Summer is here! But when you get days that are constantly above 35 degrees Celsius, “how to get away from the heat” becomes almost a question of survival. Businesses that offer people a short trip away from the heat are just as feverish.

The China Tourism Academy (CTA) stated earlier this year that in 2018, nearly half of the total one billion tourists hit the road to run away from the heat. In July and August of last year, the total amount of tourists received by domestic summer tourism destinations increased by 40.1 percent year on year, while the total consumption increased by 46.9 percent yearly.

Individual travel is the main mode of summer travel, including independent travel, self-driving travel and backpacking. Seventy-three percent of the tourists chose to travel domestically.

Liu Chunsheng, associate professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, attributed the emergence of the so-called “high-temperature business” to consumption upgrade, where income increase plays a significant role.

“As family income in China keeps growing, especially [when] China now has the largest middle income group, the consumption capacity and the tendency of consumption upgrade has been growing as well. All these [factors] have boosted what we call the ‘high temperature business,’” Liu explained.

He added that many local governments are upgrading their infrastructure to better accommodate these tourists.

Still, flourishing social media also plays an indispensable role in stimulating consumption, Liu noted.

For 2019, the industry predicts the "high-temperature business" will continue to grow. A CAT survey indicates that residents from traditional "high-temperature" cities who wanted to travel reached by 93 percent this year, with 46.87 percent of the residents willing to travel two or three times.

Moreover, the CTA suggested that analyses should be conducted on "high-temperature businesses" and exploring new growth drivers. Although continual "high temperatures" may damage the overall economy, the tourism industry stands to benefit from this opportunity.