Speech by Dai Bin at the Third Annual Meeting of External Research Institutions of China Tourism Research Institute

Comrades, since the establishment of the research institute, branch offices and research bases have always been a key focus of organizational and disciplinary construction. In addition to daily information sharing, activity support, and personnel exchanges, the special work meetings at the end and beginning of the year are the most important platform and mechanism for strengthening communication. This conference is also the first to be held outside of Beijing. Thank you to the Urban Tourism Development Research Base and the Tourism College of Shanghai Normal University (Shanghai Tourism Vocational College) for their careful and thoughtful preparation work. Especially after listening to the situation introduction given by the comrades, I feel that I have worked very hard and achieved remarkable results in the past year, which has been very inspiring and inspiring. I have been thinking about the relationship between the research institute and various branches and research institutions, as well as what the institute can do for everyone. From any perspective, there is no affiliation between us, and we cannot provide projects, funding, or administrative resources, yet we are all sharing the same brand. Since the last annual meeting, we have proposed the concept of "academic community" and received positive responses from leaders and comrades. In the past year, we have also been working in this direction. Since it is a community, there should be a common vision or value orientation. In the process of developing together with the research institute in the past, several major issues related to academic institution construction, such as discipline construction, talent cultivation, international growth, and organizational innovation, have been deeply explored. Taking the opportunity of this annual meeting, I would like to share some ideas on the topic of cultivating young tourism scholars for your reference. 1、 The growth of young people is the foundation of tourism academic inheritance and innovation. The development history of the past thirty years is the history of Chinese tourism scholars learning, borrowing, and transplanting from the West. It is the history of adapting to the requirements of industrial development and constantly using theories, tools, and methods from other mature disciplines to solve practical problems through "challenge response". Several generations of tourism scholars have gradually constructed the main framework and theoretical framework of applied disciplines such as tourism geography, tourism economics, tourism enterprise management, tourism culture, and tourism anthropology, especially development cases with Chinese characteristics, in the absence of mature tourism basic theories. On this basis, relying on the arduous exploration of higher education institutions, research institutions, and generation after generation of tourism scholars, tourism has gradually become a prominent discipline. Objectively speaking, the academic construction system derived from conscious consciousness is still in its early stages of development, or in other words, the internal driving mechanism for academic growth has not yet been fully established. What will the discipline of tourism look like in ten years, twenty years, and even longer? Currently, China's tourism discipline is facing historic challenges from three areas: industrial development, academic evolution, and international exchange. Due to the continuous growth of national tourism demand, China's tourism industry is in a golden period of development, but it is also in a prominent period of new and old contradictions, especially in the organization of the individual customer market and the development of new technologies and formats. It urgently needs the theoretical community to provide new abstract explanations and specific guidance. This is not an easy task, as the tourism industry prior to this was based on inbound tourism and centered around international tourism. Correspondingly, all tourism disciplines are also based on the academic systems of Europe and America, with a focus on addressing major practical issues in the development strategy of inbound tourism. The current demand for the independent construction of a brand new theoretical system can be seen as a "second entrepreneurship" in the evolution process of the tourism discipline. In the context of China's national conditions, the development of tourism disciplines is also influenced by the discipline catalog led by the Ministry of Education. Since the 1960s, the status of disciplines within the system has not fully stabilized, and there will be competition between different disciplines and different levels of disciplines within the same category in the next step. From the maturity of current research paradigms and the recognition of mainstream academic discourse systems, the tourism discipline still lacks overall advantages. At the same time, the competition among international academic communities, including the competition for ideas, paradigms, achievements, influence, and discourse power, has not stopped for a day. Now, China has become the second largest economy in the world, and its position and role in the world tourism development pattern are becoming more and more important. The research on "Chinese tourism" is no longer the exclusive field of Chinese (mainland) academia. The response to these challenges requires not only a more ideal, passionate, and understanding of China's national conditions, but also a broad international perspective, profound historical awareness, and instrumental rationality based on the greatest common denominator. Those who possess these qualities and abilities need to include greater efforts from academic predecessors and contemporary scholars present, as well as the conscious recognition and academic practice of the younger generation of tourism scholars. Since the 2011 China Tourism Science Annual Conference, we have consciously made several agenda adjustments that are beneficial to young scholars. All participating scholars are no longer invited by the institute to discuss old topics with a few renowned scholars or high-ranking officials, as they used to be, and young people sit down to listen. Instead, a paper collection system is implemented, selecting outstanding authors who are jointly sponsored by the research institute and our partners to attend the conference. If you don't write your own paper, no matter how prestigious you are, you won't be able to get a ticket to the conference. Next time, we will also have