Dai Bin | Prosperity has begun—— Review of Tourism Economy in 2023 and Outlook for 2024

Rapid recovery of domestic tourism market in 2023; In 2024, domestic tourism and national leisure will enter a new stage of prosperous development. Tourism has become a rigid demand for a better life for urban and rural residents, and no force can hinder the long-term prosperity of the tourism market and the high-quality development of the tourism industry.

The tourism economy has already gone through the rapid decline, deep depression, and rapid recovery stages of this unconventional cycle, and is about to enter a new stage of prosperous development.

Small and medium-sized cities, central towns, and key rural areas in developed regions are emerging tourist destinations, growing tourist sources, and the market foundation for sustainable development of the tourism economy.

It is expected that by 2024, the number of domestic tourists and domestic tourism revenue will exceed 6 billion and 6 trillion yuan respectively, and the number of inbound and outbound tourists and international tourism revenue will exceed 264 million and 107 billion US dollars respectively.

Tourists define the tourism industry, rather than the tourism industry defining tourists; New scenes of cultural and tourism integration, new life shared by hosts and guests; Digitization is not a strategic choice, but a survival requirement; Get closer, closer, closer to the customer base, create more, more, more content.

The inbound and outbound markets may need 4-5 more quarters to recover to the peak of the previous cycle.

After three years of deep depression, the domestic tourism market will rapidly recover in 2023, with expected growth in inbound and outbound tourism markets, steady repair of the tourism supply chain, and steady increase in consumer expectations and entrepreneurial confidence. With the "Super Golden Week" during the Spring Festival holiday in the the Year of the Loong, domestic tourism and national leisure will turn into a new stage of prosperity and development in 2024, and the recovery process of the inbound and outbound tourism market will be further accelerated. The construction of world-class tourist cities, world-class tourist attractions and resorts, national tourist routes, national tourist cities and neighborhoods is expected to further accelerate, and tourism investment, project construction, and entrepreneurial innovation of market entities will also usher in a new round of rational growth. The tourism industry policy will shift from countercyclical regulation on the demand side to cross cyclical regulation that takes into account both demand side management and supply side reform. It will effectively promote the domestic tourism upgrading plan and inbound tourism revitalization plan, strengthen the classification guidance of tourism destinations, scientifically guide the coordinated development of urban-rural, regional, and international and domestic tourism markets, and do a good job in stabilizing expectations, boosting confidence, strengthening guidance, and promoting opening up. It will promote the deep integration of culture and tourism, and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry.

01

In 2023, the tourism economy has emerged from a three-year deep recession and accelerated its market recovery

As predicted a year ago today, the domestic tourism market is expected to experience high growth and accelerated recovery in 2023. The inbound and outbound tourism supply chain is gradually recovering, and the tourism economy is expected to maintain both quantitative and qualitative growth. With the comprehensive cancellation of travel and contact consumption policies, the accumulated tourism willingness over the past three years has been quickly released, effectively promoting the rapid recovery of the tourism economy from the demand side. In 2023, the willingness of residents to travel in each quarter remained above 90%, with an average of 91.86% for the whole year, setting a new high since monitoring records began and 4.52 percentage points higher than in 2019. According to the China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), the comprehensive index of national tourism economic operation (CTA-TEP) in 2023 has remained in the prosperous range, with an average of 109.95, which is close to the same period in 2019. During the year, the tourism environment continued to improve, the tourism market opened at a high pace, and the recovery trend continued to spread from source areas to destinations, from cities to rural areas, and from upstream to downstream in the industrial chain. This has driven the recovery rate of domestic tourism and revenue to accelerate compared to 2019, increasing from 68.51% and 75.18% in the first quarter to 77.55% and 82.39% in the first half of the year, and further increasing to 79.92% and 84.91% in the first three quarters. It is expected that the annual recovery rate will reach 80.25% and 85.59% respectively. Except for the difficulty in booking popular cultural and museum venues that are promoted by summer study tours, the overall tourism economy presents a market characteristic of strong supply and demand, dynamic balance, and no major safety accidents or negative public opinion related to tourism. The quality of tourism development has steadily improved. The annual data once again proves and will continue to prove this viewpoint: tourism has become a rigid demand for a better life for urban and rural residents, and no force can stop the long-term prosperity of the tourism market and the high-quality development of the tourism industry.

