Dai Bin | Market Prosperity and Industrial Restructuring - Closing Speech at the 2023 China Tourism Group Development Forum

In 2009, the State Council issued a document clarifying the strategic positioning and development goals of the tourism industry in the new era, namely "the strategic pillar industry of the national economy and the modern service industry that satisfies the people more". With the approval of the former National Tourism Administration, the China Tourism Research Institute and the China Tourism Association jointly held the China Tourism Development Forum in Shenzhen, targeting top enterprises, and released the "Top 20 China Tourism Groups" list for the first time. From then on, the tourism industry has its own national team! In the past three years, the tourism industry has experienced the deepest depression and the most difficult challenges, but the majority of operators have always maintained confidence, worked hard, explored ways out in difficulties, and found vitality in crises, constantly creating one small spring after another in the tourism industry, which has effectively boosted people's confidence in overcoming the epidemic. History has proven, and will continue to prove, that the market entities represented by the top 20 Chinese tourism groups are always commercial forces that can be trusted politically, relied upon for development, and emotionally connected. Under the strong leadership of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the joint efforts of industry colleagues, the 2023 China Tourism Group Development Forum is about to successfully conclude. On behalf of the forum organizers and all attending delegates, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Chairman Yu Faxiang and friends of Xiangyuan Group, as well as to the professional team of Xiangyuan Hilton Hotel! Below, I would like to share some opinions on the current situation of the tourism economy and the development strategy of tourism groups, and discuss and encourage them with colleagues in the industry.

01

Strengthen confidence and welcome the new stage of prosperous development of tourism economy

The tourism economy has emerged from a three-year period of sharp decline and deep depression, gone through a year of rapid recovery, and is about to enter a new stage of prosperous development. At the beginning of 2023, with the relaxation of the tourism contact consumption restriction policy and the implementation of a series of consumer promotion policies, the tourism economy will emerge from a fast pace of recovery characterized by "high opening and high growth, accelerated recovery; momentum accumulation, and supply innovation". More and more urban and rural residents are stepping out of their homes to pursue the beauty of daily life through ubiquitous tourism. The number of domestic tourists, tourism income, average travel distance, average length of stay and other major observation indicators on Labor Day, summer and Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day holidays have all exceeded the level of the same period in 2019. The data shows that the tourism economy has passed through the sharp decline and deep depression stage of this unconventional cycle, and after a year of rapid recovery, it is about to enter a new stage of prosperous development. Starting from next year, we will release tourism market data and major economic indicators, and only do year-on-year comparisons with today. 'Recovering to the level of 2019' will become a historical term. History has repeatedly proven, and will continue to prove, that there is no force that can stop people's longing for a better tourism life, not in the past three years, and not in the future. Tourism has irreversibly entered the daily lives of urban and rural residents, and has become a rigid demand of the people after the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society. In the past three years, people have been willing to appreciate the beautiful scenery around them and more willing to experience the beautiful daily life. Specifically, it manifests as city walking, self driving camping, suburban leisure, and rural vacations, effectively increasing the frequency of travel. It is worth noting that in the past, the main force of travel was residents from first tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, as well as strong second tier cities. Now, more and more residents from low tier cities and rural areas have joined tourism activities, becoming a new driving force for tourism consumption. The continuous monitoring data of the holiday tourism market shows that the frequency of national travel is increasing and the market is sinking. As tourism consumption accelerates into the daily lives of the people, tourists are also entering the daily life scenes of urban and rural residents. In 2019, I first proposed the idea of "rediscovering the beauty of life from theaters to markets" at the World Tourism Economic Forum in Macau. Today, whether it is a traditional urban tourism destination or a reverse, alternative and niche tourism