Dai Bin | Let the light of culture and technology illuminate the night sky of tourism

On November 27, the China Tourism Academy, Shenzhen Futian District People's Government, and Liangye Technology Group jointly hosted the "2024 China Night Economy Research Results Release Event". Our Dean Dai Bin delivered a keynote speech entitled "Let the Light of Culture and Technology Illuminate the Night Sky of Tourism". The full text is shared as follows:

Dear colleagues and friends in the industry:

Time flies. It has been six years since the concept of night tourism was proposed in 2018 and the first batch of research results were released in Beijing. Driven by the cultural and tourism departments, and thanks to the joint efforts of investment institutions and market players in the fields of science and technology, engineering, culture, tourism, and commerce, night tourism has grown from small to large, from point to surface, and has become an important part of the construction system of international tourist destinations with Chinese characteristics. It is also an effective way to promote the deep integration and development of culture and tourism and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry. Over the past six years, night tourism has witnessed the renewal of urban and rural residents' life concepts and changes in lifestyles. From the perspective of the demand side, disposable time, disposable income and willingness to consume are prerequisites for the development of the tourism market. Time is always limited, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and life is often no more than a hundred years. Despite the spirit of "the day is short and the night is long, why not travel with a candle!" and the romance of "the east wind blows thousands of flowers at night, and blows down, stars like rain", the vast majority of people still follow the natural law of "work at sunrise and rest at sunset" throughout their lives. Most tourists in the early stages of mass tourism only "visit temples during the day and sleep at night" and "appreciate flowers in spring and fallen leaves in autumn". With the improvement of economic and social development and scientific and technological progress, people's life concepts and lifestyles have undergone tremendous changes. With the solution of "two worries and three guarantees", the people have more public holidays and leisure time, and began to pursue a higher quality of life such as culture, art, leisure, and tourism, forming the first driving force of night tourism on the demand side. Today, tourism and leisure activities have obviously extended from day to night, and 18:00-22:00 has become the "golden 4 hours" of the highly active night economy. Over the past six years, night tourism has stimulated social investment and supply innovation, effectively expanded the boundaries of tourism, and greatly enriched the tourism industry. As the axis of time unfolds on the scale of day and night, typical tourist spaces such as tourist attractions and resorts have introduced night leisure projects, and public cultural spaces such as museums, art galleries, cinemas, and theaters have extended their closing hours. Whether it is key commercial scenes such as historical and cultural blocks, commercial complexes, night markets, or major public spaces such as streets, squares, and parks, they are consciously integrating cultural, technological, fashion, and entertainment elements to continuously promote night scene iteration and product innovation. From the early landscape lighting that lit up the night sky to aerial drone formations, naked-eye 3D installations, music festivals, and concerts, cultural creation and scene creation for young customers and the future of the city have directly driven investment in engineering construction, scientific and technological research and development, and literary and artistic creation, thereby driving the gathering of local creative talents and the optimization of the supply chain. In order to meet the needs of citizens' leisure and tourists' consumption, the potential released by stock optimization and the growth driven by incremental investment further demonstrate the second driving force of night tourism from the supply side. The night tourism industry chain, value chain, and innovation chain composed of catering, accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, cultural entertainment, and urban transportation are being widely integrated into the local economic and social development system. Over the past six years, night tourism has cultivated a number of influential market entities, resulting in significant demand spillover and investment-driven effects. As the leading force in the supply of night tourism products, urban lighting groups such as Liangye Technology, Mingjiahui, and Liad, tourism groups such as Shaanxi Tourism Investment, Nanjing Tourism, Kaiyuan Tourism, and Haichang Ocean Park, and digital companies such as Jindong Digital Innovation, Guangying Centennial, and Lifeng Culture have invested in the development and management of a number of benchmark projects that take into account both economic and social benefits. Projects such as "Song of Everlasting Regret", "Dreamlike Qinhuai", "Dancing Dunhuang", "Qingdao on the Sea", and "Jinye. Qingdian Luzhi" are typical representatives. Festival Avenue in Futian District, Shenzhen, Liangmahe International Style Waterfront in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Guangzhou Zhengjia Plaza, Shanghai Shangsheng. Xinsuo, and Chengdu Dongjiao Memory have become new landmarks for urban tourism. The special survey on the night economy by the China Tourism Research Institute shows that the night opening rate of 5A-level tourist attractions across the country has increased from 23% in 2020 to 63% now, and a number of new night core attractions such as lighting landscapes, performing arts cruise ships, and homestay markets have been newly settled. Nearly 40% of national-level tourist resorts have developed and launched nighttime products such as festival performances, indoor leisure, and outdoor entertainment. More than one-third of national first-class museums have launched night tours during the summer vacation. The incremental investment and innovative projects in nighttime tourism have enhanced the cultural experience of residents and tourists, enriched consumption scenarios, and promoted the improvement of social management efficiency such as urban management, public transportation, public security emergency response, and public health. The continuously improved business environment and the dynamic and vibrant city image are attracting more attention from social capital and technology companies. Over the past six years, nighttime tourism has formed a number of innovative samples that can be demonstrated and promoted from cities to business districts, from blocks to scenic spots. The nighttime economy, with cultural consumption and tourism and leisure as its main content, has entered the strategic system of national economic and social development in various places, and has become a key deployment of the cultural and tourism system, and a special task actively promoted by party committees and governments at all levels. From a national perspective, the extension of cultural and museum venues and public transportation, the creation