Dai Bin | Accelerating the construction of a tourism powerhouse and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry

Recently, Dai Bin, the president of the China Tourism Research Institute, was invited to publish a signed article titled "Accelerating the Construction of a Tourism Strong Country and Promoting High quality Development of the Tourism Industry" in the "Red Flag Manuscript". The full text was published on Qiushi website and is shared below.

Developing the tourism industry is an important focus for promoting high-quality development. On May 17, 2024, the National Tourism Development Conference was held in Beijing.

The tourism industry is strategic

Pillar industries

Livelihood industry and happiness industry

The tourism industry is increasingly becoming an emerging strategic pillar industry. The tourism industry is increasingly becoming an emerging strategic pillar industry and a livelihood and happiness industry with significant characteristics of the times. In the first quarter of 2024, the total expenditure of domestic tourists on travel was 1.52 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17%, which played a significant role in promoting consumption and stimulating domestic demand; The number of inbound and outbound personnel in China exceeded 141 million, a year-on-year increase of 117.8%. The holiday tourism crowds are surging, and traveling for the Chinese New Year has become a new folk custom. During the eight day Spring Festival holiday in 2024, there were 474 million domestic tourists traveling nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, and a comparable increase of 19.0% compared to the same period in 2019; The total expenditure of domestic tourists on travel was 632.687 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%. Tourism has become an indispensable part of people's daily lives, and China has formed the world's largest domestic tourism market.

The tourism industry drives economic growth, expands employment, and optimizes the economic structure. Tourism is the ultimate and comprehensive consumption, with high correlation, wide radiation, and strong driving force, characterized by the prosperity of one industry and the flourishing of all industries. During the 13th Five Year Plan period, the added value of tourism and related industries maintained a growth trend in proportion to the gross domestic product, and the comprehensive contribution of the tourism industry to the national economy exceeded 10%. By 2023, over 10 million people will be directly employed in A-level tourist attractions across the country, and tourism will drive nearly 80 million comprehensive employment opportunities. With the upgrading of demand in the tourism market, tourism consumption tends to be diversified, personalized, and quality-oriented. The modern tourism industry has entered a virtuous cycle of "quality demand guiding supply innovation, innovative supply driving demand upgrading". The tourism industry has integrated and developed in synergy with other industries, and new products, new formats, and new business models continue to emerge. With the integration and development of culture, art, technology, sports, and tourism, as well as the widespread application of new quality productivity represented by artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and digitization, sports+tourism and tourism+health and wellness are flourishing. New demands and business models for red tourism and educational tourism continue to emerge, and a new wave of tourism investment and entrepreneurial innovation is coming.

The tourism industry is a livelihood and happiness industry with significant characteristics of the times. The Chinese people have advocated "reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles" since ancient times. Tourism carries the new mission of cultural inheritance and civilization creation, and enhancing cultural confidence and improving cultural soft power are the requirements of the times for a tourism powerhouse. With the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society, the material needs of the people have been greatly satisfied, and their spiritual and cultural needs have become increasingly prominent. They are more and more looking forward to the spirited study of scholars and the travel of their families, countries, and the world. Developing tourism is conducive to promoting comprehensive human development, playing an increasingly important role in inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture, promoting revolutionary culture, developing advanced socialist culture, and creating modern civilization.

The tourism industry is a bridge for spreading civilization, exchanging culture, and enhancing friendship. From the people to people diplomacy at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, to the current promotion of international exchanges and cooperation through forms such as the Chinese Foreign Tourism Year, tourism development has always been a disseminator of Chinese civilization, a people to people messenger of cultural exchange, and a soft power to enhance the dissemination and influence of Chinese civilization and enhance international discourse power. At present, China has signed visa free agreements for ordinary passports with 23 countries and implemented unilateral visa free agreements for 12 countries. With the growth of national strength and policy optimization, the outbound tourism market for Chinese citizens will continue to expand. Tourists have gone out, and communication and cooperation should also keep up with the times. Strengthening the research on tourist source and destination countries, innovating bilateral and multilateral exchange mechanisms, proactively setting topics, implementing global civilization initiatives, and enhancing China's voice and influence in the world tourism development system are important missions for building a strong tourism country.