destination, more and more tourists will visit museums, art galleries and theaters, and more young customers will begin to embrace the food market in their own ways. Xiaohongshu's "Guide to the Food Market" and Douban's "Food Market Fans" have become new Internet traffic portals. The Jinzhou Shiqiaozi Morning Market has gained popularity as the "largest morning market in Asia", while the argument that "Hangzhou is a food desert" has been overturned by the gathering of authentic snacks at the Damalong Morning Market. The Suzhou Shuangta Vegetable Market has also overturned the traditional definition of the vegetable market with its "vegetable market stalls", "vegetable market artists", and "vegetable market cooking experience". The era of 'everyone is a tourist, everywhere is a scene' has arrived, and it will provide continuously expanding market space for the prosperous development of the tourism economy and the research and innovation of tourism enterprises. Tourism has become an indispensable market force for urban renewal and rural revitalization. In the foreseeable future, the country will further enhance the strategic positioning of the tourism industry. On the eve of this year's National Day holiday, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Several Measures on Releasing the Potential of Tourism Consumption and Promoting the High quality Development of the Tourism Industry". In November, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released the "Domestic Tourism Enhancement Plan (2023-2025)", along with relevant documents issued by departments such as diplomacy, public security, development and reform, finance, finance, transportation, sports, and commerce, further highlighting the strategic position of national tourism development in the new era. Local governments have effectively stabilized consumption expectations and boosted consumer confidence by holding high-level tourism development conferences, deploying the creation of trillion dollar industries, issuing policy documents intensively, and implementing administrative measures to promote consumption and attract investment. With the promotion of national tourism strategies such as national parks, national cultural parks, world-class tourist attractions and resorts, national tourist cities and districts, rural tourism, red tourism, and study tours, as well as the development strategies of Shanghai as the first port city for inbound tourism, Guilin as a world tourist city, and Qinghai as an international ecotourism destination, the tourism infrastructure and public service system must be further improved, and the modernization level of tourism governance system and governance capacity will also be correspondingly enhanced. The constantly improving positioning of tourism strategies, increasingly sophisticated infrastructure and public services, and effectively enhanced governance systems and capabilities are the essential underlying logic for tourism entrepreneurship and innovation. With the deeper, broader, and higher-level integration and development of culture and tourism, and the widespread application of new quality productivity represented by artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and digitization, a new wave of entrepreneurial innovation in the tourism industry has arrived irreversibly with an increasing number of cross-border entrants. In today's world where tourists define the tourism industry, rather than the tourism industry defining tourists, it is absolutely impossible and unnecessary for the tourism industry to go back to the past. In the past three years, it means that the initial stage of mass tourism, where "crowds of people eat dividends and mountains and waters gather tickets," has passed. The classical format of stable demand, standard processes, and large-scale production is becoming history, while the emerging format of segmented demand, diversified supply, and instant production is becoming the trendsetter of the new era of comprehensive development of mass tourism with diverse demands and personalized experiences. In this year, the returning tourists are no longer the tourists of the past, and the returning tourists are no longer the tourists of the past. We are seeing more and more young faces from the post-95s and post-00s generations, as well as more and more entrepreneurial innovators in the fields of technology, art, fashion, and fast-moving consumer goods. They have crossed over and come from the future, deconstructing classical tourism and reconstructing modern tourism. Because their arrival will surely ignite the flame of innovation in the hearts of every tourist, creating a more vibrant new era of tourism. Let the pessimists who say we can't do this or that lament in the face of the rapidly advancing era, and let the conservatives who can't keep up with development tremble in front of the pioneers of innovation. In the new year, the national team represented by the top 20 Chinese tourism groups will continue to lead the tourism industry forward with the most stable expectations and unwavering confidence.

