Speech by Dai Bin at the First Batch of External Research Institutions Work Seminar of China Tourism Research Institute

On September 15, 2009, Vice President Dai Bin delivered an important speech at the first batch of external research institutions work seminar of China Tourism Research Institute. The full text is as follows:

Promoting the Interactive Growth of Tourism Science and Industry Practice in China through Organizational Innovation

Comrades: Just now, Dean Du Jiang issued signs to the first batch of peripheral research institutions, marking the official launch of the branch and various research bases. On behalf of all the cadres and staff of the research institute, I would like to extend warm congratulations to everyone, and also welcome comrades to officially become fellow travelers of the China Tourism Research Institute and exemplary figures in the construction of the national tourism discipline. During the planning stage, Professor Du Jiang, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration and President of the China Tourism Research Institute, proposed the idea of establishing external research institutions nationwide. To this end, we have formulated a series of application and management measures for external research institutions based on the situation of the research institute and the current situation of national tourism discipline construction. After approval by the leadership of the National Tourism Administration, we launched this project in May of this year. On the basis of comprehensive consideration of various factors and in accordance with the development strategy of the research institute, five research bases have been determined and approved, including the Tourism Basic Theory Research Base (based on Northeast University of Finance and Economics), the Tourism Impact Research Base (based on Sun Yat sen University), the Tourism Safety Research Base (based on Tuohuaqiao University), the Hotel Industry Research Base (based on Beijing International Studies University), and the Tourism Market and Destination Marketing Research Base (based on Nankai University). Including the previously established Yunnan branch, there are a total of six external research institutions in the first batch. On the occasion of the awarding of the first batch of research bases, I would like to share some ideas on the background, goals, guiding ideology, branches, and recent work priorities of peripheral research institutions, for your reference. 1、 Fully understanding the significance of building peripheral research institutions under the current situation, establishing research bases and branches based on universities and research institutes within the framework of national research institutions is an organizational innovation worthy of recognition in the field of philosophy and social science research in China. After repeated discussions and arguments, we believe that the form of external research institutions is conducive to the self construction of the research institute and the development of tourism disciplines in the universities and research institutes it relies on. At present, the national tourism education and research forces are relatively strong in scale, but relatively scattered in layout. Whether it is 211 universities with doctoral programs, vocational education institutions, or local business research institutions, everyone feels the importance and urgency of discipline construction, and has done a lot of work separately. However, overall it feels that the systematicity and guidance are still insufficient. Can we cultivate a number of demonstration sites, incubators for research projects, and platforms for cultivating innovative research talents in the field of tourism across the country through corresponding organizational forms, and promote these institutions to gradually develop into think tanks and talent pools for the development of tourism industry in various regions. This is the original intention of our construction of research bases and branches. Please consider whether it is suitable, comrades. Since last autumn, China's tourism industry has achieved phased results in responding to the financial crisis and the H1N1 flu: from the perspective of institutional environment, the development of tourism is increasingly integrated into the national strategic system, and local governments are particularly active in policy innovation in tourism development. In terms of market environment, the operation characteristics of the mass tourism market based on national tourism are more obvious, and the demand is more diverse. The transformation and restructuring of the industrial sector, as well as the integration and differentiation of business formats, have been unprecedentedly intense. It can be said that the current tourism industry in China has shown operational characteristics of both a golden development period and a period of prominent contradictions between old and new, providing practical opportunities for local academic research and theoretical innovation, and also endowing our generation of scholars with historical responsibilities. In fact, serving the macro decision-making of the central and local governments, serving the development strategy of the tourism industry, and ultimately striving to enhance the well-being of the national tourism, has always been the direction and development goal of the China Tourism Research Institute. Since its official establishment in June 2008, we have continuously served the government's macro decision-making through forms such as tourism internal reference, information bulletin, tourism news, and special reports, and have also achieved certain achievements. However, compared to the practical requirements of industrial development and the needs of the tourism discipline's own construction, relying solely on a few dozen people within the research institute is definitely not enough. We must unite, mobilize, and rely on domestic and even international academic forces to jointly promote our cause. From the organizational structure of local tourism administrative departments, it can be seen that most of them have their own tourism research centers or tourism planning and design institutes. More and more universities are paying attention to enhancing discipline construction through scientific research activities, especially the establishment of professional research bases. Since the establishment of the research institute, local tourism administrative departments and tourism universities across the country have actively consulted and applied for the establishment of research institute special research bases or branches for a certain research field. As a professional think tank relying on the National Tourism Administration, the China Tourism Research Institute has inherent advantages such as extensive reputation, abundant resources, and abundant data. The research institute is willing and able to provide a platform for tourism universities and research institutes across the country to showcase their academic strength and promote mutual development. We hope that under the overall construction framework and development strategy system of the research institute, the construction of external research institutions should be planned and considered comprehensively, serving the overall development strategy of the institute, combining its own disciplinary advantages and resource characteristics to serve regional tourism development, and becoming an authoritative institution and high-level talent training center in the field of national tourism science. 