The high-quality development of the tourism industry

Important focus points

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the development of the tourism industry has entered a fast lane, with the market scale continuously expanding, the tourism supply system becoming increasingly perfect, and new formats such as green tourism and smart tourism rapidly emerging. The sense of gain and happiness experienced by the people in tourism is increasing day by day. The deepening development of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation provides favorable conditions for promoting the transformation of the tourism industry from resource driven to innovation driven. The diverse, personalized, and high-quality needs of tourists are also driving the improvement of infrastructure and public services, as well as the innovation research and service enhancement of the tourism industry. To promote high-quality development of the tourism industry, multiple measures need to be taken simultaneously in order to achieve stability and long-term success.

The high-quality development of the tourism industry requires safeguarding the rights and interests of tourists. With the increase in the number of urban and rural residents traveling and the maturity of tourism experience, tourists not only demand upgrades from travel agencies, tour guides, tourist attractions, and star rated hotels, but also from public services and commercial environments. Especially during holidays and peak summer tourism seasons, tourist satisfaction is a barometer for observing high-quality economic and social development. The people have increasingly urgent expectations for solving problems such as difficulty in booking, parking, forced consumption, induced consumption, price fraud, and big data murder in popular tourist attractions and cultural and museum venues during peak tourism seasons. To develop inbound tourism, it is also necessary to effectively break through the bottlenecks for foreign nationals to come to China for business, study, and tourism. We should learn to listen to the voice of tourists through traditional media and Internet platforms, and timely incorporate tourist satisfaction into the binding indicators of high-quality tourism development.

The high-quality development of the tourism industry should benefit the people. Yucun Village, Anji County, Zhejiang Province, has transformed from "selling stones" to "selling scenery". The former mine has been transformed into a field of rapeseed flowers and lotus root ponds, paving the way for a new path of ecological beauty, industrial prosperity, and people's wealth. Beiji Village, Mohe City, Heilongjiang Province, has done a good job in "ice and snow" and developed the ice and snow economy, and the villagers have had a meal of tourism. Some tourist destinations focus too much on the growth of visiting tourists and investment institutions, which to some extent neglects the interests of local residents and affects the sustainable development of the tourism industry. It is necessary to include tourism as an important indicator for the high-quality development of the tourism industry, and to take practical and effective measures to promote the development of industries, employment, and living standards in destination cities and rural areas.

The high-quality development of the tourism industry should focus on improving the level of traditional industries. The tourism industry has strong economic attributes and a high degree of marketization. There are numerous and diverse types of tourism investment institutions and market entities, including travel service providers represented by travel agencies, online travel agents, and tour guides, tourism accommodation providers represented by hotels and homestays, tourism and leisure operators represented by scenic spots, resorts, and leisure blocks, as well as technology innovation enterprises such as map navigation, language interaction, and mobile payment. The strength of the competitiveness of tourism enterprises directly determines the quality of tourism industry development, as well as the level of subsequent investment in factors such as capital, technology, and research and development creativity. The quality demand of tourists is driving innovation and structural optimization in the tourism supply side. The traditional tourism development model of relying on natural resources and historical and cultural heritage to build scenic spots and collect tickets is being replaced by modern tourism development models and new formats driven by technology research and development, cultural creativity, and scene creation. To build a strong tourism country and achieve high-quality development of the tourism industry, it is necessary to cultivate more competitive, influential, and leading tourism market entities. We need to further improve the monitoring system of the tourism economy, continuously increase industrial concentration and research and development investment, extend the industrial chain, enhance driving force and international level, and form a new industrial pattern of "large groups leading, specialized operation of small and medium-sized enterprises, and digital innovation of small and micro enterprises".

promotes high-quality development of the tourism industry

Promote the construction of a tourism powerhouse

To build a strong tourism country and promote the stable and far-reaching high-quality development of the tourism industry, we must firmly grasp the goals and tasks, focus on solving prominent problems, adhere to "upholding integrity and innovation, improving quality and efficiency, and integrating development", coordinate "government and market, supply and demand, protection and development, domestic and international, development and security", systematically plan, scientifically layout, optimize supply, and deepen reform.