of time-sharing pedestrian streets, 24-hour urban construction, urban night branding, and night tour product reward and subsidy mechanisms are often standard configurations of nighttime tourism promotion policies in major cities. Regardless of the type of tourist destination, all of them pay attention to emerging tourist markets such as study tours, food, summer vacation, ice and snow, and strengthen the spatial planning and industrial layout of night tourism. It should be pointed out that as an emerging demand, night tourism, whether it is the optimization of stock resources or the pull of incremental investment, will have an impact on the traditional life of residents, and will also have an impact and impact on the original industrial structure and market entities. While promoting innovation and promoting development, how to coordinate the relationship between government and market, supply and demand, protection and development, development and security, and international and domestic is a realistic issue for the modernization of urban and rural governance systems and governance capabilities of tourist destinations. The promotion policies of the central and local governments, as well as the development consensus of community residents and all sectors of society, together constitute the third driving force of night tourism. While more and more city managers insist on cultural leadership and brand building, they are shifting the promotion policies of night tourism and night economy from comprehensive coverage to precise delivery, and from top-down vertical transmission to diversified exploration of top-down combination. Dear colleagues, colleagues in the industry, night tourism is facing new situations and new challenges, especially paying attention to a series of practical problems that need to be solved urgently, such as a single development model, homogeneous business forms, weak international competitiveness, insufficient cultural experience, and low sense of gain among residents. As a way of life, learning and growth, tourism should not only meet the rigid demand of tourists for nighttime dining, but also have a high degree of cultural awareness and cultural confidence, and meet the needs of tourists for nighttime movie watching, drama watching, night reading, entertainment, leisure shopping and social interaction with excellent cultural works and high-quality tourism products. According to the special survey of the nighttime economy by the China Tourism Research Institute, while urban night tourists like special dining and trendy markets, their demand for tourism shopping and cultural experience has increased significantly. When tourists visit historical and cultural blocks and urban business districts, they have a demand for local time-honored restaurants, local cultural relics and traditional arts, and have higher expectations for innovative culture and fashion art. Rural night tourists especially prefer local cultural activities, folk festivals and leisure and entertainment. Nighttime tourism requires snack night markets and light and shadow shows, but snack night markets and light and shadow shows are not all of nighttime tourism, let alone the future of the nighttime economy. The development of contemporary tourism requires more patience and wisdom. Only when those who are near are pleased can those who are far away come. Only when deep waters flow quietly can a flourishing age be formed. It is time to abandon short-term thinking such as hot-selling products, internet celebrities, and data performance, and turn to long-termism supported by goodwill, warmth, quality, sincerity, and tolerance. It is time to end the shallow demand, the same style for thousands of nights, conservative supply, and the same appearance of all cities. It is time to turn to the modernization of infrastructure, public services, and business environment, and lead the high-quality development of the tourism industry with cultural creation and scene creation. We look forward to the future of culture leading tourism, allowing tourists to appreciate the beauty of nature during the trip and share the beauty of culture at the destination. How to lead tourism upward with a high degree of cultural consciousness, so that people can cultivate their feelings for their country and the world during the trip? How to lead with excellent cultural works and meet the growing cultural needs of tourists during the trip? How to implement "shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture with tourism" in specific projects, scenes and routes? It is a realistic issue for the deep integration and development of culture and tourism, and it is also the only way for the high-quality development of night tourism. To develop night tourism, it is necessary to implement ideology, cultural construction and cultural confidence in the development of factors, industrial cultivation, civilized tourism and market supervision, and continuously enhance the social consensus and spiritual kinetic energy for the high-quality development of night tourism. We should promote the deep integration of tourism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, the revolutionary culture carrying the red gene, the advanced socialist culture of national rejuvenation and people's happiness, and continuously enhance the cultural connotation of the development of the night economy. It should be pointed out that night tourism is based on the night leisure of local residents, just like the night roller skating on the last weekend of each month in Brussels, the Paris Opera performances, the bullfighting in Madrid, and the football in Argentina, which are all integrated into the lives of citizens in the local culture, and tourists are just sharers. With the upgrading of the demand for night cultural experience and tourism consumption, citizens and tourists have put forward higher requirements for leisure quality and cultural creation. To this end, we need to delay the opening of more public cultural spaces and cultivate more small but beautiful, small but fine, and small but warm cultural and entertainment spaces. Only when the citizens' night life experience is enriched and the quality of the scene is improved, there will be a new space for near and far people to share a beautiful life, and only then will there be a steady and long-term development of high-quality night tourism. We look forward to art illuminating the night sky of tourism, so that the general public will have upward power in the study of scholars and the travel of the country and the world. Art belongs to the people and belongs to life. We should allow more museums, art galleries, concert halls, and small theaters to extend their opening hours to the public as much as possible, and lower the threshold of art aesthetics for audiences and tourists as much as possible. I still remember the experience of visiting the National Gallery of Norway at night. The museum was still open at 10 o'clock in the evening, and people came and went in an orderly manner. In front of the original work of Munch's "The Scream", you can stop and observe it carefully, sit and meditate, or take pictures or touch it in front of the work - of course, the museum has special protection devices. With more such art spaces, audiences and tourists will naturally receive aesthetic education. We should