The micro indicators of tourist travel distance, stay time, and destination recreational radius during the seven holidays indicate that the domestic tourism market has returned to a normal development pace. Based on the indicators and year-on-year changes of the tourism market during the 5-day Labor Day holiday, 3-month summer vacation, and 8-day Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, as well as data on the recovery level relative to 2019, combined with quarterly and annual data, it is comprehensively judged that the tourism economy has passed the rapid decline, deep depression, and rapid recovery stages of this unconventional cycle and is about to enter a new stage of prosperous development. Starting from 2024, the main indicators of the tourism economy's annual, quarterly, and holiday markets, especially domestic tourist arrivals, tourism revenue, etc., will no longer be compared with 2019, and only normal year-on-year and month on month data will be released.

Figure 1: Number of people traveling during the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays from 2019 to 2023

And tourism revenue

Figure 2: Travel radius for Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in 2020-2023

And recreational radius

From the supply side data, traditional business models such as tourist attractions, resorts, hotels, homestays, travel agencies, and online travel platforms have begun to return to normal in terms of revenue, profit, procurement, and employment indicators. Major transportation such as aviation, railways, shipping, and highways, as well as destination small transportation such as buses, subways, taxis, ride hailing services, tourist buses, and shared bicycles, restaurants, bars, cafes, boutique shops, night markets, shopping centers, leisure districts, and commercial complexes, as well as tourism related supply chains such as museums, art galleries, cultural centers, science and technology museums, theaters, and cinemas, have been comprehensively restored. From Citywalk, social exhibitions, tea making around the stove, to temple fairs and markets, tourists experience the warmth of human fireworks and the tranquility of national peace and security in daily life scenes. The stability of consumption expectations further promoted the growth of investment confidence. The number of visitors to Mount Huangshan returned to the same level in 2019 three months ahead of schedule, which accelerated the high-quality development of classic tourist attractions. The number of visitors to Mount Taishan topped 5 million for the first time in July, both hitting a new historical high; The flagship project of Jianye Culture and Tourism, "Only Henan Drama Fantasy City," has achieved profitability in the first three quarters; Fosun has launched new heavy asset investment projects in Nanjing, Taicang, and Haichang Ocean in Zhengzhou; The launch of the first domestically produced cruise ship, China COSCO Shipping's layout of high-end inland river vacations, and investment in building ice and snow tourism projects in multiple places indicate that the supply side of the tourism economy has entered a new stage of both stock optimization and incremental driving. Many well-known tourism enterprises such as Fosun Travel Culture, First Travel Hotel, Lijiang Stock, Three Gorges Tourism, and Zhongxin Tourism have achieved double-digit or even triple digit growth in revenue, with profit growth rates generally exceeding revenue growth rates by more than twice during the same period. The annual revenue, main business income, and profit of the top 20 tourism groups are close to the level of 2019.

Figure 3: Trend of Tourism Entrepreneur Confidence Index from 2009 to 2023

Official data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China shows that international passenger flights will continue to resume in 2023, stabilizing at over 50% of pre pandemic levels since late August. The flight volume of 22 countries including the UK, Italy, and the UAE has approached or exceeded pre pandemic levels, and new flights have been added to countries such as Kuwait and Serbia. According to the China Airlines Association, 14 airlines achieved their profit targets in the first three quarters. Benefiting from the growth of international air routes and aviation capacity, destination countries for outbound tourism will be opened up in three batches, the basic markets of Hong Kong and Macao will be fully restored, and policies in visa, immigration, air traffic rights, ports, customs, logistics, payment and other fields will be facilitated. Especially with the improvement of smart tourism for foreign tourists, the number of inbound and outbound tourists and international tourism revenue will recover to 65% and 59% of 2019, respectively.

