Hu Heping｜Speech at the 2022 China Tourism Science Annual Conference

On the morning of April 23rd, the 2022 China Tourism Science Annual Conference, hosted by the China Tourism Research Institute and co organized by Ctrip Group, was held in Beijing. Dr. Hu Heping, Secretary of the Party Group and Minister of Culture and Tourism, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. After years of hard work, significant progress has been made in the construction of China's tourism talent team. The talent training system is becoming increasingly perfect, focusing on industry trends, market needs, and social expectations. A good situation of coordinated efforts in college training, vocational education, and social training is gradually forming. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently over 1000 ordinary higher education institutions in China that offer tourism majors, with more than 500000 students enrolled. The Master of Tourism (MTA) program has begun to take shape, with over 100 educational institutions and dozens of mobile stations and workstations for training postdoctoral fellows in related fields. The talent development environment continues to be optimized, and the importance of tourism talents from all sectors of society is constantly increasing. From the aspects of training, introduction, use, motivation, and service, superior environment and convenient conditions are provided for the growth of talents. The construction of talent team has been effectively strengthened, covering various aspects such as theoretical research, planning and design, product development, business management, marketing, capital operation, education and training, publicity and promotion, which has effectively supported academic research, discipline construction, and industry development. Success comes from achievement, and broad achievements come from talent. The cultural and tourism fields are one of the areas that require innovation leadership and talent support the most. Building a socialist cultural power relies on talent, and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry relies on talent. Building a high-quality and specialized team of cultural and tourism talents is the foundation and necessity of entrepreneurship, as well as our common needs and mission. Below, I will share six opinions. The Central Talent Work Conference has made comprehensive arrangements for the in-depth implementation of the strategy of building a strong talent country and strengthening and improving talent work in the new era. The important speech of General Secretary was published in the 24th issue of Qiushi magazine last year. We must study and comprehend seriously, deeply think and practice, achieve repeated learning, frequent learning, and comprehensive learning, effectively implement and ensure practical results. We must grasp the important significance of talent work, deeply recognize that "comprehensive national strength competition ultimately boils down to talent competition" and "national development relies on talent, and national revitalization relies on talent", effectively improve our political stance, firmly establish the conscious thinking and action of regarding talent as the first resource for innovation, prioritize the development of talent resources, and do a solid job in refining talent work and building a strong talent team. We must grasp the mission and tasks of talent work, focus on the needs of tourism work, educational research, and industry development, comprehensively cultivate, introduce, and make good use of talents, vigorously cultivate a high-quality and specialized tourism talent team, and provide talent support and lay a solid talent foundation for promoting the high-quality development of the tourism industry. We must grasp the scientific methods of talent work, adhere to the Party's management of talents, strengthen political guidance for talents, deepen the reform of the talent development system and mechanism, improve the mechanisms for talent cultivation, utilization, evaluation, service, support, and incentive, promote the deep integration of industry, academia, research, and application, continuously optimize the talent development environment, and gather talents from all over the world for use. Secondly, we must carefully cultivate talents and continuously cultivate a large number of outstanding tourism talents. Nurturing talents and promoting excellence is the top priority of governance. Talent cultivation is a major plan related to the long-term development of the tourism industry, with a fundamental, pioneering, and leading position and role. We must persist in cultivating talents for the Party and the country, and focus on the fundamental plan of having successors. We should make good use of the increasingly perfect talent policy system, the large-scale education and training system, and the broad stage for career development to cultivate a large number of excellent tourism talents who adhere to their original aspirations, shoulder their missions, have strong abilities, and are trustworthy. We should focus on optimizing the structure of tourism talents, starting from the needs of industry development and the actual situation of the talent team. We should not only focus on cultivating high-level leading talents and grasping the "key few", but also carefully discover and cultivate outstanding young talents, store the "source of vitality", and vigorously cultivate outstanding talents in all aspects, so that various types of talents can emerge in competition. We need to improve school education and vocational education, optimize the setting of tourism