build large theaters, introduce well-known troupes, and develop more young, fashionable and participatory art forms, such as small theater dramas, modern dance, light music, choirs, e-sports, street dance, street sculptures, public art, 24-hour bookstores, writers meet and share books, and make good use of mass cultural venues such as cultural stations, children's palaces, and children's centers to cultivate more youth-friendly cultural stations. Such a city is a self-evident cultural highland and the best tourist and leisure city without any institution listing. Whether it is day or night, the ubiquitous literary and artistic atmosphere can attract tourists to stay and experience, and they are willing to visit again. We look forward to technology enhancing the tourism experience, so that tourists can see the historical heritage, current life and infinite future possibilities in every town. We should focus on the actual needs of tourism development and be patient and wise in the application of new technologies in tourism scenarios. The history of global tourism development and business innovation shows that from concept introduction to product mass production, it is a long process full of risks and challenges. Unfortunately, new concepts such as digital cultural tourism, immersive experience, and virtual tourism are flying all over the sky, and original innovation and comprehensive subversion are always the case. Isn't that the case! Due to the lack of a complete chain from laboratory economy to intellectual property protection, the number of imitators and followers is increasing. From TeamLab to "The Vanishing Pharaoh", you can see familiar replicas in every city, and stir-fry a few cold dishes of heritage over and over again. This time in Shenzhen and Futian, we saw Festival Avenue, Coco Park, Huaqiang North Road, LeTaoli underground commercial street, Xiangmihu Road shaded by trees, Jingtian South Third Street where literary atmosphere and market life are integrated, and Qiaoxiang Village, which is known as "community park and a good place to take children out". We saw efforts for the present and creation for the future. Such a city and such a block are the new space for a better life shared by hosts and guests that we want, and they are the contemporary Chinese urban tourism fashion samples that can be learned and referenced by all regions. We expect social investment and market players to play a more important role in the strategic system of a strong tourism country. Night tourism accommodation represented by hotels and homestays, tourism and leisure operators represented by scenic spots, resorts, and leisure blocks, technology innovation companies represented by lighting, creativity, light and shadow technology, and content creators represented by music, performances, fashion, and art companies and institutions should meet today's consumption with efficient business capabilities and lead tomorrow's needs with outstanding innovation capabilities. The government should guide investment institutions and market players to deeply explore cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, local life, cultural and artistic resources, and build a number of night tourism strong areas and brand blocks with distinct cultural characteristics. It is necessary to build a number of cultural and leisure blocks with international style and fashion sense like London's West End, Tokyo's Ginza, Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong, and Barcelona's Las Ramblas, and cultivate a number of community leisure spaces that meet the needs of citizens' night life and are famous for their cultural flavor and fireworks. While giving full play to the leading role of the market mechanism in the allocation of night tourism resources, we must be determined to control the government's visible and restless hand, and not rush to make plans, set standards, and issue licenses, but focus more administrative resources on demand research, data production, cultural guidance, and technology empowerment. As for the primary markets such as catering, accommodation, and retail that can be spontaneously allocated by the market, we must believe in the potential of the market and the power of society. People's yearning for a better life is the driving force for the expansion of the night tourism market and industrial upgrading. The development of the night economy is to protect the people's growing cultural leisure and tourism rights. To promote the high-quality development of night tourism, we must accelerate the construction of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with profound cultural heritage, national-level tourist cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics, and cultivate world-class tourism enterprises. To promote the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism, we need to promote art and tourism. Introduce new productivity and promote the quality and efficiency of night tourism, which will satisfy the people and benefit them. Cultural workers, tourism practitioners and R&D innovators should unite and work hard to illuminate the night sky of tourism with the light of culture and technology! 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 when reprintingTime flies. It has been six years since the concept of night tourism was proposed in 2018 and the first batch of research results were released in Beijing. Driven by the cultural and tourism departments, and thanks to the joint efforts of investment institutions and market players in the fields of science and technology, engineering, culture, tourism, and commerce, night tourism has grown from small to large, from point to surface, and has become an important part of the construction system of international tourist destinations with Chinese characteristics. It is also an effective way to promote the deep integration and development of culture and tourism and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry. Over the past six years, night tourism has witnessed the renewal of urban and rural residents' life concepts and changes in lifestyles. From the perspective of the demand side, disposable time, disposable income and willingness to consume are prerequisites for the development of the tourism market. Time is always limited, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and life is often no more than a hundred years. Despite the spirit of "the day is short and the night is long, why not travel with a candle!" and the romance of "the east wind blows thousands of flowers at night, and blows down, stars like rain", the vast majority of people still follow the natural law of "work at sunrise and rest at sunset" throughout their lives. Most tourists in the early stages of mass tourism only "visit temples during the day and sleep at night" and "appreciate flowers in spring and fallen leaves in autumn". With the improvement of economic and social development and scientific and technological progress, people's life concepts and lifestyles have undergone tremendous changes. With the solution of "two worries and three guarantees", the people have more public holidays and leisure time, and began to pursue a higher quality of life such as culture, art, leisure, and tourism, forming the first driving force of night tourism on the demand side. Today, tourism and leisure activities have obviously