02

Scientific analysis and reconstruction of a new strategy for rational growth in tourism groups

Refactoring the development orientation and striving for a better tourism life for the people. Great companies and excellent entrepreneurs must have a sense of history and mission. Only by aligning with national strategies, fully safeguarding people's tourism rights, and promoting sustained growth in tourism consumption, can tourism groups have market space to expand and strengthen. Some friends in the industry will reminisce about the 1980s and 1990s, always feeling that it was the golden period of the tourism industry that was unprecedented. But have we ever thought about it? At that time, there were travel agencies represented by China, China and Qingdao, five-star hotels such as Jianguo, Jinjiang, Jinling and Garden, famous scenic spots such as Mount Huangshan, Lijiang, and the Terra Cotta Warriors of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and silk, antiques, calligraphy and paintings that could be sold to foreign tourists. However, there were no large groups led by entrepreneurs, nor first-line enterprises full of creativity and competitiveness such as Chunqiu, Ctrip, Qunar, Kaiyuan, Haichang, Fosun and Changlong. The main reason is that the market foundation is not strong enough and the market space is not broad enough. At the end of the last century, with the rise of mass tourism, domestic tourism became the most solid market foundation for tourism economic growth and entrepreneurial innovation. The major groups present today are witnesses and leaders of this development process. The strong economic attributes and high degree of marketization of the tourism industry do not mean that tourism groups can only focus on commercial indicators such as market share, capital return rate, and operating profit margin. Today, as we embark on a new journey towards building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and becoming a socialist modernized strong country, it is not only the national strategy but also the responsibility of the tourism group to ensure that the people have access to, can afford, and enjoy tourism with peace of mind, appreciate the beauty of nature and culture during their travels, and continuously enhance their sense of achievement and satisfaction in tourism. Refactoring the driving force of development, strengthening the application of technology and cultural creation. New demand requires new supply, and new supply requires new momentum. In the past, when discussing tourism investment and development strategies, it was often related to natural resources such as mountains, rivers, lakes, fields, forests, grasses, and sands, as well as historical resources such as ancient villages and towns. An era of stable demand growth and supply shortage must be an era where resources are king and creating listings. Today, the tourism industry has fully integrated into all aspects of social life, and the needs of tourists have entered a new stage of diversity and personalization. Tourism enterprises need to meet today's consumption with efficient commercial capabilities, and also lead tomorrow's needs with outstanding innovation capabilities. Around 2010, with a large number of scientific and technological forces represented by Internet enterprises entering, entrepreneurship shines on the starry sky of tourism, and the tourism industry feels the youth breath and great power brought by science and technology for the first time. This aura and power are still growing in the "first flight ticket of life", "small airport cities", "weekend boarding" and "gameplay guide" of Mafengwo, as well as in the tourism entrepreneurship and innovation case released yesterday. At the same time, we have also seen some companies unfortunately live up to their original state of wanting to rely on government resources to maintain their existing market position, while ignoring the fact that artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT is fundamentally changing people's production, life, and tourism methods. I hope more people realize that digitalization is no longer the driving force of innovation for tourism enterprises, but a survival requirement. What we need to do is not whether to turn or not, but how to turn it. Along with technology comes culture, including excellent traditional culture, red revolutionary culture, advanced socialist culture, and the modern civilization being created, which is reconstructing new cultural spaces and tourism scenes. From urban renewal to rural revitalization, every new space for a beautiful life shared by hosts and guests created by the modernization process should and can become a new driving force for innovative development of the tourism industry. Refactoring the development space from a resource-based approach to a customer-oriented approach. The size of urban population, level of economic and social development, tourism resource conditions, and aviation, high-speed rail, and highway networks have always been the underlying logic that affects the tourism economy. In the domestic tourist flow from January to October 2023, the proportion of domestic tourist flow within the province is as high as 74.6%. In fact, not only in the past three years, but also in the long term, the flow of customers has been mainly local and close range. Weekends of 100 kilometers and holidays of 200 kilometers have always been the dividing line for most customer source areas' consumption overflow. In this sense, the promotional slogan that emphasizes Beijing and Tianjin as "so close, so beautiful, come to Hebei on weekends" is not only an understanding of tourists' psychology, but also an insight into the laws of the tourism market. Whether it is tourism flow within or between urban agglomerations, cities have always been the core carrier of source and destination reconstruction and the key to high-quality development of the tourism industry. From 'those who obtain resources obtain the world' to 'those who obtain customers obtain the world', it means that a new era has begun. Entrepreneurs should invest more energy in researching changes in tourism demand and consumption patterns, pay more attention to development opportunities in lower tier markets and cities, and integrate more "small and beautiful" entrepreneurial projects and innovative formats into the local economic and social development system. Tourism groups should continuously expand the innovation of the tourism industry and new space for the development of tourism groups in the process of upgrading consumption to serve urban and rural residents' "initial tourism experience". Refactoring the industrial ecosystem and pursuing competitive advantages rather than monopolistic positions. Whenever there is a phase transition in an economic cycle, especially during a long period of prosperity, a group of great companies emerge. The reason why they are great is because their technology research and commercial innovation towards the C-end allows the general public to share the fruits of economic development, and leads the evolution of lifestyle with modern commercial civilization. We hope that first-class enterprises in the fields of tourism accommodation, tourist attractions and resorts, tourism retail, tourism performances, etc. in the new era will focus more on product quality and service efficiency on the consumer side, rather than government relations and media attention. I hope that tourism groups in the new era will position their development strategies towards long-term competitive advantages, rather than short-term monopolistic positions. They cannot always use a "closed loop" logic and aim to do all the profitable businesses in the world, from destinations to small and medium-sized enterprises to tourists. If there is a situation where there is no grass growing under the big tree, or even seeking power that enterprises should not seek, then the people will not accept it, and policies will not allow it. They will definitely gather forces that are mutually restraining and interdependent, leading to the situation of 'one whale falling, all things arising'. I hope that tourism entrepreneurs in the new era can adhere to long-term and altruistic thinking, and do business under the sunshine with diligence, wisdom, and sweat, in order to become a world-class tourism group that can be trusted by the country, satisfied by the people, and sustainably developed.

