简体中文
On May 17, the central government held a national tourism development conference in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions, which inspired confidence in tourism development and pointed out the direction, path and key tasks for high-quality development of the tourism industry, including the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.
thick planting:
Establishing a platform for mutual visits between the Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao
Visitors base
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that since reform and opening up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s tourism development has entered the fast lane, forming the world’s largest domestic tourism market and becoming the largest source of tourists and a major destination for international tourism. It has grown from weak to strong, and has increasingly become an emerging strategic pillar industry, a people's livelihood industry, and a happiness industry with distinctive characteristics of the times. It has successfully embarked on a unique path for China's tourism development.
Tourism is a way to cultivate one's character. China has always advocated "reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles". With the establishment of a moderately prosperous society, tourism has become an increasingly rigid demand for a better life. During the eight-day Spring Festival holiday this year, 474 million domestic tourists traveled nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, and a 19.0% increase over the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis; the total expenditure of domestic tourists on travel was 632.687 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%, and a 7.7% increase over the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis. During the five-day Labor Day holiday, a total of 295 million domestic tourists traveled nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%, and a 28.2% increase over the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis; the total expenditure of domestic tourists on travel was 166.89 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%, and a 13.5% increase over the same period in 2019 on a comparable basis. The data show that China's tourism economy has emerged from the sharp recession, deep depression and rapid recovery stages of this round of unconventional economic cycle, and is entering a new cycle of prosperity and development. Promoting the steady growth of mutual visits between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao should become a long-term issue and policy orientation for tourism exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao.
In 2010, commissioned by the former National Tourism Administration, my team and I went to the Macao Special Administrative Region to conduct a special study on "The Goals and Market Strategies of the Construction of a World Tourism and Leisure Center". We reached a consensus that the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao are the most basic source markets, which is an objective fact that cannot be changed by human will. Therefore, the goal of building a world tourism and leisure center is to attract global tourists, including mainland tourists, with world-class product development capabilities and service quality. Any strategic design that ignores the mainland market is unrealistic, and vice versa. Mainland provinces and cities, including Jiangxi, must also attach great importance to the basic market of Hong Kong and Macao. Unfortunately, due to the influence of "black violence", the epidemic and negative public opinion related to tourism, the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong has fluctuated downward in the past decade. I hope that the SAR government and the tourism industry will seize the opportunity of the prosperous development of the mainland tourism market, increase publicity and promotion efforts, convey more sincerity, goodwill, equality and warmth, and fully restore the confidence of mainland tourists in the Hong Kong market.
Figure 1 Number, proportion and growth rate of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong (2013-2023)
*Data source: Hong Kong Tourism Board
Figure 2 Number, proportion and growth rate of mainland tourists visiting Macao (2013-2023)
*Data source: Macao Government Tourism Office
Figure 3 Number of tourists from Hong Kong and Macao received by the Mainland (2012-2019)
*Data source: China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
Growth:
Facing new tourism demands,
Enriching the supply of high-quality tourism
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "in the new era and new journey, tourism development faces new opportunities and new challenges". The tourism industry, which has entered a new cycle of rational prosperity, will bring a broader market space for tourism exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, but will also bring more challenges due to changes in tourism demand and intensified competition in destinations.
One is demand growth and two-way rush. With the establishment of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, "no worries about food, clothing, and enough money to travel" has become a vivid portrayal of a better life. Poems and distant dreams are illuminating China's national rejuvenation and people's happiness. The 2024 Labor Day holiday continued the growth trend from New Year's Day, Spring Festival to Qingming Festival, and major indicators such as the number of domestic tourist trips, tourism expenditure, per capita travel radius, destination recreation distance, and the number of inbound and outbound tourists all hit record highs. The growing tourism demand of urban and rural residents has become the most reliable market force for tourism exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, and is also a key support for industry cooperation. It is worth noting that not only provincial capital cities and regional central cities, but also county central cities in the vast central and western regions have also become the main force in holiday and weekend travel. While mainland residents are enthusiastic about traveling to Hong Kong and Macao, the living radius of Hong Kong and Macao residents continues to expand towards the mainland, and the "one-hour living circle" in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is accelerating, giving rise to new phenomena such as "going north for shopping" and "one-day self-driving tour to Zhuhai" . On weekends and holidays, it has become normal for Hong Kong residents to enter Shenzhen from Liantang Port in the morning, go to Huaqiangbei to change batteries and get glasses, check in at the hotel in the afternoon, put away their luggage and go to Costco, and then return to the hotel to order takeout in the evening.