young people who have won the first prize of the National Tourism Administration's annual academic achievements give their acceptance speeches at the conference, and outstanding conference paper authors give keynote speeches, which will be reviewed by renowned experts. At the initiative of Dr. Du Jiang, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration, the research institute and China Tourism News jointly launched a promotion activity for young scholars. The criteria for the first selection are: being under 45 years old, obtaining a doctoral degree, intermediate or higher professional title, having independently written academic works, as well as SCI, SSCI, and CSSCI source journal papers, and having received priority funding from the National Natural Science Foundation and the National Social Science Foundation. For the selected candidates, we plan to publish a full page each issue featuring photos, resumes, academic achievements, representative works, and expert reviews of young scholars. Persisting in this for one or two years, coupled with our provincial and ministerial level scientific research projects and academic achievement awards, should be able to attract a few scholars. In addition to formal institutional arrangements, informal promotion within the academic community is at least equally important - if not more important. The ancient system of appointing famous scholars and recommending officials, with Pang Tong recommending Zhuge Liang and Xiao He chasing after Han Xin under the moon, all tell stories of mutual understanding among intellectuals or literati. I still remember more than ten years ago when I just obtained my master's degree and entered the tourism academic circle. I was fortunate enough to receive strong recommendations from my mentor, Mr. Du Jiang, in various formal and informal occasions, especially the recognition of many teachers and brothers who often jokingly referred to me as the "leader of the third generation of tourism disciplines". Looking back now, I often feel ashamed and unable to control myself. However, under the circumstances at that time, the recognition of a young person, especially their youthful and reckless tolerance, was an extremely rare academic resource. 2、 The guidance and cultivation of young people is a key task in the current construction of tourism disciplines. If the youth prosper, the country will prosper; Youth prosperity leads to academic prosperity. So, are young people ready? Can the academic flame really continue naturally? I have some concerns about this. The academic thoughts and values of young people still need further clarification. China is currently undergoing a historic process of transformation and change, with the old value system dominated by elites gradually disappearing, while the new values oriented towards popularization have not yet been fully established. Specifically, why is tourism research? Or rather, the question of 'why engage in tourism research?' has not yet entered the realm of young people's thinking, and even if it does, there is no clear and stable answer. Up to now, the tourism academia of this generation has either been devoted to tourism education and scientific research due to organizational adjustments, professional adjustments, or personal theoretical interests. Since entering the initial stage of national mass tourism development, I have been thinking about the value orientation of the tourism industry, and the result of my thinking is "more national participation and higher quality sharing". Internationally, it is "allowing humanity to walk more freely on the land". Simply put, it is to enable our elders and brothers to improve their quality of life through industrial development. The current social development is becoming increasingly diverse, but the fundamentals are still based on traditional officialdom and the commercial orientation of modern civil society. We need young people to calm down and conduct solid theoretical research. If academic ethics issues are not resolved, they will always be torn between being officials, earning money, or pursuing knowledge. If they cannot calm down, they will not be able to do university research and become great achievements. Without the genuine identification of young people, there can be no future for a community. The theoretical practice of combining mainstream academic paradigms with the contemporary tourism industry environment still needs further exploration. In recent years, young scholars who have entered the field of tourism research are mostly those who have obtained doctoral degrees, have a professional background, and some have studied abroad for many years. They are familiar with and master the international mainstream research paradigm, and are already familiar with how to publish articles in core journals. Don't underestimate this so-called mainstream research paradigm. With it, young people can engage in dialogue with tourism scholars from other countries and regions around the world, as well as with other mainstream academic circles in China. Compared to the previous situation of being largely self entertaining and unable to break out of industry circles and national borders, this is a huge progress. We have to admit and encourage young people to master these things. At the same time, it is necessary to guide them to strengthen the construction of value rationality on the basis of instrumental rationality, and encourage them to cross from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom as soon as possible. For example, in the selection of thesis topics and project design, it is probably necessary to fully integrate China's national conditions and the tourism industry. After thirty years of continuous growth, China has actually become the best tourism science laboratory. From a demand perspective, there are not only the fundamentals of sightseeing tourism and business tourism, but also the rise of leisure and vacation tourism, as well as the consumption of many unique Chinese official and business tourism; From a supply perspective, there are not only five-star hotels, resorts, and golf courses that are considered luxurious and high-end in the global industrial development pattern, but also new formats such as economy hotels, online travel service providers (OTAs), and river cruise ships that have become a scale. There are also millions of tourism accommodation institutions, including "farmhouse", residential inns, and roadside hostels in small towns, which are also an organic part of industrial supply. How to guide young people to sink their bodies and minds, gradually forming their own profound academic background and