From the perspective of spatial pattern, Guangdong, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi and other populous provinces are still the most important tourist sources and destinations. Medium and long distance destinations such as Hainan, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin and others have a growing attraction to the summer, cold, ice and snow tourism market. The cultural, historical and ecological influence of characteristic tourist destinations such as Xizang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and others has further improved. It is worth noting that the slogan "So close, so beautiful, weekend to Hebei", which focuses on the short distance market, has exceeded the scope of market promotion and marketing slogans. It is a scientific analysis and precise promotion of the high-frequency, high consumption, and short distance "two highs and one short" urban source market in Beijing and Tianjin, and also a rational return to the development strategy of tourism economy. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing and other first tier and new first tier cities, with their increasingly improved infrastructure, public services, commercial environment, and increased visibility and reputation for major events, have gained an obvious early acceptance list in the recovery stage, further demonstrating the theoretical value and practical significance of the theory of "timely shifting the focus of tourism work to cities". From the perspective of consumption, investment, and innovation activity in the past year, cities will be the fundamental support and innovative driving force for the rational prosperity of the tourism economy in the foreseeable future, and fundamentally affect the spatial layout of tourism projects, the scale and quantity of tourism investment, and the competitiveness and influence of market entities.

In the past year, we have noticed an increasing trend of reverse tourism and alternative tourism destinations, as well as third - and fourth tier cities that have emerged due to Chinese style Hanfu, music festivals, barbecues, village evenings, and village BA. They represent the consumption upgrading of sinking markets such as small and medium-sized cities, central towns, and key villages in developed areas. They are emerging tourist destinations, growing tourist sources, and the market foundation for sustainable development of the tourism economy. We also pay attention to the transition of "small airport cities" from conceptual introduction to commercial practice. According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and market definition from Qunar, there are a total of 185 small airport cities in China, mainly distributed in third -, fourth -, and fifth tier cities. These small airport cities, such as Yanji, Guoluo, and Hailar, have attracted the attention of tourists of all ages with their unique scenic spots, resorts, neighborhoods, commercial districts, markets, as well as high cost-effectiveness in accommodation, dining, entertainment, and shopping consumption. Looking back at the history of tourism development in the new era in the future, 2023 is highly likely to be labeled as the "first year of small airport cities".

For a long time, the tourism system and educational research institutions have invested too much energy in resources, elements, and supply side, such as brand creation activities and case releases for star rated hotels, A-level scenic spots, national and provincial-level resorts, tourism and leisure blocks, nighttime cultural and tourism consumption clusters, etc. In the 1980s, during the period of stable demand and insufficient supply for inbound tourism and the early stages of mass tourism, it was inevitable for government departments to focus on the supply side of tourism work. At the same time, it was also easy to form a certain degree of inertia thinking that emphasized supply over demand, investment over consumption, brand over product. In today's demand growth, consumption changes, endogenous factors, and innovation driven environment, tourism work needs to shift to a new track of releasing new demand, cultivating new business models, and coordinating demand side management and supply side reform. It is worth noting that the State Council's opinions on unleashing the potential of tourism consumption and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's policies on improving the quality of domestic tourism and revitalizing inbound tourism, timely response to social concerns such as "fence blocking scenery", and measures such as holding tourism development conferences, expanding tourism investment, and increasing market promotion in various regions have played a significant role in stabilizing consumption expectations and boosting market confidence. In the past year, the tourism supply has been sufficient, entrepreneurship and innovation have been active, and the sense of gain and tourist satisfaction of market entities have continued to increase, providing strong institutional guarantees for the tourism industry to enter a rational and prosperous stage.