The second is consumer rationality and emotional dominance. While the demand for tourism reflects individuality, tourism consumption is also becoming mature and rational. Tourists will not be stingy with the money they should spend, and they will also hold onto the money they should not spend. More and more young people are no longer blindly chasing popular tourist destinations and internet celebrity check-in points, but choosing niche tourist destinations with relatively high cost-effectiveness. Influenced by the diverse, personalized, and high-quality demands, tourists from theaters to markets have a wide range of access to the daily lives and leisure spaces of local residents. From Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong and the old town of Macau, to Shenzhen Festival Avenue and Zhuhai Chimelong Resort, they have all attracted tourists from the Greater Bay Area urban agglomeration and foreign lands to experience a different kind of youthful experience here. In the eyes of mainlanders, Hong Kong is still a warm city despite its fast pace and high cost of living. The streetscape of Mong Kok, the colorful exterior walls of Rainbow Estate, the internet famous cafes and boardwalks in Kennedy Town, the stunning sunset view of Herm è s Orange at Ting Kau Bridge, the Ding Ding car and Tai Ping Shan cable car, the night view of Victoria Harbour, and local specialty snacks are still essential choices for mainland tourists on City Walk. We look forward to seeing the theme tram of the movie "Volleyball Boy" and bringing back some favorite cultural and creative products. As a result, more and more tourist cities are turning to urban tourism. City managers and tourism promotion agencies need to meet the diverse needs of tourists with a more calm attitude, more wisdom, and patience, and provide emotional value to young people as much as possible.
The third is diversified competition and business innovation. Tourism has strong relevance and wide driving force, and plays an irreplaceable role in promoting local economic growth, cultural construction and social development. It is precisely because of the continuous release of tourism effects that more and more countries and regions have cultivated tourism as a strategic pillar industry, and have mobilized national and regional forces to cultivate it from a higher position. In the era of visas, customs clearance, consumption convenience and service quality, the competition pattern of international and domestic tourist destinations has begun to undergo profound changes, including Hong Kong and Macao. No city can maintain long-term competitiveness in the tourism market by relying on traditional resources and unchanged models. The development of urban tourism in the new era must and can only be for the better life of the people. It should and can also rely on the local good life with both cultural flavor and fireworks. Such a good life can be spontaneously grown with the development of local economic and social development, or it can be a festival activity actively created by cultural, tourism, sports, science and technology, media and business departments. On May 21, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee revealed that Hong Kong held about 210 events throughout the year, an increase of more than 40% over earlier estimates. Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung and Tourism Bureau Director-General Cheng Dingtong announced the list of more than 100 events in the second half of the year, including 42 exhibitions, 15 sports events, 13 innovation and technology events, 11 carnivals, as well as performing arts expo, fashion design week, National Day fireworks display, etc. As Chief Executive John Lee pointed out, the event economy will produce synergistic effects with the central government's recent measures to expand the scope of "free travel" to Hong Kong, extend the stay period of business visas to Hong Kong, expand the scope of application of talent visas to Hong Kong, and double the economic benefits.
Prosperity:
Improve public services and expand
Tourism Investment and Entrepreneurship Innovation
General Secretary Xi Jinping instructed, "We must take the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics as our guide, fully and accurately implement the new development concept, adhere to the principle of maintaining integrity and innovation, improve quality and efficiency, and integrate development. We must coordinate the government and the market, supply and demand, protection and development, domestic and international, development and security. We must strive to improve the modern tourism system, accelerate the construction of a tourism power, and allow 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."
Tourism development in the new era requires a development concept that keeps pace with the times. Tourists are residents who travel, and residents are tourists who return. The tourism industry has both economic and social and cultural attributes; it has both industrial and business attributes; most tourism demands should be supplied by market entities in the form of products according to economic laws, but some demands should be supplied by the government in the form of public services. With the improvement of "big transportation" such as aviation, high-speed rail and highways between the source and destination, and "small transportation" such as subways, buses, taxis, online car-hailing and shared bicycles in the destination cities, tourists have widely entered the daily life space of urban and rural residents with the help of mobile communications, the Internet and artificial intelligence technologies. Affected by the changes in demand, the development of tourism resources, the research and development of tourism products and the construction mode of tourism destinations have undergone fundamental changes, which in turn pose new challenges to tourism public services such as tourism signage and interpretation systems, parking lots, distribution centers, public toilets, and ticket reservation platforms, all of which require the government and public institutions to increase the construction of infrastructure and public services.
Tourism development in the new era requires more fiscal input and social investment. The construction of tourist destinations requires high-level publicity and market promotion, and more pragmatic and efficient project construction. We have noticed that provinces and cities in the mainland, including Jiangxi, are consolidating the institutional foundation for competition in tourist destinations through tourism development conferences, high-quality development documents, medium- and long-term plans, world-class tourist attractions and resorts, and national tourist cities and blocks. Fiscal inputs, including ultra-long-term government bonds, are used for investment in tourism infrastructure, thereby driving more financial investment, industrial investment, and venture capital.