extended from day to night, and 18:00-22:00 has become the "golden 4 hours" of the highly active night economy. Over the past six years, night tourism has stimulated social investment and supply innovation, effectively expanded the boundaries of tourism, and greatly enriched the tourism industry. As the axis of time unfolds on the scale of day and night, typical tourist spaces such as tourist attractions and resorts have introduced night leisure projects, and public cultural spaces such as museums, art galleries, cinemas, and theaters have extended their closing hours. Whether it is key commercial scenes such as historical and cultural blocks, commercial complexes, night markets, or major public spaces such as streets, squares, and parks, they are consciously integrating cultural, technological, fashion, and entertainment elements to continuously promote night scene iteration and product innovation. From the early landscape lighting that lit up the night sky to aerial drone formations, naked-eye 3D installations, music festivals, and concerts, cultural creation and scene creation for young customers and the future of the city have directly driven investment in engineering construction, scientific and technological research and development, and literary and artistic creation, thereby driving the gathering of local creative talents and the optimization of the supply chain. In order to meet the needs of citizens' leisure and tourists' consumption, the potential released by stock optimization and the growth driven by incremental investment further demonstrate the second driving force of night tourism from the supply side. The night tourism industry chain, value chain, and innovation chain composed of catering, accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, cultural entertainment, and urban transportation are being widely integrated into the local economic and social development system. Over the past six years, night tourism has cultivated a number of influential market entities, resulting in significant demand spillover and investment-driven effects. As the leading force in the supply of night tourism products, urban lighting groups such as Liangye Technology, Mingjiahui, and Liad, tourism groups such as Shaanxi Tourism Investment, Nanjing Tourism, Kaiyuan Tourism, and Haichang Ocean Park, and digital companies such as Jindong Digital Innovation, Guangying Centennial, and Lifeng Culture have invested in the development and management of a number of benchmark projects that take into account both economic and social benefits. Projects such as "Song of Everlasting Regret", "Dreamlike Qinhuai", "Dancing Dunhuang", "Qingdao on the Sea", and "Jinye. Qingdian Luzhi" are typical representatives. Festival Avenue in Futian District, Shenzhen, Liangmahe International Style Waterfront in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Guangzhou Zhengjia Plaza, Shanghai Shangsheng. Xinsuo, and Chengdu Dongjiao Memory have become new landmarks for urban tourism. The special survey on the night economy by the China Tourism Research Institute shows that the night opening rate of 5A-level tourist attractions across the country has increased from 23% in 2020 to 63% now, and a number of new night core attractions such as lighting landscapes, performing arts cruise ships, and homestay markets have been newly settled. Nearly 40% of national-level tourist resorts have developed and launched nighttime products such as festival performances, indoor leisure, and outdoor entertainment. More than one-third of national first-class museums have launched night tours during the summer vacation. The incremental investment and innovative projects in nighttime tourism have enhanced the cultural experience of residents and tourists, enriched consumption scenarios, and promoted the improvement of social management efficiency such as urban management, public transportation, public security emergency response, and public health. The continuously improved business environment and the dynamic and vibrant city image are attracting more attention from social capital and technology companies. Over the past six years, nighttime tourism has formed a number of innovative samples that can be demonstrated and promoted from cities to business districts, from blocks to scenic spots. The nighttime economy, with cultural consumption and tourism and leisure as its main content, has entered the strategic system of national economic and social development in various places, and has become a key deployment of the cultural and tourism system, and a special task actively promoted by party committees and governments at all levels. From a national perspective, the extension of cultural and museum venues and public transportation, the creation of time-sharing pedestrian streets, 24-hour urban construction, urban night branding, and night tour product reward and subsidy mechanisms are often standard configurations of nighttime tourism promotion policies in major cities. Regardless of the type of tourist destination, all of them pay attention to emerging tourist markets such as study tours, food, summer vacation, ice and snow, and strengthen the spatial planning and industrial layout of night tourism. It should be pointed out that as an emerging demand, night tourism, whether it is the optimization of stock resources or the pull of incremental investment, will have an impact on the traditional life of residents, and will also have an impact and impact on the original industrial structure and market entities. While promoting innovation and promoting development, how to coordinate the relationship between government and market, supply and demand, protection and development, development and security, and international and domestic is a realistic issue for the modernization of urban and rural governance systems and governance capabilities of tourist destinations. The promotion policies of the central and local governments, as well as the development consensus of community residents and all sectors of society, together constitute the third driving force of night tourism. While more and more city managers insist on cultural leadership and brand building, they are shifting the promotion policies of night tourism and night economy from comprehensive coverage to precise delivery, and from top-down vertical transmission to diversified exploration of top-down combination. Dear colleagues, colleagues in the industry, night tourism is facing new situations and new challenges, especially paying attention to a series of practical problems that need to be solved urgently, such as a single development model, homogeneous business forms, weak international competitiveness, insufficient cultural experience, and low sense of gain among residents. As a way of life, learning and growth, tourism should not only meet the rigid demand of tourists for nighttime dining, but also have a high degree of cultural awareness and cultural confidence, and meet the needs of tourists for nighttime movie watching, drama watching, night reading, entertainment, leisure shopping and social interaction with excellent cultural works and high-quality tourism products. According to the special survey of the nighttime economy by the China Tourism Research Institute, while urban night tourists like special dining and trendy markets, their demand for tourism shopping and