Speech by Dai Bin at the 2011 Annual Meeting of External Research Institutions of China Tourism Research Institute

On January 17, 2011, Dean Dai Bin delivered an important speech at the 2011 Annual Meeting of External Device Research Institutions. The full text is as follows:

Building a century old platform for academic growth in Chinese tourism through inheritance and innovation

Dear Deputy Director Du Jiang and colleagues, today is an exciting day that will be remembered for the development history of the research institute. Experts and scholars from twelve tourism universities and research institutions across the country gathered in Beijing to witness the establishment of the second batch of external research institutions of the China Tourism Research Institute, including the Taiwan Tourism Research Base, Western Tourism Development Research Base, Urban Tourism Research Base, Tourism Vocational Education Research Base, and Tourism Standardization Research Base. Just now Director Du awarded plaques to five institutions, and the leaders of the first batch of branches and research bases shared their achievements and experiences with us. Below, on behalf of the research institute, I would like to share some ideas regarding the current academic environment in tourism and our goals, tasks, and development strategies for your reference. 1、 I am glad to hear so many achievements in the experience exchange of various branches and research bases in the past year's work review. Among them, the Tourism Basic Theory Research Base has been dedicated to the study of tourism experience, tourism basic theory, tourism research methodology and other research fields, forming a number of representative monographs, textbooks and academic papers, and undertaking some related topics. The Tourism Market and Destination Marketing Research Base focuses on exploring the academic direction of promoting and marketing Chinese tourism destinations. It has made active and effective explorations in base construction and talent cultivation. In addition to publishing academic achievements, it has also actively participated in international and domestic academic conferences on tourism destination marketing and brand building. The Tourism Impact Research Base has published a large number of academic achievements in the fields of heritage tourism and destination impact, and has carried out many international academic exchanges. The Hotel Industry Research Base has published dozens of academic achievements in academic journals including SSCI, and provides intellectual support for industry services with the research strength of the base. It has established good cooperative relationships with leading hotel enterprises at home and abroad, which is very distinctive. The Tourism Safety Research Base has undertaken multiple provincial and ministerial level projects related to tourism safety management theory in the past year, and has published more than ten academic achievements, greatly strengthening its in-depth research in the field of tourism safety. The Kunming branch has made active explorations and a lot of work in improving institutional construction and organizational operation, and has undertaken and completed a series of horizontal projects with the core of serving the development of Yunnan's tourism industry. For a research institute that has just been established for over two years, and for the first batch of branches and research bases that have only been established for over a year, the reason why we were able to achieve the above results from scratch without any experience or model to draw on is first and foremost due to the outstanding leadership of all colleagues present here and the hard work of the team led by them. It is also inseparable from the opportunities given to us by the great era we are in, the strong support of the national tourism party group, and the universities and research institutions we rely on. After thinking for a moment, the following experiences are what we can preliminarily summarize and what we should adhere to in the future. Firstly, we must persist in passing on the torch of tourism academia and innovate through inheritance. China's tourism education and scientific research have been synchronized with the tourism industry from the beginning. As early as the early 1980s, when China's modern tourism industry was just starting to take off, the older generation of tourism educators such as Shen Baojia and Zhu Yuhuai were eager to meet the needs of the country and the industry. They translated international tourism materials, wrote professional textbooks, and researched talent cultivation plans, laying a solid foundation for tourism talent cultivation and discipline construction. Looking back at the beginning of the year today, it is true that 'the predecessors worked hard, while the descendants enjoyed happiness'. Without their painstaking cultivation and irrigation, the process of our discipline construction and talent cultivation may be delayed for many years. In the future, the second generation of tourism scholars represented by Du Jiang, Bao Jigang, Xie Yanjun, etc. have always grasped the development trend of China's tourism industry. With an international academic paradigm and local awareness, they have solved a series of major hot and difficult issues in the development process of the tourism industry, while gradually deepening the basic concepts, propositions, and theories of tourism. Now, we have better conditions, higher platforms, and more mature research tools and methods. More importantly, we have not forgotten the work and excellent traditions of our predecessors. Whether in the design of scientific research topics or in the development of disciplines, we always respect and draw on the research results of our predecessors, solicit their professional opinions, unite more young people who are interested in tourism academic research, and steadily promote tourism as a young discipline. Secondly, adhere to the academic concept of serving the industry and serving the country, and consistently implement it in scientific research practice. The tradition of Chinese intellectuals is to study and benefit the people, taking "cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the country, and pacifying the world" as their lifelong ideal, emphasizing "learning civil and military arts, and benefiting the imperial family". With the passage of time, the connotations and carriers of these words may have different interpretations, but the essence of emphasizing the application of learning and the evolution and accumulation of knowledge to serve society and the people has never changed. The power of tradition is so powerful that we may not be clearly aware of them, yet they always guide us in the direction we are moving forward deep in our hearts. Since the first "Golden Week" in 1999, the people have gradually become the market foundation for the development of China's tourism industry. It is also driven by the growing tourism demand of the people that the tourism industry officially entered the national strategic system last year. In December 2009, the State Council officially proposed in Document No. 41 of the State Council to cultivate tourism as a strategic pillar industry of the national economy and a modern service industry that satisfies the people more. Around this strategic goal, tourism scholars actively provide suggestions and recommendations, and have made innovative efforts within our capabilities in establishing a macroeconomic regulation system based on monitoring and early warning of tourism economic operations, a destination evaluation system centered on tourist satisfaction, a basic theoretical support system focused on the "Chinese Tourism Dictionary", a safety guarantee system centered on tourist safety, sustainable development policies based on tourism impact monitoring, international tourism cooperation represented by China and ASEAN, Northeast Asia, and the promotion of various fields in the tourism industry represented by hotels and travel agencies. During this process, the government and the general public have also given due recognition to Chinese tourism scholars. The National Tourism Administration has officially launched and implemented two provincial and ministerial tourism research projects and one tourism research award. It has been proven that as long as our academic research and industry advance and retreat together, and breathe with the people, we will definitely evolve in the right direction and achieve international level research results. Thirdly, while adhering to the academic community, specific academic division of labor should be implemented. China is a major country undergoing transformation and development, and the rapid development of its tourism industry has provided today's tourism scholars with a research environment that is not possessed by international peers and experts and scholars in other fields domestically, characterized by the "diachronicity of development stages" and "coexistence of industrial forms". In comparison, the academic lifecycle of tourism is still in a period of vigorous and diversified growth. Our academic community is not entirely built on a unified research object, research method, and conceptual system, but more often on a common value orientation and research field. This makes it impossible for even academic institutions like research institutes, which originally started with Chinese characters, to plan a unified action plan. Moreover, research institutes are only three years old and require the care and support of all scholars and various sectors of society? Therefore, in the past year, various branches and research bases have been basically scattered and freely explored. Of course, we have also done some work to the best of our abilities in organizing academic activities, undertaking scientific research projects, sharing administrative experience, but overall, we are still following our existing research directions, building and developing based on our own research foundations and the practical requirements of our respective fields and regions. Fourth, adhere to the combination of branch and base construction with the discipline construction of the tourism university where it is located. Both branch schools and research bases are established based on tourism universities and research institutions. Unlike the four internal research institutes and three administrative departments, there is no personnel affiliation or fixed funding allocation channel between the research institutes, branches, and research bases. Each institute can enter the system of the China Tourism Research Institute, which I think is more of an academic recognition and a support for the strengthening of tourism discipline construction by various supporting units. This requires us to handle the relationship between peripheral research institutions and research institutes, with supporting units, and with the region where they are located correctly. Firstly, it is the administrative branch and disciplinary construction entity of the university and research institution where it is located, which is subject to and serves the overall development strategy of the latter's teaching and research undertakings, and is an administrative leadership relationship. Secondly, the organic components of the research institute system support each other to form a common academic platform, which is the academic guidance relationship. More than a year of practice has shown that everyone has a good understanding of this issue, has accumulated a lot of experience, and explored several models worth learning from. Our approach is different from the administrative level research bases established by government departments such as the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Social Science Planning Office, as well as the cross organizational and interdisciplinary virtual research centers set up by universities themselves. It is also different from physical secondary colleges and research institutes. How can we carry out our work? This requires us to explore and innovate on our own. However, regardless of the mode, the overall discipline construction of universities and research institutions needs to be organically combined. By bringing institutions together through our academic achievements, industrial services, and social influence, relationships can be streamlined and we can develop together. 2、 After thirty years of development, especially in the past five years, the characteristics of the stage of mass tourism development in China have become more apparent, and the operation of the tourism economy has entered a new strategic opportunity period. The demand for national tourism, including domestic and outbound tourism, has become the fundamental driving force for the development of China's tourism economy, and has maintained a dominant position in the market. It is expected that by 2015, the size of the domestic tourism market will reach 3.3 billion, and the per capita travel rate will exceed 2. The inbound tourism market will also show a stable development pattern, with the total number of inbound tourists, overnight stays, and total tourism revenue constantly breaking historical records. At the same time, with the emergence of a series of favorable policy effects, driven by capital, technology, and business models, the fundamentals of the tourism industry have become more stable, and the role of market mechanisms in the allocation of tourism resources has become more apparent. Due to the sustained growth of China's tourism economy, especially its outstanding performance during the financial crisis