02

In 2024, the tourism economy will steadily enter a new stage of prosperous development with rational consumption expectations, growing investment confidence, and accumulated innovative momentum

Based on the leading data from the demand side, the accumulation of momentum from the supply side, and positive signals from the policy side, we have a positive and optimistic outlook for the tourism economy in 2024. It is expected that by 2024, the number of domestic tourists and domestic tourism revenue will exceed 6 billion and 6 trillion yuan respectively, while the number of inbound and outbound tourists and international tourism revenue will exceed 264 million and 107 billion US dollars respectively. In the new year, while the domestic tourism market is improving its quality and expanding, the market will further sink, demand will achieve structural upgrading, and supply will be optimized through integration. Low tier cities, central towns, and rural areas are not only tourist destinations, but also important tourist source areas that cannot be ignored. Destination construction, project investment, and entrepreneurial innovation will usher in a new wave of development. Tourism investment institutions and market entities are increasingly recognizing the following concept and putting it into commercial practice: tourists define the tourism industry, rather than the tourism industry defining tourists; New scenes of cultural and tourism integration, new life shared by hosts and guests; Digitization is not a strategic choice, but a survival requirement; Get closer, closer, closer to the customer base, create more, more, more content.

The Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong Hong Kong Macao, Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Chengdu Chongqing, Guanzhong, Central Plains, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomeration will still be the most important tourist source areas, destinations, and transit points, playing the role of the locomotive and ballast of the prosperous tourism economy. Relying on the "three zones and one circle" of the city, namely tourist attractions, vacation areas, neighborhoods, and commercial districts, is still the most important tourism space. Holidays, especially the three long holidays of Spring Festival, Labor Day, and National Day, are still important windows for observing the operation of the tourism economy. Summer study tours, summer retreats, health care, and winter winter winter retreats, as well as ice and snow, have become obvious consumption hotspots, which, together with night tourism, have promoted the development and growth of new business models. Of note are weekend and close range tours. "So close, so beautiful" is not only a promotional slogan for Hebei's target customer market, but also a vivid portrayal of the objective laws of urban tourism consumption spillover and close range reception. In the new year, there will be a significant increase in outbound tourism and medium to long distance tourist sources, while weekend 100 kilometer one-day tours and holiday 200 kilometer overnight tours will still be the main characteristics of passenger flow, determining the spatial pattern of tourist destinations and the temporal distribution of tourism consumption.

Compared to the rapidly recovering and prosperous domestic tourism market, it may take 4-5 more quarters for the inbound and outbound markets to recover to the peak of the previous cycle. Although travel agencies have opened up their team tourism and "flight and hotel" businesses to almost all ADS countries and regions, and visa free entry policies have been piloted for six countries including France, Germany, and Malaysia, the policy effects of the recovery of the inbound and outbound tourism market and the comprehensive repair of the supply chain still require more patience and effort. Like world trade and investment, the global supply chain of the tourism industry is undergoing "restructuring" rather than "backflow", with more nearshore and offshore outsourcing leading to profound adjustments in the global value chain. Economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have long been concerned that "the fragmentation of countries into groups that only engage in trade with each other... could lead to a 7% decrease in global gross domestic product each year. The reduction in trade and investment must affect business and hospitality tourism (MICE), leading to a decrease in tourists from major source countries for sightseeing, leisure, and vacation. It is gratifying that China's trade and investment with the "the Belt and Road", the SCO and the BRICS countries have been growing, providing a new growth point for tourism exchanges and cooperation. Compared to policies in areas such as tourism, visas, immigration, payments, and communication, regulatory policies and technical barriers in the trade and investment sectors, as well as aviation rights, routes, and flight permits in the civil aviation sector, are decisive for the recovery of the mid to long haul market. The problem is that often we focus too much on the former and overlook the existence of the latter, overemphasizing the role of tourism promotion and the value of tourism resources.