2、 The practice of the tourism industry and the need for tourism research are the fundamental directions for the construction of external research institutions. In the past year, as a professional research institution directly under the National Tourism Administration, the research institute has closely focused on the long-term strategic goal of "promoting the development of China's tourism industry and international exchanges as a government think tank, industry think tank, and academic highland", and has done some work and achieved some results. Since we have come together, under the banner of the research institute, we are now a family. Whether we talk deeply or shallowly, it's all for the common goal. Next, I would like to share some personal opinions based on my work experience in the early development of the research institute and the guiding ideology for the construction of peripheral research institutions, for the reference of colleagues. （1） Facing industry and serving the country academically is our founding ideal and long-term belief. Like the vast majority of comrades present, I have been working at the forefront of teaching and research in universities for a long time. Due to the relationship between the discipline, especially the research field, there are plenty of opportunities to interact with tourism business organizations. Now, I have entered the workforce halfway and often deal with various media outlets. I have always believed that whether it is an individual or an institution, ideals and beliefs are indispensable foundations and prerequisites for achieving great success and achieving great accomplishments in the fields of learning, research, production, government, and media. These two words may sound a bit vague, but if we don't fully understand them, or if we understand them temporarily but can't persist for a long time, we academic institutions composed of intellectuals will definitely not be able to stand up. Since the day it was self funded, the research institute has been guided by the "Five Adherences" in carrying out various work, that is, adhering to the line, principles, and policies of the Party and the state for the prosperous development of philosophy and social sciences; Adhere to the leadership of the National Tourism Administration, serve the medium and long-term development strategy of the national tourism industry, come up with great ideas, and play a significant role; Adhere to local consciousness and practical orientation, and take the path of combining theory with practice; Adhere to an open, cooperative, and win-win attitude, extensively unite all international and domestic research forces and academic resources that can be united, and jointly build an authoritative professional think tank; Adhere to the combination of project research and talent cultivation, with a focus on cultivating research teams and academic echelons. The above ideas fundamentally solve the problem of "researching why". Personally speaking, in the initial stage of growth, this question is easy to answer, 'becoming famous and starting a family' is enough. But we are already professors, doctoral supervisors, and college presidents, benchmarks for others' learning, scholars who lead teams, pursue "standing up for words", and even "moral character". This answer is not enough. It is necessary to advocate an ideal and belief that combines the personal efforts of intellectuals with the needs of industry and social progress, to take people to a higher level, in order to lead a good team and achieve a great realm of "but not a teacher". Of course, when I say this, I am not asking everyone to become an ascetic. Necessary material benefits and honor incentives are still needed, which is a technical issue to be discussed later. To be honest, we haven't fully achieved this goal ourselves, but I can responsibly say that the entire research institute is striving in this direction. As an integral part of the research institute, we hope that colleagues from the branch and various research bases, especially academic and administrative leaders, can understand and recognize this, and implement it in academic practice. Firstly, the starting point is consistent. We propose five principles based on the fundamental proposition that "China's tourism industry must have advanced ideological guidance and strong academic support to achieve transformation and upgrading." This requires that the construction of various branches and research bases must also be based on this "rational assumption. Secondly, directional isomorphism. Each branch and research base should closely focus on the practical requirements of national and local tourism economy operation, and focus on conducting research on basic theories, industrial policies, enterprise strategies that affect the development of the tourism industry, as well as key, difficult, and hot issues such as resource development, market promotion, and product optimization. Actively participate in guiding the tourism market, cultivating operational entities, establishing industrial development strategies, and planning regional tourism development. Cooperate with relevant institutions to actively carry out high-level talent training, professional talent training, and international and domestic high-level academic exchanges in the field of tourism. Thirdly, strategic interaction. The goal of "uniting the strength of the national tourism academic community and enhancing the level and ability to serve government decision-making and industry development" is a process that cannot be achieved overnight. It requires careful planning and orderly promotion. At every stage of tourism academic research, there are corresponding key areas and focal points, which requires each branch and research base to grasp the timing of the pace and maintain homogeneity and resonance with the long-term development strategy of the research institute. Of course, each branch and research base must also comply with the disciplinary construction guidance of the supporting units, which requires branch and research bases to pay attention to coordination and connection in practical work, and integrate the guidance of the research institute and the supporting institutions to carry out their work. （2） Correctly handling several major relationships in the construction process of peripheral research institutions, as a peripheral research institution, it is necessary to understand and agree with the ideals, beliefs, and construction goals of the research institute, and more importantly, to combine the practical requirements of the discipline construction of the institution it relies on and the practical needs of regional tourism industry