Tourism development in the new era requires vibrant entrepreneurship and innovation. A tourist destination is the sum of the living environment, and the commercial reception system composed of investment institutions and market entities is the core competitiveness. Compared with globally renowned scenic resort projects and internationally influential tourism groups, the contemporary tourism industry needs to pay more attention to those small but fine, small but beautiful, small but warm tourism and leisure projects that are rooted in local economic and social development and the lives of urban and rural residents, and pay more attention to the entrepreneurial vitality and business growth of local young people. To this end, we must abandon traditional concepts such as "tourism is a labor-intensive, experience-driven traditional service industry" and "circling mountains and waters to collect entrance fees and eating dividends from the huge crowds of people", accelerate the cultivation of new quality productivity such as science and technology, culture, art, and fashion, accelerate the construction of a modern tourism system, and build an industrial foundation for a strong tourism country.
Guardian:
Promoting tourism between the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao
High-quality development is on the way forward
General Secretary Xi Jinping requires that “all regions and departments should earnestly enhance their sense of responsibility and mission, divide the work and cooperate, and implement the work to promote the steady and long-term high-quality development of the tourism industry.” This is a strategic requirement for tourism work in the new era, and it is also the common responsibility of the tourism departments of the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.
First, is the satisfaction of tourists high? In the past ten years, the satisfaction evaluation of mainland tourists to Hong Kong and Macao tourists has been at a high level, and the satisfaction is among the countries and regions included in the monitoring of outbound tourism destinations. Since last year, with the expansion of cities for individual travel to Hong Kong, the distribution of tourism consumption vouchers, the facilitation of visas and customs clearance, and the implementation of policies such as Hong Kong cars going north and Macao cars going north, in the first quarter of this year, Macao became the most satisfactory destination for mainland outbound tourists for the first time, and Hong Kong ranked seventh with 81.77 points. In 2023, tourists from Hong Kong and Macao to the mainland gave high scores of 81.79 and 84.40 respectively, which is much higher than the overall evaluation of 78.09 points of inbound tourists in the same period. Facts have proved that every effort of the government and the industry can be felt by tourists. It is hoped that the relevant departments of the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao will build and improve the service quality and tourism economy monitoring and operation system, exchange data and communicate information in a timely manner, and study policy reserves such as "one place, two inspections, unilateral release", "one visa, multiple trips", "full coverage of individual travel in the mainland", and "facilitation of booking and purchasing tickets for Hong Kong and Macao residents' mainland passes".
Figure 4 Satisfaction level of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong and Macao (2013-2024Q1)
*Source: China Tourism Academy (Data Center of Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
Second, do you often think about whether residents have a sense of gain? Tourism development in the new era should satisfy tourists and allow residents to obtain due benefits in employment, income and leisure life. We should make good use of the construction achievements of urban renewal and rural revitalization to cultivate more new spaces for a better life that are pleasing to people from near and far and shared by hosts and guests. The central government and all sectors of society support Macao in building a world tourism and leisure center. Through the construction of national camps and bases for study and tourism, we will attract more mainland young people to visit, pragmatically promote the urban renewal of the old city, the revitalization of the cultural heritage of the Litchi Bowl Shipyard, promote exchanges in art, technology and sports, and create more high-quality employment opportunities and high-quality leisure spaces for local residents. Support Hong Kong in reshaping its new image of "warm, hospitable and high-quality" tourism, expand industry exchanges and tourism promotion, strengthen connectivity with the Greater Bay Area city cluster, connect with Guangdong's "hundreds of millions" project, and build Hong Kong into a supporting city for the "one-stop multi-stop" national tourism route. We will support Jiangxi, which has the most beautiful scenery, in promoting its natural and historical and cultural heritage such as Longhu Mountain, Sanqing Mountain and Lushan Mountain in Hong Kong and Macao, strengthen tourism infrastructure construction, improve the tourism public service system, and include red tourism scenic spots in Jinggangshan and Ruijin into study and tourism bases for Hong Kong and Macao youths in the Mainland.
Third, should we pay more attention to whether the enterprises are competitive? The tourism exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao cannot be separated from the vast number of investment institutions and market entities, especially travel agencies, online travel platforms, tour guides, tour leaders, hotels, homestays, catering, retail and other tourism enterprises and practitioners, as well as the help of technology companies such as map navigation, business reviews, car rentals, self-driving tours and individual tours. With the support of the continuously growing tourism market, the continuous innovation of scientific and technological research and development, and the inclusive and promoting industrial policies, the tourism enterprises of the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao should and can cultivate world-class enterprises with world competitiveness through mutual investment and joint research and development. Make good use of the power of the tourism industry chambers of commerce and associations in Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland, make good use of the institutional advantages of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Deep Integration Development Leading Zone and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, and promote in-depth cooperation between the top 20 Chinese tourism groups and Hong Kong and Macao tourism enterprises. The cultural and tourism departments of the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao should strengthen cooperation with the departments of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, Commerce and Foreign Investment, Trade and Development, Industry and Information, promote the circulation of production factors such as capital, technology and talents in the tourism field, accelerate the cultivation of new tourism quality productivity, and jointly promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry in the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao.
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
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