cultural experience has increased significantly. When tourists visit historical and cultural blocks and urban business districts, they have a demand for local time-honored restaurants, local cultural relics and traditional arts, and have higher expectations for innovative culture and fashion art. Rural night tourists especially prefer local cultural activities, folk festivals and leisure and entertainment. Nighttime tourism requires snack night markets and light and shadow shows, but snack night markets and light and shadow shows are not all of nighttime tourism, let alone the future of the nighttime economy. The development of contemporary tourism requires more patience and wisdom. Only when those who are near are pleased can those who are far away come. Only when deep waters flow quietly can a flourishing age be formed. It is time to abandon short-term thinking such as hot-selling products, internet celebrities, and data performance, and turn to long-termism supported by goodwill, warmth, quality, sincerity, and tolerance. It is time to end the shallow demand, the same style for thousands of nights, conservative supply, and the same appearance of all cities. It is time to turn to the modernization of infrastructure, public services, and business environment, and lead the high-quality development of the tourism industry with cultural creation and scene creation. We look forward to the future of culture leading tourism, allowing tourists to appreciate the beauty of nature during the trip and share the beauty of culture at the destination. How to lead tourism upward with a high degree of cultural consciousness, so that people can cultivate their feelings for their country and the world during the trip? How to lead with excellent cultural works and meet the growing cultural needs of tourists during the trip? How to implement "shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture with tourism" in specific projects, scenes and routes? It is a realistic issue for the deep integration and development of culture and tourism, and it is also the only way for the high-quality development of night tourism. To develop night tourism, it is necessary to implement ideology, cultural construction and cultural confidence in the development of factors, industrial cultivation, civilized tourism and market supervision, and continuously enhance the social consensus and spiritual kinetic energy for the high-quality development of night tourism. We should promote the deep integration of tourism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, the revolutionary culture carrying the red gene, the advanced socialist culture of national rejuvenation and people's happiness, and continuously enhance the cultural connotation of the development of the night economy. It should be pointed out that night tourism is based on the night leisure of local residents, just like the night roller skating on the last weekend of each month in Brussels, the Paris Opera performances, the bullfighting in Madrid, and the football in Argentina, which are all integrated into the lives of citizens in the local culture, and tourists are just sharers. With the upgrading of the demand for night cultural experience and tourism consumption, citizens and tourists have put forward higher requirements for leisure quality and cultural creation. To this end, we need to delay the opening of more public cultural spaces and cultivate more small but beautiful, small but fine, and small but warm cultural and entertainment spaces. Only when the citizens' night life experience is enriched and the quality of the scene is improved, there will be a new space for near and far people to share a beautiful life, and only then will there be a steady and long-term development of high-quality night tourism. We look forward to art illuminating the night sky of tourism, so that the general public will have upward power in the study of scholars and the travel of the country and the world. Art belongs to the people and belongs to life. We should allow more museums, art galleries, concert halls, and small theaters to extend their opening hours to the public as much as possible, and lower the threshold of art aesthetics for audiences and tourists as much as possible. I still remember the experience of visiting the National Gallery of Norway at night. The museum was still open at 10 o'clock in the evening, and people came and went in an orderly manner. In front of the original work of Munch's "The Scream", you can stop and observe it carefully, sit and meditate, or take pictures or touch it in front of the work - of course, the museum has special protection devices. With more such art spaces, audiences and tourists will naturally receive aesthetic education. We should build large theaters, introduce well-known troupes, and develop more young, fashionable and participatory art forms, such as small theater dramas, modern dance, light music, choirs, e-sports, street dance, street sculptures, public art, 24-hour bookstores, writers meet and share books, and make good use of mass cultural venues such as cultural stations, children's palaces, and children's centers to cultivate more youth-friendly cultural stations. Such a city is a self-evident cultural highland and the best tourist and leisure city without any institution listing. Whether it is day or night, the ubiquitous literary and artistic atmosphere can attract tourists to stay and experience, and they are willing to visit again. We look forward to technology enhancing the tourism experience, so that tourists can see the historical heritage, current life and infinite future possibilities in every town. We should focus on the actual needs of tourism development and be patient and wise in the application of new technologies in tourism scenarios. The history of global tourism development and business innovation shows that from concept introduction to product mass production, it is a long process full of risks and challenges. Unfortunately, new concepts such as digital cultural tourism, immersive experience, and virtual tourism are flying all over the sky, and original innovation and comprehensive subversion are always the case. Isn't that the case! Due to the lack of a complete chain from laboratory economy to intellectual property protection, the number of imitators and followers is increasing. From TeamLab to "The Vanishing Pharaoh", you can see familiar replicas in every city, and stir-fry a few cold dishes of heritage over and over again. This time in Shenzhen and Futian, we saw Festival Avenue, Coco Park, Huaqiang North Road, LeTaoli underground commercial street, Xiangmihu Road shaded by trees, Jingtian South Third Street where literary atmosphere and market life are integrated, and Qiaoxiang Village, which is known as "community park and a good place to take children out". We saw efforts for the present and creation for the future. Such a city and such a block are the new space for a better life shared by hosts and guests that we want, and they are the contemporary Chinese urban tourism fashion samples that can be learned and referenced by all regions. We expect social investment and market players to play a more important role in the strategic system of a strong tourism country. Night tourism accommodation represented by hotels and homestays, tourism and leisure operators represented by