03

Proactively taking action to create a new pattern of prosperous development in the tourism economy that integrates, innovates, opens up, and shares

In the process of urban renewal and rural revitalization, tourism enterprises should actively integrate with excellent traditional Chinese culture, creatively inherit and innovate, and strive to bring to life the heritage displayed on the earth, the cultural relics collected in the Forbidden Palace, and the words written in ancient books. We should consciously integrate with the revolutionary culture that carries the red gene, so that more people can embody the feelings of supporting the country and the world on their journey. Efforts should be made to integrate with advanced socialist culture and co create the modern civilization of the Chinese nation. Make good use of new quality productive forces, develop humanistic economy, and create a new modern tourism system for the future. At present, there are more than 70000 specialized and innovative enterprises recognized by the state, as well as over 9000 small and medium-sized enterprises. To build a modern tourism industry that satisfies the people more, it not only requires top enterprises such as the top 20 tourism groups, but also specialized, innovative, and small giant enterprises, including the "Solo Company" that is transitioning from concept introduction to market practice. Nowadays, many places hope to attract large groups and companies for investment promotion, and have listed preferential lists in finance, taxation, finance, land, talent and other aspects. Every time a tourism development conference is held, we also hope that the entrepreneurs present will attend, hold high-level symposiums, and hold grand signing ceremonies for intended investments. In fact, investment is commercial rather than administrative, and decision-making is rational rather than emotional. Wherever there are tourists and the rule of law, there is investment. I hope that when entrepreneurs make decisions to enter a certain region, field, or track, they should pay more attention to whether there are upstream and downstream industrial chains, whether there are supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and whether there are high-quality human resources. I hope that a strong tourism group can proactively open up its technological system and industrial chain to empower small and micro enterprises, truly giving what entrepreneurs and innovators need instead of giving what they have surplus. This is what a large enterprise should be like. People will always be the most valuable resource in the tourism industry. Only by providing the necessary assistance to entrepreneurs and innovators at the beginning can the tourism industry enter a healthy and sustainable development track. If large enterprises try to harvest every leek by leveraging their scale and platform advantages, the tourism industry will eventually fall into the crisis of "a single tree cannot grow a forest", and large enterprises will also be backfired by their own strength. Consciously implementing the Global Civilization Initiative and building a world tourism community. To address long-term challenges, promote post pandemic tourism recovery and economic growth, it is necessary for the global tourism industry to unite, under the guidance of the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, practice the global civilization initiative, jointly promote the formation of ideological consensus, policy synergy, and innovative driving force for the development of tourism in the new era in the public and private sectors, accelerate the construction of a world tourism community, and allow people of different regions, skin colors, and civilizations to freely walk on this blue planet, prospering the world civilization garden. In the policy system of unleashing the potential of tourism consumption, promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry, and advancing cultural exchange and mutual learning, inbound tourism is an indispensable component. With a series of favorable policies such as visas, immigration, and aviation, inbound tourism is about to enter a new stage of accelerated recovery. Major tourism groups and special travel service providers need to leverage the new national tourism brand "Nihao, China! Hello, China, Accelerate the recovery of inbound tourism supply chain and product innovation. We should also make good use of the consumption potential and investment advantages of outbound tourism, and create more new communication mechanisms and cooperation platforms led by enterprises, operated by the market, and recognized by the world. Finally, on behalf of the China Tourism Research Institute, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the top 20 finalists of China Tourism Group in 2023! In order of headquarters location, they are: China Tourism Group, Overseas Chinese Town Group, First Travel Group, China Youth Travel Service Holdings, Haichang Group, Jinjiang International Group, Ctrip Group, Spring and Autumn Group, Fosun Tourism Culture Group, Huazhu Group, Tongcheng Travel Group, Zhejiang Tourism Investment Group, Hangzhou Business Travel Canal Group, Kaiyuan Tourism Group, Xiangyuan Holdings Group, Shandong Culture and Tourism Group, Hubei Culture and Tourism Group, Lingnan Group, Sichuan Tourism Investment Group, and Mingyu Industrial Group. Salute, the forefront of the national tourism industry!

Those who create history will eventually be remembered by history!

To build a world-class tourism group, promote high-quality development of the tourism industry, and move forward!

Editor in Chief | Xue Shiyi Proofreading | Yang Liqiong Layout Design | Tuan Tuan Source | China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Reproduction, please indicate the author and source