and optimistic expectations for the future, China is attracting increasing attention from the global tourism industry. It can be said that the Chinese era of tourism development has arrived. The coming period is not only a golden period for tourism development, but also a period of highlighting various contradictions. The tourism industry in our country was initially developed for the purpose of generating foreign exchange, starting from inbound tourism. The guiding ideology, market organization, and industry regulation were all centered around inbound tourism. Under a moderately advanced strategic orientation, the government has been leading the resource allocation and development pace in the tourism sector. The environment has undergone fundamental changes now: the general public has become the mainstay of the tourism market, capital and technology have become the most important driving forces for industrial development, market mechanisms dominate resource allocation, and the role of the government has gradually shifted from micro regulation to macro regulation. The main contradiction in the current and future period of the tourism industry is the contradiction between the growing and changing tourism consumption demands of the people and the relatively backward tourism productivity. How to maximize the realization of citizens' tourism rights and the improvement of tourism rights, and enhance the quality of life of the people through tourism? How to promote the integration of tourism with the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and cultivate tourism as a strategic pillar industry of the national economy? How to leverage the fundamental support role of technology, education, and talent in industrial development, continuously improve tourist satisfaction, expand the scope of tourism benefits, enhance the treatment of tourism practitioners, and cultivate the tourism industry into a modern service industry that satisfies the people more? How to further expand opening up, reform and innovate our institutional mechanisms, grasp the operating laws of the world tourism economy, and strategically plan and consolidate the industrial foundation of a tourism powerhouse? There are also regional tourism competition and cooperation, cultivation and innovation of market entities, development of tourism education, and so on. These are not only concerns of party committees and governments at all levels, but also practical issues raised by the current development status of the tourism industry for the academic community. Thirty years have passed, and China's tourism education and academic circles have gathered a large number of elite talents. At different stages of development, they have also contributed many excellent academic ideas to the development of the tourism industry and government needs, cultivating a large number of talents who apply what they have learned. It is undeniable that compared to the strategic needs of industrial development and the realistic expectations of tourism administrative authorities, tourism enterprises, and various sectors of society for the tourism academic community, we still have a lot of work to do. In the current and future period, the academic community needs to focus on addressing two major issues: firstly, to solve several major problems in China's tourism development strategy with an international perspective and scientific research paradigm. This includes at least two major directions, guiding the strategic thinking of the tourism industry and the expression of research results. In 1988, Sun Shangqing and a group of economists proposed the development strategy of "moderately advanced", which has been implemented to this day. Now we need to propose updated tourism development ideas and strategies, which is also a historical responsibility that a national level research institution must undertake. As an academic institution, we cannot simply express our opinions, but also have a standardized discourse system and expression methods. I have read some research results from renowned think tanks both domestically and internationally. They are not only able to put forward viewpoints, but also form ideas and academic foundations. The latter is more supported by databases, case libraries, analytical models, and logical reasoning. That is to say, there is an increasing trend towards the integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods, historical and logical development processes. We cannot engage in dialogue with the outside world solely by mastering the academic discourse system. Without academic paradigms as support, we cannot gain recognition from our peers, especially international peers. Sometimes, it's just necessary to 'dance with shackles on'. Secondly, it is necessary to continuously explore the boundaries of the tourism discipline and deepen the understanding of existing knowledge and theoretical systems during the research process. For Chinese tourism scholars, the goal of disciplinary construction may require the efforts of two to three generations to achieve. I have been in college for twenty years and am well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific research system in universities. For example, the weakening of the status of tourism disciplines in key universities is an undeniable fact, while some specialized tourism colleges lack interdisciplinary support. In addition, scholars in universities often do not interact with each other, making it difficult to achieve significant breakthroughs through collective research and development, and even more difficult to form mutually supportive and continuous landmark achievements. In addition, the nature of universities determines that scientific research still faces the problem of coordinated development with talent cultivation and social services. To concentrate on steadily advancing according to predetermined strategic goals, there are a series of technical challenges and deep-seated institutional constraints. In this context, the two major strategic tasks for the development of the national tourism industry are not only the responsibility of the national tourism academic community, but also the duty of the research institute system. After three years of establishment and start-up, China Tourism Research Institute has fully achieved the expected goals of the three-year construction plan and is about to enter a stable development period. Compared with the national tourism industry development strategy and the expectations of the National Tourism Administration, the burden on our shoulders is really too heavy. But born into such a great era, a developing country that attracts global attention, standing on the shoulders of our predecessors, we have confidence and the ability to devote our talents and efforts to the country's tourism industry. a party