scenic spots, resorts, and leisure blocks, technology innovation companies represented by lighting, creativity, light and shadow technology, and content creators represented by music, performances, fashion, and art companies and institutions should meet today's consumption with efficient business capabilities and lead tomorrow's needs with outstanding innovation capabilities. The government should guide investment institutions and market players to deeply explore cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, local life, cultural and artistic resources, and build a number of night tourism strong areas and brand blocks with distinct cultural characteristics. It is necessary to build a number of cultural and leisure blocks with international style and fashion sense like London's West End, Tokyo's Ginza, Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong, and Barcelona's Las Ramblas, and cultivate a number of community leisure spaces that meet the needs of citizens' night life and are famous for their cultural flavor and fireworks. While giving full play to the leading role of the market mechanism in the allocation of night tourism resources, we must be determined to control the government's visible and restless hand, and not rush to make plans, set standards, and issue licenses, but focus more administrative resources on demand research, data production, cultural guidance, and technology empowerment. As for the primary markets such as catering, accommodation, and retail that can be spontaneously allocated by the market, we must believe in the potential of the market and the power of society. People's yearning for a better life is the driving force for the expansion of the night tourism market and industrial upgrading. The development of the night economy is to protect the people's growing cultural leisure and tourism rights. To promote the high-quality development of night tourism, we must accelerate the construction of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with profound cultural heritage, national-level tourist cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics, and cultivate world-class tourism enterprises. To promote the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism, we need to promote art and tourism. Introduce new productivity and promote the quality and efficiency of night tourism, which will satisfy the people and benefit them. Cultural workers, tourism practitioners and R&D innovators should unite and work hard to illuminate the night sky of tourism with the light of culture and technology! 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 when reprintingTime flies. It has been six years since the concept of night tourism was proposed in 2018 and the first batch of research results were released in Beijing. Driven by the cultural and tourism departments, and thanks to the joint efforts of investment institutions and market players in the fields of science and technology, engineering, culture, tourism, and commerce, night tourism has grown from small to large, from point to surface, and has become an important part of the construction system of international tourist destinations with Chinese characteristics. It is also an effective way to promote the deep integration and development of culture and tourism and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry. Over the past six years, night tourism has witnessed the renewal of urban and rural residents' life concepts and changes in lifestyles. From the perspective of the demand side, disposable time, disposable income and willingness to consume are prerequisites for the development of the tourism market. Time is always limited, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and life is often no more than a hundred years. Despite the spirit of "the day is short and the night is long, why not travel with a candle!" and the romance of "the east wind blows thousands of flowers at night, and blows down, stars like rain", the vast majority of people still follow the natural law of "work at sunrise and rest at sunset" throughout their lives. Most tourists in the early stages of mass tourism only "visit temples during the day and sleep at night" and "appreciate flowers in spring and fallen leaves in autumn". With the improvement of economic and social development and scientific and technological progress, people's life concepts and lifestyles have undergone tremendous changes. With the solution of "two worries and three guarantees", the people have more public holidays and leisure time, and began to pursue a higher quality of life such as culture, art, leisure, and tourism, forming the first driving force of night tourism on the demand side. Today, tourism and leisure activities have obviously extended from day to night, and 18:00-22:00 has become the "golden 4 hours" of the highly active night economy. Over the past six years, night tourism has stimulated social investment and supply innovation, effectively expanded the boundaries of tourism, and greatly enriched the tourism industry. As the axis of time unfolds on the scale of day and night, typical tourist spaces such as tourist attractions and resorts have introduced night leisure projects, and public cultural spaces such as museums, art galleries, cinemas, and theaters have extended their closing hours. Whether it is key commercial scenes such as historical and cultural blocks, commercial complexes, night markets, or major public spaces such as streets, squares, and parks, they are consciously integrating cultural, technological, fashion, and entertainment elements to continuously promote night scene iteration and product innovation. From the early landscape lighting that lit up the night sky to aerial drone formations, naked-eye 3D installations, music festivals, and concerts, cultural creation and scene creation for young customers and the future of the city have directly driven investment in engineering construction, scientific and technological research and development, and literary and artistic creation, thereby driving the gathering of local creative talents and the optimization of the supply chain. In order to meet the needs of citizens' leisure and tourists' consumption, the potential released by stock optimization and the growth driven by incremental investment further demonstrate the second driving force of night tourism from the supply side. The night tourism industry chain, value chain, and innovation chain composed of catering, accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, cultural entertainment, and urban transportation are being widely integrated into the local economic and social development system. Over the past six years, night tourism has cultivated a number of influential market entities, resulting in significant demand spillover and investment-driven effects. As the leading force in the supply of night tourism products, urban lighting groups such as Liangye Technology, Mingjiahui, and Liad, tourism groups such as Shaanxi Tourism Investment, Nanjing Tourism, Kaiyuan Tourism, and Haichang Ocean Park, and digital companies such as Jindong Digital Innovation, Guangying Centennial, and Lifeng Culture have invested in the development and management of a number of benchmark projects that take into account both economic and social benefits. Projects such as "Song of Everlasting Regret", "Dreamlike