related majors, promote professional upgrading, and develop master's degree education in tourism management. Promote the development of tourism vocational education, improve the mechanism of continuing education, enrich modern educational methods, and promote the construction and sharing of digital curriculum resources. To leverage the role of market entities and social organizations, and based on the advantages of wide resource channels, strong practical characteristics, and active training mechanisms, we should combine our own operational mechanisms, job demands, and the talent training system and objectives of universities, and vigorously cultivate talents through order based training, targeted training, internship exercises, and other methods. To promote the deep integration of industry, academia, research and application, explore the construction of a multi-channel and integrated talent training model for cultural and tourism administrative departments, academic research institutions, tourism market entities, industry and social organizations, and strengthen the full chain talent training in key areas, innovative areas, and urgently needed and scarce areas. In January of this year, the Ctrip Culture and Tourism Industry College, jointly established by Ctrip Group and relevant universities, was unveiled. The college adheres to the cultivation concept of "Internet+cultural tourism talents", practices vocational education policies, adopts an open school model, takes the needs of enterprises as the driving force, and takes the road of integration of industry, education and research, which is worth exploring. Thirdly, we should pay attention to practical training and build a stage for tourism talents to grow and succeed in their careers. Practice produces true knowledge, and fire refines gold. Practice is the touchstone for talent selection, cultivation, and utilization. Where do talents come from? At the end of the day, it comes down to emerging and growing from entrepreneurship. We should actively guide talents to participate in major tasks, key work, and practical activities, learn how to swim in swimming, learn how to fight in battle, and go through storms, see the world, and strengthen their muscles and bones in hot practice, to be tempered, enhance their abilities, and strengthen their skills. To hone talents through practice, we should not only focus on education and training, but also on practical training. We should discover and explore talents from the front lines of management, scientific research, and business, and establish a clear orientation of emphasizing practical work and practice. We need to eliminate the "four criteria" (i.e. only academic papers, titles, education, and awards), establish scientific evaluation standards for talents, and use practical experience and training results as important basis for title evaluation, job recruitment, and talent project recommendation and selection. It is necessary to create talents with career, put more burdens and tasks on tourism managers, researchers and practitioners, build a bigger stage for them to become talents, create more opportunities and provide broader space, truly realize "planting wutong trees, attracting phoenix", and let the vast number of talents in the melting pot of industry "leap with fish in the sea and let birds fly in the sky". To motivate talents through growth, tailored and refined talent key projects and characteristic projects with strong pertinence and effectiveness should be carried out according to the characteristics of tourism talents, to help talents improve their abilities and grow as soon as possible. For example, for the tour guide team, implement quality improvement projects, "gold medal tour guide" training programs, strengthen the assessment and management of middle and senior tour guides, and carry out special grade tour guide evaluations; For red tourism tour guides, it is encouraged to establish "Gold Medal Tour Guide Studio" and "Five Good Tour Guide Studio". Establish a sound talent incentive mechanism closely linked to work performance, and boldly utilize high-level talents, key positions, business backbones, urgently needed and scarce talents, and outstanding performance talents. Fourthly, we must sincerely care for and assist talents, so that the vast number of tourism talents can live, rest and work in peace. Tourism talents are the fundamental force supporting the sustainable and healthy development of the industry, and they are precious and indispensable. We should establish a strong awareness of talent, do a good job in uniting, guiding, and serving tourism talents, sincerely care for talents, cherish talents, and achieve talents. To truly love talents, to work with emotions towards talent, to pay attention to humanistic care and unity, to gather talents from all walks of life with care, and to attract, retain, and use talents well. We should carefully utilize our talents, giving them the opportunity to showcase their abilities, establish a platform to make achievements, and have space for development and progress. We should enable truly talented scholars to fully utilize their talents, and fully unleash their enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity. We should sincerely respect talents, actively help and serve them, timely understand and grasp their thoughts, expectations, and concerns, help them solve practical problems, and use environment, career, emotions, and treatment to retain talents. For more than two years, the COVID-19 has hit the tourism industry hard, especially in travel agencies and other industries. Jobs have been reduced and employees