It is worth looking forward to that the Central Economic Work Conference requires a serious resolution of cross-border data flow and effectively unblocking the bottlenecks for foreign personnel to come to China for business, study, and tourism. Visa, immigration, ports, payment, Internet use and other deep-seated obstacles that have long plagued the development of inbound tourism are expected to be solved from 2024. In the new year, China's international and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan air routes are expected to be fully restored. On October 27, 2023, the Civil Aviation Administration issued the flight plan for the winter and spring of 2023/2024, supporting and encouraging Chinese and foreign airlines to resume international flights, actively improving the accessibility of flights to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road", and further facilitating international economic and trade cooperation and personnel exchanges between China and foreign countries. The planned number of international passenger flights for the winter and spring 2023/2024 season has recovered to 70.7% of the previous season. In terms of Hong Kong Macau routes, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has approved the weekly plans of 1764 passenger and cargo flights between 45 mainland destinations and Hong Kong for 24 airlines, as well as 858 passenger flights between 37 mainland destinations and Macau for 12 airlines. With more countries implementing visa free access to China and increasing flight density, ticket prices have decreased, and the outbound tourism market is bound to see a significant recovery.

With the arrival of a new stage of endogenous growth and prosperous development, cross-border market entities, especially new market entities driven by capital, technology, and creativity, will have more growth opportunities. Pop Mart has entered the city park, opening the door to "small and beautiful" urban renewal together with the Luobaobao Starlight Theater and Lego Park; Yongqi Technology, International Data Group (IDG) and other technology companies, in the name of culture and art, make the nights in cities and neighborhoods more logical, storytelling and high-frequency consumption possibilities; Hello, Meituan, and Qingju have launched a large-scale deployment of shared bicycles and electric bicycles in tourist and leisure cities and resorts, providing tourists with more choices in the field of small transportation. Meituan and Ele.me, two major food delivery platforms, not only deliver food to more and more hotels, but also take high-speed trains. Short video companies, including Tiktok, are also providing local life and remote ordering services. All these innovative projects that seem unrelated to the traditional tourism industry are continuously meeting the needs of self-service tourists and accelerating the trend of individual tourists. With the deeper, broader, and higher-level integration and development of culture and tourism, as well as the widespread application of new quality productivity represented by artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and digitization, camping tourism, ice and snow tourism, food tourism, sports tourism, ocean tourism, tourism and entertainment, as well as suburban leisure, urban roaming and other formats are constantly being renovated and iterated. The new wave of entrepreneurial innovation in the tourism industry is accelerating, constantly driving people's potential tourism needs to transform into effective tourism needs.

In the new year, top enterprises represented by the top 20 tourism groups will still be the leaders and innovation leaders in the tourism industry. China Tourism, Overseas Chinese Town, China Urban and Rural, as well as Fosun, Jianye, Chimelong, Yinji, Haichang, and Hengdian, will further focus on the construction of large-scale theme parks, resorts, and commercial complexes. Top enterprises and first tier brands such as Jinjiang, Lingnan, Huazhu, Kaiyuan, Rujia, Yaduo, Dongcheng, and Xiangban will invest more resources to expand market share and product innovation. Ctrip's international development, destination marketing, and layout of sinking resources, Qunar's aggregation of air tickets, hotels, scenic spots, and small transportation businesses around small airport cities, Mafengwo's digital asset upgrade plan and "please board the bus on weekends", Chunqiu's "aviation hotel destinations", and Guangzhitu's "customer source destination" spatial layout are all highlights of the New Year for travel merchants. There will also be more vertical integration, horizontal integration, and related diversification of investment, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring events, and it is not ruled out that top enterprises will reach strategic cooperation through direct acquisitions, cross shareholding, separation of assets and operations, and member interconnection. If central enterprises such as Hong Kong China Travel Service, China Travel Service, China Duty Free and China Travel Service merge with similar projects again, or if local state-owned enterprises such as Jinjiang International acquire Botao and Vienna, and private enterprise Ctrip acquires Qunar, such strategic events will rewrite the strategic landscape of the tourism industry and test the modernization level of the government's anti-monopoly department's governance system and governance capabilities. We also need to closely monitor the mixed reform of tourism groups and private enterprises established in various provinces and cities. It is necessary to avoid excessive involvement of state-owned capital operation teams in the professional operations of private enterprises, as well as to prevent state-owned capital from depleting the cash flow of private enterprises through "transparent shares and actual debts".