Qinhuai", "Dancing Dunhuang", "Qingdao on the Sea", and "Jinye. Qingdian Luzhi" are typical representatives. Festival Avenue in Futian District, Shenzhen, Liangmahe International Style Waterfront in Chaoyang District, Beijing, Guangzhou Zhengjia Plaza, Shanghai Shangsheng. Xinsuo, and Chengdu Dongjiao Memory have become new landmarks for urban tourism. The special survey on the night economy by the China Tourism Research Institute shows that the night opening rate of 5A-level tourist attractions across the country has increased from 23% in 2020 to 63% now, and a number of new night core attractions such as lighting landscapes, performing arts cruise ships, and homestay markets have been newly settled. Nearly 40% of national-level tourist resorts have developed and launched nighttime products such as festival performances, indoor leisure, and outdoor entertainment. More than one-third of national first-class museums have launched night tours during the summer vacation. The incremental investment and innovative projects in nighttime tourism have enhanced the cultural experience of residents and tourists, enriched consumption scenarios, and promoted the improvement of social management efficiency such as urban management, public transportation, public security emergency response, and public health. The continuously improved business environment and the dynamic and vibrant city image are attracting more attention from social capital and technology companies. Over the past six years, nighttime tourism has formed a number of innovative samples that can be demonstrated and promoted from cities to business districts, from blocks to scenic spots. The nighttime economy, with cultural consumption and tourism and leisure as its main content, has entered the strategic system of national economic and social development in various places, and has become a key deployment of the cultural and tourism system, and a special task actively promoted by party committees and governments at all levels. From a national perspective, the extension of cultural and museum venues and public transportation, the creation of time-sharing pedestrian streets, 24-hour urban construction, urban night branding, and night tour product reward and subsidy mechanisms are often standard configurations of nighttime tourism promotion policies in major cities. Regardless of the type of tourist destination, all of them pay attention to emerging tourist markets such as study tours, food, summer vacation, ice and snow, and strengthen the spatial planning and industrial layout of night tourism. It should be pointed out that as an emerging demand, night tourism, whether it is the optimization of stock resources or the pull of incremental investment, will have an impact on the traditional life of residents, and will also have an impact and impact on the original industrial structure and market entities. While promoting innovation and promoting development, how to coordinate the relationship between government and market, supply and demand, protection and development, development and security, and international and domestic is a realistic issue for the modernization of urban and rural governance systems and governance capabilities of tourist destinations. The promotion policies of the central and local governments, as well as the development consensus of community residents and all sectors of society, together constitute the third driving force of night tourism. While more and more city managers insist on cultural leadership and brand building, they are shifting the promotion policies of night tourism and night economy from comprehensive coverage to precise delivery, and from top-down vertical transmission to diversified exploration of top-down combination. Dear colleagues, colleagues in the industry, night tourism is facing new situations and new challenges, especially paying attention to a series of practical problems that need to be solved urgently, such as a single development model, homogeneous business forms, weak international competitiveness, insufficient cultural experience, and low sense of gain among residents. As a way of life, learning and growth, tourism should not only meet the rigid demand of tourists for nighttime dining, but also have a high degree of cultural awareness and cultural confidence, and meet the needs of tourists for nighttime movie watching, drama watching, night reading, entertainment, leisure shopping and social interaction with excellent cultural works and high-quality tourism products. According to the special survey of the nighttime economy by the China Tourism Research Institute, while urban night tourists like special dining and trendy markets, their demand for tourism shopping and cultural experience has increased significantly. When tourists visit historical and cultural blocks and urban business districts, they have a demand for local time-honored restaurants, local cultural relics and traditional arts, and have higher expectations for innovative culture and fashion art. Rural night tourists especially prefer local cultural activities, folk festivals and leisure and entertainment. Nighttime tourism requires snack night markets and light and shadow shows, but snack night markets and light and shadow shows are not all of nighttime tourism, let alone the future of the nighttime economy. The development of contemporary tourism requires more patience and wisdom. Only when those who are near are pleased can those who are far away come. Only when deep waters flow quietly can a flourishing age be formed. It is time to abandon short-term thinking such as hot-selling products, internet celebrities, and data performance, and turn to long-termism supported by goodwill, warmth, quality, sincerity, and tolerance. It is time to end the shallow demand, the same style for thousands of nights, conservative supply, and the same appearance of all cities. It is time to turn to the modernization of infrastructure, public services, and business environment, and lead the high-quality development of the tourism industry with cultural creation and scene creation. We look forward to the future of culture leading tourism, allowing tourists to appreciate the beauty of nature during the trip and share the beauty of culture at the destination. How to lead tourism upward with a high degree of cultural consciousness, so that people can cultivate their feelings for their country and the world during the trip? How to lead with excellent cultural works and meet the growing cultural needs of tourists during the trip? How to implement "shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture with tourism" in specific projects, scenes and routes? It is a realistic issue for the deep integration and development of culture and tourism, and it is also the only way for the high-quality development of night tourism. To develop night tourism, it is necessary to implement ideology, cultural construction and cultural confidence in the development of factors, industrial cultivation, civilized tourism and market supervision, and continuously enhance the social consensus and spiritual kinetic energy for the high-quality development of night tourism. We should promote the deep integration of tourism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, the revolutionary culture carrying the red gene, the advanced socialist culture