have been lost. It is urgent to help the main body of the tourism market tide over difficulties and stabilize the tourism talent team. In February of this year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and 14 other departments jointly issued the "Several Policies on Promoting the Recovery and Development of Difficult Industries in the Service Industry", which identified the tourism industry as a key industry for assistance and launched 10 inclusive policies and 7 special relief and support policies for the tourism industry. In the future, relevant policies will be formulated and adjusted according to the actual situation, and efforts will be made to stabilize market entities and ensure employment, so that market entities and practitioners can truly feel the care and concern of the Party and the government. Fifth, we need to discover and cultivate a group of young backbone talents, and continuously expand the talent pool. Youth is the future of the country and the hope of the nation. Only by increasing the number and strength of young talents can we create a vivid situation where the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves forward, and inject endless development vitality into the industry. We should attach great importance to the cultivation of young talents, place it in an important strategic position, and include it in the important agenda. We should implement the "Medium - and Long Term Youth Development Plan (2016-2025)", adhere to early detection, early reserve, and early training, and build a platform conducive to young talents standing out and displaying their talents. We should be good at discovering and cultivating good seedlings, exploring the establishment of a school enterprise cooperation mechanism for young talents' internship practice, and helping them participate widely in social practice activities. Improve the scholarship and reward system for outstanding talents. In the research of important topics, implementation of key projects, and application for honors and awards, certain preferential treatment should be given to outstanding young talents, supporting them to take on the lead and become the main actors. For example, in the annual macro decision-making project initiation, selection of excellent research results, and postdoctoral library project carried out by the China Tourism Research Institute, outstanding young talents are identified as key support objects, providing a platform for their growth. Encourage the formation of youth innovation and entrepreneurship teams, innovation and entrepreneurship park bases, and support young talents to conduct research and innovation. We should care about and help outstanding young talents grow, fully trust them politically, actively guide them ideologically, create conditions in work, and care for them in life. We should do more practical, good, and difficult things for them. Intensify efforts to pass on and guide young talents, and improve the full chain training system for outstanding young talents. Sixth, we need to strengthen organizational leadership and create a favorable environment for the cultivation, utilization, and evaluation of tourism talents. We must adhere to the Party's management of talents, strengthen the Party's comprehensive leadership over talent work, improve the system and mechanism of Party management of talents, improve the ways and methods of Party management of talents, comprehensively guarantee the service of talents, and make every effort to achieve talents. We must integrate the Party's love for talents, the Party's development of talents, and the Party's gathering of talents into all aspects of the construction of the tourism talent team. Education guides talents to uphold the supremacy of national interests and people's interests, consciously integrating their personal expertise and pursuit into the reform and development of the tourism industry in the new era, and into the practice of meeting the people's demand for beautiful tourism. We need to strengthen policy support and encourage innovation in talent policies. Based on a clear understanding of the current situation and demand for tourism talents, we should introduce targeted policy measures and establish a comprehensive, structurally reasonable, scientifically standardized, pragmatic and effective tourism talent policy system. Make full use of existing policies, fully unleash policy dividends, and provide assistance to talent work, benefiting the vast number of talents. We must adhere to deepening reforms, establish a training mechanism that is conducive to the growth of talents, a utilization mechanism that is conducive to the full utilization of talents, an incentive mechanism that is conducive to the individual development of talents, and a competition mechanism that is conducive to the emergence of talents, in order to provide strong impetus for the training and utilization of tourism talents. After more than a decade of development, the influence, guidance, and credibility of the China Tourism Science Annual Conference have been continuously enhanced. In January of this year, the State Council issued the "14th Five Year Plan" for the development of the tourism industry, which includes "making good use of research platforms such as the China Tourism Science Annual Conference". I hope that the China Tourism Science Annual Conference will adhere to high standards of preparation and high-quality hosting, strive for excellence, and become a bridge and link for exchanging research results, a well-known brand for sharing practical experience, and a broad platform for promoting cross-border cooperation!