Dai Bin | Policy combination and collaborative innovation in the new stage of inbound tourism

On September 10, the 2024 Inbound Tourism High-Quality Development Conference was held in Hefei, Anhui. Dean Dai Bin of our institute was invited to deliver a speech on the theme of "Policy Combination and Collaborative Innovation in the New Stage of Inbound Tourism". The full text is as follows: Dear Vice Governor Sun Yong, colleagues in the tourism industry, and friends from the media, good afternoon! Inbound tourism has always been the focus of my country's tourism work and the focus of policy innovation. Since the second half of last year, the central government has successively introduced visa, immigration, port and consumption payment facilitation policies, and the state and local governments have continuously increased their efforts to promote cultural exchanges and tourism with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. At present, China has achieved comprehensive mutual visa exemption for ordinary passports with 24 countries, implemented unilateral visa-free entry for 16 countries, and implemented 72/144-hour transit visa exemption for 54 countries. Citizens of 40 countries can enter directly without a visa, and citizens of 32 countries can enter through 72/144-hour transit visa-free entry. The payment facilitation measures of "large-amount card swiping, small-amount code scanning, and cash guarantee" have effectively improved the consumption experience of foreign inbound tourists. Under the framework of bilateral tourism years such as China-France and multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the cultural and tourism departments actively promoted the new image of "Hello! China" national tourism, effectively mobilizing the market enthusiasm of overseas travel agents. Inbound tourism is entering a new channel of rapid recovery and a new stage of prosperity and development. In the first half of 2024, the basic market of Hong Kong and Macao became more stable, and the inbound tourism market for foreigners entered a new stage of rapid recovery. Judging from the quarterly data, both year-on-year and month-on-month growth have achieved significant growth. In the second half of the year, the inbound tourism market for foreigners is expected to return to the same level as in the same period of 2019 and enter a new cycle of prosperity and development. With the increase in the intensity of opening up to the outside world, more and more public cultural and leisure places have become a new space for a better life shared by hosts and guests, meeting the diversified, personalized and quality needs of inbound tourists. While the number of inbound tourists and tourism spending have grown steadily, the satisfaction of foreign tourists has also been steadily improving, reaching 81.7 and 82.9 in the first and second quarters of 2024, respectively, both exceeding the historical average and showing a trend of continuous improvement. Building a strong tourism country requires top-level design, local exploration, and the tourism industry to move in the same direction. On May 17, the central government held a national tourism development conference in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on tourism work, focusing on improving the modern tourism system, accelerating the construction of a tourism power, allowing the tourism industry to better serve a better life, promote economic development, build a spiritual home, showcase China's image, and enhance mutual learning among civilizations. Anhui Province, especially the Huangshan area and Hefei City, have always been important inbound tourism destinations, and are also the theoretical source and practical exploration site for the innovative development of the tourism industry. In the new stage of the prosperity and development of inbound tourism, Anhui is expected to tell the cultural and tourism stories in the process of Chinese-style modernization and form cultural landmarks and tourism elements of the contemporary Chinese image. Anhui is expected to accelerate the construction of world-class tourist attractions and resorts, tourist cities and blocks, accelerate the cultivation of world-class tourism enterprises and service brands, and accelerate the research and development and promotion of new world-class and national tourism routes. In the process of comprehensively deepening reform, Anhui is expected to focus on building a modern tourism system and continuously enhance its international tourism competitiveness. I wish the 2024 Inbound Tourism High-Quality Development Conference a complete success! Author | Dai Bin Editor | Liu Xin Source | China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source for reprinting