Dai Bin | To us who will eventually leave and to you who have already arrived - Speech on the 30th Anniversary of Tourism Education at Yunnan University

At the invitation of Yunnan University, Dai Bin, Dean of China Tourism Research Institute, attended the 30th anniversary event of Yunnan University's tourism education in Kunming and delivered a commemorative speech titled "To Us Who Will Go Away and You Who Have Arrived". The full text is as follows.

Dear Professor Tian Weimin, teachers, and classmates: Upon receiving the conference invitation, I immediately forwarded it to the large group of academic communities at the China Tourism Research Institute: Congratulations on the thirty years of tourism education at Yunnan University, and pay tribute to Professor Tian Weimin for his outstanding contributions to Yunnan University and national tourism education! Subsequently, numerous young and middle-aged scholars queued up to express their respect in their respective ways, which was very touching. Professor Tian is a representative figure in tourism education, scientific research, and administrative management in China. If the tourism academic community also has its own "Lingyan Pavilion", I think he should be one of the first group of people to hang statues. In fact, the tribute paid by young and middle-aged scholars to Professor Tian is also a recognition of Yunnan University's tourism discipline, and a tribute to generations of tourism scholars since the reform and opening up.

They laid a solid foundation for the discipline of tourism and expanded the vast space for tourism education. Whether it is the "old four" universities such as Nankai University, Northwest University, Hangzhou University, and Beijing International Studies University, or the first batch of doctoral programs in tourism management such as Sun Yat sen University, Shaanxi Normal University, Huaqiao University, Northeast University of Finance and Economics, and Yunnan University, they all have today's tourism management discipline system, academic system, and discourse system from vocational schools to vocational schools, from undergraduate to scientific master's, professional master's, and then to doctoral programs because of these pioneers. Compared with established disciplines such as geography, history, economics, and management, without the hard work and dedication of tourism scholars such as Professor Shen Baojia, Professor Zhu Yuhuai, Professor Chen Chuankang, Professor Zhang Guangrui, Professor Xie Yanjun, Professor Du Jiang, Professor Zhang Hui, Professor Tian Weimin, Professor Bao Jigang, and Professor Zhang Lingyun, tourism education and theoretical research would not have achieved the current situation. It is necessary to make it clear to young people that many things do not come from the beginning, and many platforms cannot be built just by reading literature or writing papers in the library. Many concepts, methods, and tools that are used today without realizing it cannot have fallen from the sky. I still remember during the 2018 China Tourism Science Annual Conference, Professor Tian told me that a person who doesn't want to contribute to institutions and platforms, or even make sacrifices, only thinks about personal fame and fortune, and knowledge is not enough. Without the ups and downs of "thirty achievements and earth, eight thousand miles of cloud and moon", Yue Wumu, who was wrongly killed in the storm pavilion, would not be able to write "Man Jianghong" with excellent traditional cultural genes. This is also the internal logic of the ancient saying 'cultivating virtue, achieving merit, and establishing words', where merit comes first in words.

They have been walking alongside tourism practice, dedicating their entire lives to serving the industry and contributing to the country. In July 1979, the chief designer of reform and opening up issued the "Mount Huangshan Talk", which opened the curtain of the era of modern tourism development. Along with the market-oriented reform of the inbound tourism market, travel agencies, and hotels, tourism education and theoretical research also began. In that era, experts and scholars mostly came from traditional disciplines such as foreign languages, geography, and economics, just like the meritorious scientists, barefoot doctors, and private teachers of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite". They were not thinking about personal fame, but about the needs of national tourism development. In order to cultivate high-quality professional talents, I personally translate materials and write textbooks, and take students to the front line to investigate cases; In order to understand the background of national and local tourism resources, I have walked through the mountains and rivers of our country with my feet, touched the history and culture of various places with my hands, and submitted one high-quality tourism development plan after another; In order to help travel agencies, tourist hotels, and scenic spot employees improve their comprehensive quality and management level, they go down to the grassroots and frontline, and provide one high-level professional training course after another for the industry. Because more time, energy, and academic resources are devoted to teaching and research practices, some people have not published highly cited papers or left behind works, losing the opportunity to be evaluated as academicians or Changjiang scholars, and even leaving this world with the title of associate professor. I haven't heard any complaints or regrets. They fulfilled the resolute oath of intellectuals throughout their lives: if the country needs it, they will lead by example.

They have the traditional literati's patriotism and the spirit of chivalry, as well as the spirit of meeting and drinking for the ruler. To this day, I still remember that in 2013, the first batch of postdoctoral fellows in tourism management at the China Tourism Research Institute joined and needed to collaborate with a postdoctoral research station at a university. For this reason, we came to Yunnan University to request assistance. When the administrative team introduced the various rights, responsibilities, conditions, and processes of the cooperating units, Professor Tian interrupted directly: Stop talking, Mr. Dai Yuan has come all the way from Beijing. Whatever he requests, we will do, sign immediately. At that moment, I told myself that if Brother Tian needed me and the research institute in the future, just one phone call would suffice. Just like today's meeting, you just need to tell me if you need me to come, you don't need to tell me why, and you don't need to tell me what kind of benefits are available. To this day, I still remember that every year at the China Tourism Science Annual Conference, Professor Tian would persist until the end and even ask his doctoral students to hear the final message. If they leave first, they will not be reimbursed for their travel expenses. At that time, the research institute was still in its early stages of growth, and with such a strong sense of loyalty, there was nothing we could ask for. They put in so much effort to build such a high platform and let us meet the minister, principal, and renowned professors. It would be inappropriate for you to speak, take a photo, and shake hands before leaving and wandering around the docks. Many times in internal meetings, I would share with my colleagues these sayings from academic history: hold an umbrella for others on rainy days, and only on sunny days will someone accompany you. Many older generation scholars have this chivalrous spirit, always making those who bear heavy burdens brave and those who hold salaries warm.

