New Cultural Observation | The scenic spot is “renewed”, what’s new about it?

Scenic natural spaces, profound historical sites, distinctive theme parks...when it comes to tourist attractions, they are always something people yearn for.

At present, there are 15,700 A-level tourist attractions in my country. They are scattered all over the country and of various types. They are not only the main suppliers of tourism products, but also the service bases for tourism consumption. Whether the scenic spot is fun, whether the experience is rich, and whether the service is in place - the continuously upgraded needs of the majority of tourists are the driving force for the innovative development of scenic spots.

Xinhua News Agency reporter learned that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is deeply implementing the scenic spot renewal action. In the practice of enriching product supply, improving management and service levels, and promoting integrated development, scenic spots are experiencing a new trend.

New Supply

In the golden autumn season, scenic spots across the country have very different landscapes: from the pleasant waterscapes in the southern scenic spots, to the fertile fields in the central scenic spots, to the clear and refreshing autumn weather in the northern scenic spots, tourists can get what they need and enjoy their trip.

According to the data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in 2023, the number of tourists visiting A-level scenic spots nationwide reached 5.754 billion, which is equivalent to 4.11 visits per person per year. Behind the huge data is a scenic spot supply system that has been formed in my country with a large scale, rich types, active innovation and complete standards.

What kind of scenic spots are more popular? In the view of Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, after mass tourism has entered a new stage of comprehensive development, tourists not only want beautiful scenery, but also a better life. Therefore, from the demand side, tourist attractions are required to enrich their supply and provide more sensible, playable and immersive tourism scenes.

For example, in the Yangtze River Delta region, there are many ancient towns featuring "small bridges, flowing water and people's homes", and many scenic spots are thinking about making new names for ancient town tours. On the eve of May Day this year, Luzhi Ancient Town in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province launched the "Blue Indigo Luzhi" digital immersive night tour to recreate the prosperous night scene of the thousand-year-old ancient town.

"In more than four months since opening, the average monthly customer flow has increased by more than 30%, of which more than 60% are young people. The goods consumed have also changed from the previous 'grilled sausages and stinky tofu' to diversified consumption such as homestays, new cultural and creative industries, and interactive performances." Wang Liejun, project manager of Tongcheng Qingdian Luzhi, told reporters.

Find inspiration from history and culture, use modern technology to enhance the experience, build brands on social networks...innovation, creativity, and creation have become the keywords for the renewal of scenic spots.

A relevant official from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Resource Development Department said that by revising and improving the quality grade standards for tourist attractions, they are guiding all regions to create A-level tourist attractions, and using standards to guide and promote all aspects of scenic spot construction and management, so that there are rules to follow and models to learn from, so as to continuously enrich high-quality supply, strengthen resource protection, and meet diverse choices.

New Services

Walking into the Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Enshi, Hubei, many foreign tourists lined up in front of the Ctrip International Edition ticket machine. With this ticket machine, foreign tourists can choose multi-language services and purchase tickets with multiple payment methods. This type of ticket machine has been installed in nearly 30 scenic spots, including the Badaling Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum.

As my country's inbound tourism market recovers faster, improving the convenience of foreign tourists traveling in China has become a concern of many departments for some time. This year, more than 20,000 foreign card POS machines have been added to A-level tourist attractions, and multi-language signage and guide services have been continuously improved, making foreign tourists feel that traveling in China is becoming more and more comfortable.

On the other hand, from more convenient scenic spot reservation methods, to smoother tourist transportation networks, to more complete scenic spot infrastructure, the services of scenic spots are constantly upgrading in the face of the vast number of tourists.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism regards facilitating entrance to scenic spots as an important measure to benefit the people through tourism. In response to the problem of "difficulty in making reservations", it has clearly required that scenic spots with a large number of vacancies for reservations all year round do not implement reservations, and promoted tourist attractions to extend their opening hours during the peak season, increase flexible supply, and improve reception capacity. In response to the problem of "difficulty in purchasing tickets", it has required all scenic spots to retain manual windows and provide offline ticket purchase and other services for groups such as the elderly.

Under the guidance of the cultural and tourism departments, tourist attractions across the country are also enhancing tourists' sense of gain through measures such as ticket discounts and exemptions, increasing direct buses to scenic spots, and free or discounted admission to specific groups.

Changes in the data: In 2013, the average ticket price for A-level tourist attractions nationwide was 31 yuan, which dropped to 22 yuan in 2023. More than 60 5A-level tourist attractions, such as Nanjing Confucius Temple, Hunan Phoenix Ancient Town, and Zhejiang Nanxun Ancient Town, have won the "big account" of tourists by reducing or exempting ticket prices.

Tang Chengcai, professor at the School of Tourism Science of Beijing International Studies University, suggested that in order to address the chronic problems, pain points and complaints of tourist attractions, we should make full use of new technologies to enable the iterative upgrade of scenic spots' business formats, products and service facilities, promote all-round improvement of transportation systems, service facilities, hardware and software, and create a new model for the modernization of tourist attractions.

New Fusion

“The setting sun and the lone wild goose fly together; the autumn water and the sky are the same color…” In front of the Tengwang Pavilion in Jiangxi Province, tourists reciting “Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion” have become a unique landscape.

According to statistics, since the scenic spot launched the free admission activity for reciting "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng" in September 2021, 40,000 tourists have passed through successfully.

People are increasingly feeling the nourishment of the long cultural heritage when traveling in China: the number of traditional cultural scenic spots has increased from 2,230 in 2013 to nearly 4,000 in 2022. About 80% of A-level tourist attractions have incorporated various types of intangible cultural heritage projects at all levels.

Colorful intangible cultural heritage, folk activities, cultural heritage, stories of martyrs... the scenic area has become an important carrier for fully displaying China's excellent traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture.

From the deep integration of culture and tourism to "tourism + all industries", there is great potential for integration in the renewal of scenic spots.

In Chaoyang District, Beijing, Fliggy and the District Culture and Tourism Bureau launched the "AI Tour Beijing Chaoyang" cultural tourism model, using artificial intelligence to "customize" the journey for tourists. In the Huangling Scenic Area in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, the per capita annual income of Huangling Village has increased from 3,500 yuan before tourism development to 40,000 yuan; more than 200 farmers around the scenic area are engaged in farmhouse business, with an average annual increase of 60,000 yuan per household...

Tourism scenic spots have the advantages of large capacity, wide coverage and strong driving force, which not only attracts low-threshold employment but also absorbs high-level entrepreneurship. Data shows that by the end of 2023, the national A-level tourist attractions will achieve direct employment of 1.6071 million people, drive comprehensive employment of about 10 million people, and 339 5A-level tourist attractions will drive direct employment of 300,600 people.

Dai Bin believes that promoting the renewal of scenic spots is an important task to strengthen tourism infrastructure construction and improve the modern tourism system. It has very obvious practical significance for stimulating consumption, consolidating employment and expanding tourism investment.

The renewal is still in progress.

A relevant person in charge of the Resource Development Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said: "We will accelerate the promotion of tourist attractions to maintain integrity and innovation, improve quality and efficiency, and integrate development, and further promote the renewal and upgrading of tourist attractions, so as to build tourist attractions into a vivid carrier of cultural confidence, a vivid scene of a better life, a space for practicing ecological civilization, and an effective driver of economic development."

Source | Xinhua News Agency Client Reporter | Xu Zhuang Editor | Liu Xin Please indicate the source for reprinting