03

Steadily building an institutional innovation and policy guarantee system for high-quality development of the tourism industry

Persist in shaping tourism with culture, highlighting culture with tourism, and pragmatically promoting the integration and development of culture and tourism to a deeper, higher, and wider extent. We should not only emphasize the integrated development of excellent traditional Chinese culture and tourism, but also attach importance to the innovative integration of red culture and advanced socialist culture with tourism. In the process of developing and strengthening the humanistic economy, tourism market entities should introduce new quality productive forces, cultivate new cultural spaces, and innovate new tourism scenarios. The government should prioritize development goals with livelihood and career attributes, such as improving national quality, community residents' sense of gain, and tourist satisfaction, as more important options for the tourism industry. Allow more and more tourists to experience the magnificent mountains and rivers of our motherland, appreciate the beauty of Chinese culture, enhance national quality, and create modern civilization through cultural heritage trails and study tours.

The second is to implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference, make every effort to stabilize tourism consumption expectations, boost market confidence, and sing the strongest voice of China's economic prosperity in tourism. The tourism economic policy will shift from countercyclical regulation on the demand side in the past four years to cross cyclical regulation that takes into account both demand side management and supply side reform, from stabilizing consumption expectations to boosting investment confidence. In the process of promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry, the modernization level of the governance system and governance capacity in the tourism sector will continue to be improved. Whether it is the "harvest" of the epidemic in the past three years or the "release" of the past year, the central and local governments have successively introduced several policies to help enterprises overcome difficulties, and overall, effective management of the demand side is still carried out through travel and contact consumption policy tools. As the production and daily life of urban and rural residents return to normal, the release of tourism consumption potential increasingly depends on endogenous market variables such as leisure time and disposable income. The policy focus has shifted towards providing high-quality tourism products, improving tourism infrastructure and public service systems, guiding tourism investment, and cultivating new tourism market entities.

Thirdly, we will continue to expand the market foundation for tourism consumption, face the upgrading of sinking markets and demand, and pragmatically promote the domestic tourism upgrading plan. The focus of tourism work in the new era is on cities, with a particular emphasis on rural areas and a focus on infrastructure and public services. Each pole guides social investment, fully leverages market forces, and continuously meets the upgrading needs of urban residents for tourism. At the same time, more policy resources will be tilted towards rural areas and central and western regions, so that rural residents who bid farewell to material poverty can also enjoy spiritual upgrading needs such as culture, leisure, and tourism. Guided by tourist satisfaction, further improve the tourism public service system for individual tourists, and continuously enhance tourist satisfaction and sense of gain. Further unleash the driving effect of major cultural projects, accelerate the construction of a number of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with profound cultural heritage, national level tourism and leisure cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics, world-class tourism cities, and international tourism destinations, and enrich the supply of excellent literary and artistic works and high-quality tourism products. Cultivate a group of new formats with strong cultural attributes, high technological content, and strong demonstration and driving power, such as "aviation tourism", "high-speed rail tourism", "highway tourism", "shipping tourism", "tourism festivals and events", "tourism shopping", "tourism art", etc., and guide destination cities, investment institutions, and market entities to create more tourism spaces and consumption scenes that meet new demands.