of national rejuvenation and people's happiness, and continuously enhance the cultural connotation of the development of the night economy. It should be pointed out that night tourism is based on the night leisure of local residents, just like the night roller skating on the last weekend of each month in Brussels, the Paris Opera performances, the bullfighting in Madrid, and the football in Argentina, which are all integrated into the lives of citizens in the local culture, and tourists are just sharers. With the upgrading of the demand for night cultural experience and tourism consumption, citizens and tourists have put forward higher requirements for leisure quality and cultural creation. To this end, we need to delay the opening of more public cultural spaces and cultivate more small but beautiful, small but fine, and small but warm cultural and entertainment spaces. Only when the citizens' night life experience is enriched and the quality of the scene is improved, there will be a new space for near and far people to share a beautiful life, and only then will there be a steady and long-term development of high-quality night tourism. We look forward to art illuminating the night sky of tourism, so that the general public will have upward power in the study of scholars and the travel of the country and the world. Art belongs to the people and belongs to life. We should allow more museums, art galleries, concert halls, and small theaters to extend their opening hours to the public as much as possible, and lower the threshold of art aesthetics for audiences and tourists as much as possible. I still remember the experience of visiting the National Gallery of Norway at night. The museum was still open at 10 o'clock in the evening, and people came and went in an orderly manner. In front of the original work of Munch's "The Scream", you can stop and observe it carefully, sit and meditate, or take pictures or touch it in front of the work - of course, the museum has special protection devices. With more such art spaces, audiences and tourists will naturally receive aesthetic education. We should build large theaters, introduce well-known troupes, and develop more young, fashionable and participatory art forms, such as small theater dramas, modern dance, light music, choirs, e-sports, street dance, street sculptures, public art, 24-hour bookstores, writers meet and share books, and make good use of mass cultural venues such as cultural stations, children's palaces, and children's centers to cultivate more youth-friendly cultural stations. Such a city is a self-evident cultural highland and the best tourist and leisure city without any institution listing. Whether it is day or night, the ubiquitous literary and artistic atmosphere can attract tourists to stay and experience, and they are willing to visit again. We look forward to technology enhancing the tourism experience, so that tourists can see the historical heritage, current life and infinite future possibilities in every town. We should focus on the actual needs of tourism development and be patient and wise in the application of new technologies in tourism scenarios. The history of global tourism development and business innovation shows that from concept introduction to product mass production, it is a long process full of risks and challenges. Unfortunately, new concepts such as digital cultural tourism, immersive experience, and virtual tourism are flying all over the sky, and original innovation and comprehensive subversion are always the case. Isn't that the case! Due to the lack of a complete chain from laboratory economy to intellectual property protection, the number of imitators and followers is increasing. From TeamLab to "The Vanishing Pharaoh", you can see familiar replicas in every city, and stir-fry a few cold dishes of heritage over and over again. This time in Shenzhen and Futian, we saw Festival Avenue, Coco Park, Huaqiang North Road, LeTaoli underground commercial street, Xiangmihu Road shaded by trees, Jingtian South Third Street where literary atmosphere and market life are integrated, and Qiaoxiang Village, which is known as "community park and a good place to take children out". We saw efforts for the present and creation for the future. Such a city and such a block are the new space for a better life shared by hosts and guests that we want, and they are the contemporary Chinese urban tourism fashion samples that can be learned and referenced by all regions. We expect social investment and market players to play a more important role in the strategic system of a strong tourism country. Night tourism accommodation represented by hotels and homestays, tourism and leisure operators represented by scenic spots, resorts, and leisure blocks, technology innovation companies represented by lighting, creativity, light and shadow technology, and content creators represented by music, performances, fashion, and art companies and institutions should meet today's consumption with efficient business capabilities and lead tomorrow's needs with outstanding innovation capabilities. The government should guide investment institutions and market players to deeply explore cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, local life, cultural and artistic resources, and build a number of night tourism strong areas and brand blocks with distinct cultural characteristics. It is necessary to build a number of cultural and leisure blocks with international style and fashion sense like London's West End, Tokyo's Ginza, Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong, and Barcelona's Las Ramblas, and cultivate a number of community leisure spaces that meet the needs of citizens' night life and are famous for their cultural flavor and fireworks. While giving full play to the leading role of the market mechanism in the allocation of night tourism resources, we must be determined to control the government's visible and restless hand, and not rush to make plans, set standards, and issue licenses, but focus more administrative resources on demand research, data production, cultural guidance, and technology empowerment. As for the primary markets such as catering, accommodation, and retail that can be spontaneously allocated by the market, we must believe in the potential of the market and the power of society. People's yearning for a better life is the driving force for the expansion of the night tourism market and industrial upgrading. The development of the night economy is to protect the people's growing cultural leisure and tourism rights. To promote the high-quality development of night tourism, we must accelerate the construction of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with profound cultural heritage, national-level tourist cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics, and cultivate world-class tourism enterprises. To promote the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism, we need to promote art and tourism. Introduce new productivity and promote the quality and efficiency of night tourism, which will satisfy the people and benefit them. Cultural workers, tourism practitioners and R&D innovators should unite and work hard to illuminate the night sky of tourism with the light of culture and technology! 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 when reprinting