Dai Bin | Cultivating and Developing New Quality Productivity in Tourism Industry

In Langfang, Hebei Province, "The 35th Middle School" is currently being performed in a theater. 58 year old tourist Zhang Qinghua did not expect that at this age, he would still see his eyes moist when watching the play.

This drama is part of the "Dream of the Red Chamber · Drama Fantasy City" drama theme park. "Sitting in the classroom, experiencing immersive performances, with teachers asking questions and classmates interacting, I saw several tourists around me shed tears, and they should also be reminded of their youth," Zhang Qinghua sighed. In the view of Dai Bin, the president of the China Tourism Research Institute, this tourism model that uses artistic expression to give audiences more beauty is precisely a form of expression of new quality productivity. Why does the tourism industry need new quality productivity? Under the promotion of new quality productivity, what new formats and models have emerged in the tourism industry? How to cultivate new quality productivity in the tourism industry? Around these issues, a reporter from Minsheng Weekly interviewed Dai Bin. Minsheng Weekly: What are the profound meanings behind the emergence of a series of new tourism formats? Why does the tourism industry urgently need to inject new quality productivity to promote sustained prosperity and development? Dai Bin: New quality productivity represents the evolution direction of advanced productivity, which is born from technological revolutionary breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. The basic connotation of new quality productivity is the leap of laborers, labor materials, labor objects, and their optimized combinations, which has strong development momentum and can lead the creation of a new era of social production. From the snowflakes in Harbin, to the flowers on the Yellow River Road in Shanghai, from the barbecue in Zibo, Shandong, to the Spicy Hot Pot in Tianshui, Gansu, these cities rely on more than just natural resources of mountains and rivers and historical and cultural resources. When the "Hulunbuir" tourist train flies, the "Water Five Star Hotel" Changjiang II cruise ship sets sail, and the first domestically produced large cruise ship "Aida Magic City" is launched, these are all manifestations of modern production methods in the tourism field. Then look at the emergence of new travel operators such as Ctrip, Tongcheng, Mafengwo and Qunar, as well as the emergence of theme parks such as Chimelong, Disney and Universal Studios. Behind them are technology intensive and capital intensive businesses. A series of cases that highlight the direction of tourism development have overturned our traditional understanding of the tourism industry. The emergence of new forms of tourism such as urban tourism, rural tourism, health tourism, and cruise tourism indicates that the development of modern tourism also requires high-quality labor and new productive forces such as science, technology, humanities, and creativity. Tourism resources are like oil, not inexhaustible and inexhaustible. The era of "a sea of people eating dividends and collecting tickets by surrounding mountains and waters" is gone forever. If we continue to hold the traditional concept that "tourism is a labor-intensive and experience driven industry", we will not be able to establish ourselves in the new era of cultural leadership, technological empowerment, and entrepreneurial innovation. People's lifestyles have changed, and if traditional production methods are still used to meet the needs of tourists, it becomes like carving a boat and seeking a sword. The changing consumption demands of tourists are forcing tourism practitioners to view today's tourism industry with a new concept and promote high-quality development with new quality productivity. Minsheng Weekly: How to cultivate new quality productivity in the tourism industry? Dai Bin: First of all, we cannot rush forward. We must develop new quality productivity in the tourism field according to local conditions and cultivate new quality tourism productivity. Secondly, tourism practitioners need to update their concepts and improve their quality, among which education, training, and seminars are essential. At present, there are 28.25 million direct employees in China's tourism industry, 700000 tour guides, and 50000 travel agents. We need to broaden the horizons of tourism practitioners to see the outside world. If people's ideas and concepts do not progress and evolve, even the most advanced productive forces cannot have any effect. Just like how computers, although advanced, are difficult to perform their intended functions if handed over to primitive hands. In the production process, there must be a certain degree of compatibility between people, production tools, and production methods. So cultivating new quality productivity in tourism cannot be separated from cultivating talents in the tourism industry. In addition, we must fully recognize that science and technology, cultural creativity, as well as modern business models, organizational methods, and production methods, can enhance the efficiency of industry, agriculture, and commerce, as well as the efficiency of the tourism industry. If these new quality productive forces represented by science and technology, cultural creativity, fashion media, etc., change the modules of all production links, then the tourism industry cannot remain unaffected. For example, in the field of tourism, promoting tourism image is very important. In the past, it mainly relied on the creation of ancient scholars. "All one's