Fourthly, we will continue to promote the supply side structural reform of tourism leadership, further expand opening up to the outside world, and cultivate more competitive, influential, and leading tourism market entities. The government has millions of policies, and the market is the first. With stable consumer expectations and market confidence, entrepreneurs and business owners know what to do and how to do it better. Having experienced fierce market competition, investment institutions and entrepreneurial groups will become more rational. They will have a deeper understanding of the market opportunities and challenges of the new cycle of prosperity, and their response strategies will become increasingly clear. Many times, what the government needs to do is to clarify the development direction of the tourism industry, give more trust to entrepreneurs, and provide more encouragement to practitioners. Implement a market entity cultivation plan, leverage the innovative research and development advantages of the top 20 capital, technology, and human resources of China Tourism Group, avoid zero sum games between channel partners and suppliers, and do a good job in increasing the real economy and cultural economy. Stimulate the entrepreneurial and innovative vitality of small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses, and cultivate "specialized, excellent, refined" and "little giants" in the tourism industry.

The fifth is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies at the central and local levels, strengthen overall coordination and classification guidance, and pragmatically promote the construction of high-quality tourism destinations and the development of distinctive features. Based on the construction of national cultural parks, national parks, and national tourism routes, strengthen the overall coordination of cross provincial tourism planning and special construction. To promote the recovery of the tourism industry from recession, the central and local governments have issued a large number of policy documents, held numerous government led conferences, forums, and investment promotion activities, which have played an irreplaceable role in stabilizing expectations and boosting confidence. When the tourism economy enters a normal development track, innovative development, high-quality development, and sustainable development mainly rely on market mechanisms and industry endogenous momentum. It requires great government wisdom at all levels to adjust inertia thinking in a timely manner, and make up their minds to control the "restless hand", so that the market belongs to the market and the government belongs to the government. Including the tourism development conferences held by various provinces and cities, necessary performance evaluations should also be carried out, and comprehensive replication and large-scale promotion should not be carried out without distinguishing regions and levels.

The sixth is to quickly introduce and effectively implement the revitalization plan for inbound tourism in the new era, give full play to the enthusiasm of local governments and market entities, and promote the new development of inbound tourism with new momentum. Drawing on the tourism promotion models of developed countries, summarizing the experience of the Sanya Tourism Development Bureau as a statutory body, strengthening the market-oriented and professional construction of government tourism marketing agencies, and promoting the transformation of overseas tourism offices and visa centers. Fully launch the "Hello, China" global tourism promotion plan, attach importance to tourism exhibitions and special roadshows, as well as the role of industry media and social platforms, promote "Hello, China" into business districts, campuses, and communities, and invite more overseas travel merchants, chambers of commerce, and associations to come to China for in-depth inspections and professional exchanges. Relying on the achievements of the construction of the "the Belt and Road", national parks, national cultural parks, cultural relics trails, national tourist resorts, and key tourism villages, efforts are made to cultivate new national tourism routes. Strengthen national research on tourist source and destination areas, innovate bilateral and multilateral exchange mechanisms, proactively set topics, implement global civilization initiatives, and build a world tourism community.

The seventh is to develop outbound tourism in an orderly manner, tell the story of China in the new era well, and continuously enhance cultural soft power and tourism influence. Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles has been a fine tradition of the Chinese nation since ancient times, and traveling abroad is particularly desirable for the people. With the growth of national strength and policy optimization, the outbound tourism market for Chinese citizens will continue to expand. It is unnecessary and impossible to continue seeking to maintain a trade surplus in tourism services with any country at any time. The orderly development of outbound tourism can not only meet people's aspirations for a better life, but also effectively enhance the global influence of travel service providers, brand operators, and investment institutions. Outbound tourists are the best propagandists of national image, just as foreigners, overseas Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots, and overseas Chinese came to us in the 1980s. Tourists have gone out, and the protection of rights and interests should keep up, and communication and cooperation should also keep up with the times. Implementing the Asian Tourism Promotion Plan, the intergovernmental tourism cooperation and development agreement among SCO member states, the communiqu é of the BRICS Tourism Ministers' Meeting, hosting the China France Cultural Tourism Year, and showcasing cultural soft power and international influence through platform and mechanism innovation will be key tasks for international tourism exchange and cooperation in the prosperous stage.

Author | Edited by Dai Bin | Reviewed by Xue Shiyi | Source by Yang Liqiong | Reproduction by China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source