Strengthen top-level design, system planning, and scientific layout. Further clarify the guiding ideology, strategic objectives, key tasks, and work measures for building a world tourism power and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry, and synchronously layout in economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, and ecological civilization construction, vigorously promoting the integration and development of the tourism industry and related industries of the national economy. Improve the coordination mechanism for tourism development, strengthen the construction of high-end tourism think tanks, and build a theoretical and forward-looking policy research system for national tourism development. Cultivate new national tourism routes and form a tourism spatial pattern of point radiation, belt connection, and network coordination. Local governments need to study and solve specific problems faced in building a strong tourism country and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry, and form new measures that are tailored to local conditions, fields, and keep pace with the times to develop the tourism industry.

Fully protect and rationally utilize ecological resources and cultural heritage. After years of practical innovation, China has developed a number of widely accepted new tourism products such as forest tourism, grassland tourism, mountain tourism, bird watching, science popularization, and study tours. To develop tourism, it is necessary to conduct solid and in-depth research on historical and cultural heritage. The overall protection and inheritance of historical and cultural cities, neighborhoods, villages, and towns should aim to "retain people, see things, and have a life". Facing the emerging urban roaming, county-level tourism, and rural tourism, based on regional characteristics, preserving local culture, improving supporting facilities, using small yet refined, small yet beautiful, and small yet warm tourism products and services, creating more leisure environments that are shared by hosts and guests, livable and suitable for tourism. Relying on national parks, nature reserves, and natural resources such as mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasses, and sands, we will orderly develop ecotourism and educational tourism. Relying on national cultural parks, we will make good use of world-class, national and local historical and cultural resources and intangible cultural heritage, and cultivate more cultural relic themed trails that balance social and economic benefits.

Improve tourism supply and service quality. We will focus on promoting the construction of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with profound cultural heritage, national level tourism and leisure cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics, cultivating more internationally influential best tourism villages, and better meeting the leisure needs of local residents, the living needs of travelers, and the vacation needs of tourists. Tourism and leisure districts should explore traditional culture, showcase local cultural confidence, and create a visible, tactile, and perceptible living environment and atmosphere, shaping the future of the district with fashion, health, and technology. We will focus on cultivating a group of tourism groups and service brands with global influence, and firmly support state-owned, private, and joint-stock tourism enterprises to grow and strengthen. Guide and support new tourism market entities, assist traditional formats in transitioning to marketization and modernization, support tourism enterprises with conditions to "go global", and promote the internationalization layout of the tourism industry. Guide tourism enterprises to strengthen the application of technology and cultural creation, accelerate the cultivation of new quality productive forces such as culture, art, technology, and venture capital necessary for the high-quality development of the tourism industry, and continue to promote innovation in business formats, models, and products. Develop smart tourism, enhance tourism convenience and experience, advocate tourism for goodness, and provide warm and caring services for special groups such as the elderly.

Implement plans to enhance domestic tourism and promote inbound tourism. Promoting the coordinated development of domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism markets is the market foundation for building a strong tourism country and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry. In recent years, outbound tourism has entered a period of stable development. Ensuring the safety, convenience, equality, and quality of our citizens' overseas travel should be the policy orientation of outbound tourism in the new era. We should further expand the list of visa free entry countries and provide a more friendly payment, language and Internet environment for inbound tourists. Establish market-oriented and professional national tourism promotion agencies, and incorporate tourism into multilateral issues such as the "the Belt and Road", the SCO, the BRICS mechanism, and China ASEAN. Organize the Cultural and Tourism Year, International Tourism Fair, and further expand the list of border tourism pilot zones and cross-border tourism demonstration zones on the basis of pilot projects. Improve the tourism statistics system, establish a sound evaluation system for the development of the tourism industry, and regularly conduct national tourist satisfaction surveys. Improve the cooperation mechanism for tourism law enforcement, strengthen the linkage between tourism safety and rescue departments, and optimize the international cooperation mechanism. Improve tourism laws, regulations, and industrial policies, focus on the goal of building a strong tourism country, strengthen national tourism strategy research and "15th Five Year Plan" tourism planning. To enhance the modernization of the governance system and capacity in the tourism industry, strengthen the unified leadership of the Party over tourism work, and form a new pattern of tourism work in which the Party and the government work together, the cultural and tourism departments take the lead, relevant departments cooperate, various sectors of society participate widely, and the people jointly build and share.

Author | Edited by Dai Bin | Source by Liu Xin | Please indicate the author and source when reprinting the Red Flag manuscript