life, he was crazy and never dreamed of Huizhou", which made people want to go to Mount Huangshan to explore the truth; "How about Dai Zongfu? Qilu is still green", attracting people to Mount Taishan. Later, art forms such as photography and film emerged, and visual works attracted people to visit scenic spots. However, whether it is traditional poetry and prose, or modern photography works, they cannot do without a large amount of manpower and material resources. And now, artificial intelligence has emerged. As long as a paragraph is spoken, artificial intelligence can automatically generate a video that goes through each frame. It can quickly convey the image of a place to the audience at a low cost. If unknown tourist destinations have their own reasons, then famous international tourist destinations have one thing in common: a new space for quality living shared by hosts and guests. The Qingming Festival holiday is coming soon. If you only have 3 days of vacation and a budget of 2000 yuan, then if you go to Suzhou, you won't be able to go to Harbin. Under the constraints of time and financial budget, people's choices are limited. When some tourist destinations use artificial intelligence to constantly bring new spaces for a better life to people's eyes and change their preferences, those tourist destinations that are still using traditional methods for marketing will gradually be eliminated. Minsheng Weekly: In your opinion, what changes have occurred in people's travel habits? What qualities should a good tourist destination possess? Dai Bin: In the past, when you arrived at a tourist destination, you would see mountains, water, and scenery. Now, just "seeing" is not enough. For example, when visiting Beijing, you can go shopping at Sanlitun or visit the picturesque waterfront of Liangma River. As these spaces become consumable and experiential, people's demand for rich content will become increasingly high. During the Spring Festival holiday, some people go to watch yangko, play iron flowers, and the festive atmosphere of fireworks is an important attraction for visitors. But we also see that in Guangzhou, 2024 drones create a dragon pattern around the "little waist", which is equally stunning. These 2024 drones are technology, culture, and a scene for tourists to experience. It's not just the "ancient road, west wind, thin horse" that is culture. The imagery of sunset can also be achieved through high-speed trains, airplanes, and self driving. A good city should not only showcase its cultural heritage, but also showcase its future. Who can live in the past every day? Technology and culture construct the future way of life. Technology without cultural connotations cannot go far, and culture without technological support cannot make people feel happiness and quality. Minsheng Weekly: Whenever an internet famous city becomes popular, netizens will ask whether the "sky high prosperity" can be sustained and long-lasting? How can new quality productivity support the development of urban tourism industry, and what is the relationship between it and high-quality development? Dai Bin: Although we cannot accurately predict who will become the next internet celebrity city, looking back at Zibo, Harbin, Tianshui, and others, we will find that they have commonalities: beauty, sincerity, warmth, kindness, and quality of life. When a city has these connotations, one day it may become popular, but it will definitely become popular. The tourism industry needs internet celebrities, but internet celebrities are not everything about tourism. The local area should have highways, trains, airports, docks, stations, as well as infrastructure such as hotels, homestays, travel agencies, taxis, shared bicycles, public services, and commercial environments. Otherwise, even if there is traffic, tourists will flock in and be greatly disappointed, becoming "buyer shows" and "seller shows", making it difficult for the city's tourism industry to thrive. We need to carefully study the new consumption needs of tourists, as consumption is a key to understanding the tourism economy. When the needs of tourists change, it will force significant changes in production factors, production objects, and laborers. We just need to inform practitioners of the changes in tourists' needs, and they will seize the opportunities and be more adaptable to local conditions. However, necessary guidance must be provided, such as not crossing cultural boundaries or ecological red lines. To cultivate and develop the new quality productivity of the tourism industry, it is the definition of the tourism industry by tourists. Whoever can provide high-quality services for tourists is our main force. Whether the development quality is high or not, first listen to what tourists say. To achieve high-quality development, we must do everything possible to improve tourist satisfaction. To achieve high-quality development, it also depends on the driving force of industrial development. We cannot rely solely on the natural and cultural resources left to us by our ancestors for food forever. We must promote innovation. It also depends on whether the market entities have strong competitiveness. If thousands of travel agencies, online travel service providers, hotels, homestays, and resorts are not profitable and competitive, this industry cannot continue to develop. Therefore, only with high tourist satisfaction, new development momentum, and strong market competitiveness can the tourism industry truly achieve high-quality development. Reporter: Liu Yeye, Guo Jin Editor: Liu Xin Source: Minsheng Weekly Please indicate the author and source when reprinting