the continued release of consumption potential.

(Reporters: Liu Shanshan, Peng Bing, Liu Xu, Zhang Shiguang, Gao Yazhang)

"Worker Daily" (Page 04, June 4, 2026)