development, and take the path of characteristic innovation. We adhere to the guidance of the Scientific Outlook on Development, firmly establish innovative consciousness, apply the concept of knowledge management, strengthen theoretical understanding and practical summary of innovation in tourism academic research, especially mechanism and system innovation, so that the construction of research bases always develops healthily in the right direction. As leaders of academic institutions, we should pay attention to grasping and guiding the construction and development direction of research bases from a macro perspective, and strive to produce high-quality results, high-level talents, and influential academic teams. Based on this, we aim to build the academic reputation and social influence of research bases in specific research fields, gradually making them academic innovation centers, talent training centers, industry consulting centers, and information resource centers in their respective regions and fields. The research base should abandon the traditional mentality of dependence and the idea of equal dependence, fully utilize the open research platform of the base, attract the best talents to join, undertake more national level major projects, and strive for greater survival and development space through more effective social services. In terms of core work, we should focus on major theoretical and practical issues in the transformation and development process of the tourism industry, conduct research based on forward-looking, urgent, and global issues, and produce more and better results to serve local economic and social development. In the specific construction process, the branch and each research base need to handle the following significant relationships: 1. The relationship between the branch and the research institute. The research institute is an academic guidance institution for branches and research bases, without administrative affiliation. Comrades should independently carry out academic research and organizational construction work under the guidance of the overall development strategy system of the research institute. In daily work, I think coordination and communication are still the main focus. On the one hand, it is the coordination and guidance of phased work tasks. The research institute will formulate the annual work points of the entire institute in accordance with the work arrangement established by the Party group of the National Tourism Administration, combined with the actual situation of the tourism industry, and distribute them to the branches and research bases. Branches and research bases should develop specific annual work plans based on their work deployment and their own actual situation, and submit year-end work summaries and annual work plans to the research institute for filing. The main purpose of doing so is to timely understand and grasp the situation, and provide more targeted and practical guidance for the business of the branch and research base. On the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen academic exchanges and information sharing. The China Tourism Research Institute plans to hold several academic exchange meetings and work seminars for its branches and research bases every year. In order to save valuable time for comrades, these conferences can be held during the National Tourism Science Annual Conference, Academic Committee, Provincial and Ministerial Research Project Approval and Research Award Review Conference, and can be held in Beijing or other places. In short, we hope to discuss the situation, tasks, experiences, and problems faced by the construction of the base and the development of disciplines through flexible and diverse horizontal business exchanges. 2. Relationship with the institution on which it relies. The relationship between branches, research bases, and their respective supporting institutions should be one of being led and being led. That is to say, hanging the brand of China Tourism Research Institute Branch or Research Base does not and cannot change everyone's original administrative affiliation within the system. Therefore, we must fully consider the disciplinary construction needs and medium - to long-term development strategy system of the institutions we rely on, actively integrate into the overall development plan of the institutions we rely on, and form our own professional characteristics and disciplinary advantages on the basis of active contributions. Branches and research bases are jointly established by research institutes and supporting units on a voluntary basis. We hope that comrades in our unit, especially the main leaders and heads of scientific research institutions, will attach great importance to the construction and development of research bases. According to the commitment in the application form, the supporting unit should actively plan and support the establishment and development of the research base, and provide corresponding material and financial support for the construction of the research base. Especially based on the academic direction of the research base, it is necessary to mobilize the backbone of the school to enrich the academic team and provide effective guarantees for the smooth development of the research base construction. 3. The relationship between local governments and the tourism industry. To formulate policies and develop tourism industry strategies for governments at all levels, especially local tourism authorities, institutions should strive to become professional think tanks that are indispensable for government decision-making and industry development, and make every effort to provide intellectual support for them. To have confidence, and more importantly, to have the ability to establish industrial discourse power in the region and academic authority in a certain field. Only by serving the local economic and social development solidly and effectively can the branch and research base enter the fast lane of healthy development. The research base is based on local and regional perspectives, integrating experts and scholars in this research field to collectively tackle major theoretical and practical issues in the development of local and national tourism industry, and conducting specialized research. In daily work, we should pay attention to strengthening the establishment of good cooperative relationships with tourism administrative departments at all levels, extending our service reach to grassroots organizations and enterprises, and actively building an organizational innovation platform with academic research as the core and serving society as the purpose. 3、 The situation and tasks during the start-up period of peripheral research institutions can be seen from the base application documents received in the early stage. The development plan is still relatively vague, and the research direction is not concise enough. The emphasis on basic engineering such as institutional construction and information platform construction is not enough, and there may be potential issues in academic research and organizational construction