Each generation has its own mission and destiny. No one can borrow another 500 years from the heavens. Whether willing or unwilling, one day we will leave and hide in the depths of history, turning into sparkling stars that warm every eye looking up at the night sky. Nowadays, as we grow older, our old friendships are scattered: Weisi people, who among us will return?

It is gratifying that Professor Zhao Shuhong has arrived. Professors Zhang Chaozhi, Zhang Jinfu, Xie Chaowu, Xie Zhongwen, as well as many new generations born in the 75s, 80s, and 85s from various tourism schools who attended or did not attend, are here with the responsibility of passing on the torch of tourism education, the light in their eyes, and the warmth in their hearts.

You have entered a new era of comprehensive development of mass tourism, which requires universities to cultivate more professional talents who love life and identify with the industry. Today, tourism has become a daily way of life for urban and rural residents, with the market further sinking and consumption becoming more active. There is no force that can stop people's longing for poetry and distant places. Today, tourists have widely entered the daily living spaces of urban and rural residents, and personalized and diverse demands have led the tourism economy into a new stage of innovation driven and prosperous development. Today, we need you to return to the tradition of tourism education centered on teaching on the basis of creative inheritance and innovative development, and wholeheartedly cultivate students who are needed by the country and recognized by the industry. No matter how many functions we assign to universities, talent cultivation is the primary, core, and fundamental function of education. I hope that in the near future, students graduating from tourism colleges will rush to enter the industry, and the industry will rush to find students who are waiting to graduate. I hope that because of you, students will be happier and have a genuine love for their profession, willing to engage in tourism work. Anyway, they will have more freedom than you and our generation. They may choose to write papers, apply for funding, or become professors in the library, or choose a desirable job in the industry. They will create more happiness for tourists with high-quality services and higher benefits for enterprises with efficient management. Of course, they may also leave the tourism industry and work in any other field they are willing to pursue. Anyway, they should and can have a sunny rather than depressed, open rather than introverted, free rather than cramped life because of four years of professional study.

During the period of inbound tourism and the initial stage of mass tourism development, emphasizing economic attributes and marketization helps to absorb resources and factors, expand industrial scale, and enhance the strategic positioning of the tourism industry in the national economic and social development system. Now it seems that the tourism industry also has career attributes, especially in improving national quality, cultural soft power, and international influence, which have played an irreplaceable role. With more than 40 years of industrial development and academic achievements since the reform and opening up, China's tourism theory and practice have reached the forefront of the world in many aspects, and the introduction, reference, and absorption are no longer able to meet the needs of reality. The construction of tourism disciplines in the new era should do a good job in combining the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific realities and excellent traditional culture, and steadily promote the construction of a people-centered contemporary tourism development theoretical system. Compared to traditional paper and monograph publications, the theoretical construction, ideological formation, and academic reputation accumulation of the integrated development of culture and tourism require a longer process. Only through arduous practical summary and theoretical exploration, and practical application, can ideological and political education in the curriculum be deeply ingrained in the mind and heart, and become an inexhaustible spiritual driving force in the growth process of tourism talents.

You have entered a new era of high-quality development in the tourism industry, where technology, culture, production, life, information, and social interaction are constantly evolving into a new world every day. In the past, reading, writing, teaching, and nurturing people were all slow, and one's life was only enough to make marginal progress in a small field. In fact, it's not that we want to be slow, but rather that we don't have the conditions to quickly acquire knowledge and make free choices. Generation after generation's arduous struggle, even bloodshed and sacrifice, is not for future generations to repeat the experiences of their predecessors. I really envy you today, every day, every moment, every second can have such rich information, such diverse directions, and you can freely choose. The more so it is, the more it is necessary to have firm cultural confidence and academic consciousness. Otherwise, when the sun rises in the east, it will turn east, and when snow falls in the west, it will turn west. How can this be done? I don't know in which direction the wind is blowing - I am in a dream, drifting in the light waves of the dream. "As a poem, it is an extremely beautiful artistic conception, but speakers, commentators, and scholars cannot do without a clear direction and long-term persistence. On the academic stage, no matter who leaves or takes the stage, as long as the light of ideals, responsibilities, and perseverance shines, we will always be there.

In the future, you will also leave. I hope you don't forget to look back at us, who were once disheveled but as clean as water, and tell us about your struggle and the future you saw.

Author | Dai Bin

Editor | Xue Shiyi

Manuscript Review | Yang Liqiong

Source | China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism)

Please indicate the author and source when reprinting