unique academic style in the process of helping the elderly and brothers on this land survive, develop, and improve, is a theme that we need to consider from both strategic and tactical perspectives. In the 1930s, under the leadership of Director Fu Sinian, the recently established Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica quickly gained a wide academic reputation in the fields of archaeology and history. From current data, it can be seen that this is inseparable from the efforts of that generation of scholars to combine the concepts, tools, and research methods of modern archaeology originating from Europe and America with China's historical and cultural heritage, as well as the academic resources and environment at that time. The academic platform and development opportunities that are conducive to the steady growth of young scholars still need to be further increased. As individual scholars, they are the most fundamental cellular unit of the academic community. Individual growth requires professional academic training, effort and perseverance in the process of academic practice, a broad historical background, and opportunities at specific stages of development. Of course, we cannot completely rule out the possibility of innate talent. Professional training and academic practice are personal matters, while talent is the will of heaven. As organizations and previous generations of scholars, we have the obligation and responsibility to address the shortage of opportunities for young people in their growth process. I remember when I first started my graduate studies in 1995, my mentor and current Party Secretary of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Professor Xu Congcai, said: With a population of over a billion, the most scarce thing is opportunity. Objectively speaking, the platforms we have built for the post-80s generation are not sufficient or large enough. More academic resources are not in the hands of young people, and there is no sign of intergenerational transfer. This is not just a matter of tourism disciplines, many disciplines currently have this problem, the so-called winner takes all, where academic and administrative resources are integrated. Whether attending high-level academic conferences both domestically and internationally, or participating in various vertical and horizontal research projects, academic awards, or publishing academic papers and monographs, there is basically no voice from young people. Occasionally, it is also a supporting role - although it may be that they do most of the work. Some young scholars work as mentors while studying, and then as assistants to academic leaders in their units after work. It is possible to encourage young people to exercise in the short term, but not in the long run! It's unrealistic for everyone to become Chen Yinke and find a talented and knowledgeable person like Huang Xuan as their assistant. Not to mention whether we have the academic literacy and magnanimity of Chen Yinke, even if we do, Huang Xuan is also a rare opportunity. If young people are not given the opportunity to stand up and grow, they will become passive, unable to maximize their academic potential, and may even be lost. Don't think that young people are safe without saying anything. Many famous tourism schools, such as the "Old Four", "New Four", "Five Star Alliance", etc., you can see that many of them have teams but no echelons; Achievement without tradition. The result is that several famous scholars have left, and a good discipline has gone downhill. All of you present here are not only experts in various fields of tourism research, but also resource allocators of various academic platforms, requiring a macro perspective and historical awareness in this area. We must firmly establish the concept that the growth of young scholars and the development of academic communities require individual efforts, as well as disciplinary teams, academic echelons, academic platforms, and institutional arrangements to ensure the normal operation of the platforms. The academic reputation and social influence of young people still need to be further accumulated, and innovation is needed in academic promotion to keep up with the times. The most fundamental measure of a scholar's achievements, besides quantitative things, is their academic reputation and social influence. For example, when it comes to basic theories of tourism, people associate them with Shen Baojia and Xie Yanjun, and when it comes to tourism geography and resource planning, people associate them with Bao Jigang, Wu Bihu, as well as Professor Li Tianyuan from the tourism market and Professor Du Jiang from travel management, and so on. When government departments and industries encounter issues related to this area, they will also ask for their opinions, and professional and public media interviews on hot topics often find them. This is academic reputation and social influence. Many times, famous scholars may have already passed the peak of academic creation and may no longer engage in specific academic research work, but as long as they are there, no one can ignore their existence and the academic institutions they serve. In fact, no one's path can be replicated. In the past, it was about making cards, writing papers, and publishing achievements, and scholars gradually grew up. Everyone is not in a hurry, we are comparing basic skills and endurance. The situation has undergone significant changes now. In the social environment of information technology, not only personal academic reputation, but also institutional academic promotion strategies are still being explored. The research institute has an internal functional department called the Academic Promotion Department. I will tell the colleagues in the department that you need to first consider the positioning issue, which is to add the Publicity Department to the Marketing Department, and perhaps also include the colors of PR and agents. We also need to consider our work direction and promote the institution and our academic community. To achieve this goal, simply promoting myself as the dean is not enough. We need to promote our young comrades more, closely monitor their research, and publicize their achievements more. If more young people grow up and become famous, will my institution also follow suit? Of course, we also need to figure out our work methods, such as holding press conferences with reporters, building websites, posting Weibo, writing newsletters, and conducting interviews, all of which require us to comprehensively use traditional and contemporary propaganda tools and promotion under the guidance of a big strategy