Dai Bin | Empowering Tourism with Ideas and Cultivating Markets for Culture - Several Theoretical Issues on the Deep Integration of Culture and Tourism

At the invitation of Editor in Chief Zhang Hongmei, Dean Dai Bin went to Shanghai on June 3 to attend the 2023 conference of Tourism Science and delivered a keynote speech titled "Empowering Tourism with Ideas and Cultivating the Market for Culture - Several Theoretical Issues on the Deep Integration of Culture and Tourism". The full text is shared below. Persisting in shaping tourism with culture and promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism through tourism is a strategic deployment made at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and it is also a question of the times that the academic community must answer and answer well. Each participant should not be satisfied with publishing a few academic papers, two monographs, writing a few excerpts, or receiving a few comments. Instead, they should truly seek the "big picture of the country" and the "concerns of the people", and focus on building a contemporary tourism development theoretical system centered on the people. Starting from the people-oriented nature of mass tourism, the modernization of smart tourism, the sense of future of green tourism, and the worldview of civilized tourism, we systematically study major practical issues such as why, what, and how to deeply integrate culture and tourism, and strive to build a tourism discipline system, academic system, and discourse system with Chinese characteristics. In the 1980s, we began to develop an inbound oriented and foreign exchange oriented tourism industry. The market is ready. Developed countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese have such a strong desire to come to Chinese Mainland and mainland China to have a look. They can almost enjoy the dividends of opening up. The strategic determination to develop tourism is given by the central government, and the tourism system mainly implements it. Comrade Deng Xiaoping met with Mr. Xavier, Chairman of Pan American Airlines, in 1979 and said to the responsible officials of the civil aviation and tourism departments present that the tourism industry should be emphasized and accelerated. In July of that year, Comrade Deng Xiaoping delivered the famous "Mount Huangshan Talk" in Mount Huangshan. It can be said that the development of the tourism industry was closely linked to national strategies from the very beginning. In the above context, Mr. Sun Shangqing from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences led the team and concentrated the efforts of academia and government departments to complete the first National Social Science Fund project in the tourism field with high quality, proposing a development strategy of "government led and moderately advanced". The tourism industry first showed its vulnerability in 1989, and although it has since recovered, the 'golden decade' has passed. In 1998, the "Asian financial crisis" put an end to the era of inbound tourism, and the glory of that era could never come back. Along with it is the traditional paradigm of theoretical research: the central government sets the tone for development, the theoretical community plans a roadmap and timetable, transforms documents into national will, and the government mobilizes social forces to implement them. In October 1999, the "National Day Golden Week" marked the beginning of the era of mass tourism based on national consumption, and the past two decades have been in the primary stage of this era. From a practical perspective, this stage has two characteristics: one is the demand perspective, which is characterized by a large base, stable growth, and low consumption. In 2019, the domestic tourism market had exceeded 6 billion people, but the per capita tourism consumption was less than 1000 yuan per trip, and the per capita travel time was less than 8 days. Another perspective is from the supply side, with the "five together" of central, local, collective, private, and foreign investment, coupled with the "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" in recent years, the scale of tourism market entities has expanded unprecedentedly, with 43800 registered travel agencies and over 700000 licensed tour guides. Overall, the competitiveness and innovation of enterprises, especially their ability to resist risks and achieve sustainable development, are still weak. This epidemic has exposed many problems. If we don't do it well, we may fall into the 'primary stage trap of mass tourism'. In April 2018, with the establishment of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, "poetry and distant places" came together, and the integration of culture and tourism became a hot topic on the internet. For a time, the media, experts, scholars, and various sectors of society have expressed their opinions and views. Note that I am referring to "viewpoints and opinions" rather than "theories", such as "why poetry and distant places should be together", "how to be together", "what to do together" and other academic questions, which have not been deeply explored. It seems that after watching fairy tale dramas such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Frog Prince", "the prince and princess lived a happy life", but economics is not a fairy tale! Looking back at the past five years, online text has mostly been the voice of online writers and industry experts. What about scholars? Intentionally or unintentionally absent. Intentional "refers to maintaining a necessary distance between academic research and current hot topics. Scholars can use mass media to spread their views, but they cannot all go after internet celebrities. Unintentional "refers to the academic community's tendency towards publishing papers, self elitism, and a lack of channels for dialogue between the political and business sectors, as well as resources for theoretical construction and the confidence to engage in interactive dialogue. For a period of time, opinions have replaced viewpoints, viewpoints have replaced propositions, propositions have replaced theories, writers have become experts, and experts speak to the industry as scholars and theorists. The construction of standardized and rigorous theories has become a fame and fortune field dominated by public opinion. Whether it is traditional media or self media, when there are hot topics, they rush forward, and new hot topics come and go. Things are changing, and theory will eventually return to the proper track of interaction with practice. I am tired of writing, and in the quiet of the night, I really enjoy reading Mr. Feng Zikai's painting "After the people disperse, a new moon rises like water". It is not the sadness of prosperity eventually fading away, but the joy of excitement dissipating and learning taking place. In the spring of 2018, the China Tourism Research Institute organized specialized forces to write three special reports titled "A Better Life is the Common Goal of Cultural Construction and Tourism Development", "Market Entities are the Breakthrough of Cultural and Tourism Integration Development", and "Big Data is the Bottom Device of Cultural and Tourism Integration Development", which preliminarily answered the basic theoretical questions of "why, who to rely on, and what to do" in the integrated development of culture and tourism. Along this direction, in the past two years, we have answered some practical questions in the process of integrated development and achieved some research results through such internal journals as Tourism Internal Reference (including special report), Chinese Culture and Tourism Big Data, China Tourism Review, WeChat official account, service account and other platforms, as well as special topics, speeches, meetings, interviews and other channels. It seems that it is not systematic and in-depth enough, especially in implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, insisting on using culture to shape tourism and tourism to enhance culture, and promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism. However, there is still a lack of understanding and implementation. In terms of the theoretical and philosophical principles required to tell the story of China's integrated development of culture and tourism, and in international tourism exchange and cooperation, more efforts are needed to better implement the global civilization initiative and promote the construction of the world tourism community. On May 19, 2021, I first proposed the concept of moderately prosperous tourism in Taizhou, Zhejiang, and put forward the viewpoint of "crossing the trap of the primary stage of mass tourism and moving towards a new stage of high-quality development of moderately prosperous tourism". Afterwards, he successively delivered public speeches such as "Dream of a Moderately Prosperous Tourism City," "Dream of a Moderately Prosperous Tourism Scenic Area," "Dream of a Moderately Prosperous Tourism Block," and "Dream of Moderately Prosperous Tourism Education. In April 2022, the proposition of safeguarding the tourism rights of rural residents and promoting spiritual common prosperity was proposed in Jiaxing City. At present, it seems that it cannot be considered a theory, but rather a preliminary conclusion based on observations and reflections on the tourism market and industry practices. Further theoretical and systematic studies are needed. Academic research and theoretical construction need to clarify the connotation of well-off tourism, how to establish guiding ideology, and how the integrated development of culture and tourism links the two major historical stages of mass tourism and well-off tourism. The construction process of contemporary tourism development theory is also closely interactive with the development practice of the tourism industry, promoting the high-quality development of the tourism industry through ideological empowerment and value guidance. Academic research should be able to provide an explanatory framework for the development process and current situation of contemporary tourism, as well as dare and be good at proposing future development directions and putting them into action as much as possible. Strengthening theoretical construction and practical guidance capabilities, mastering the masses through theory, and promoting innovative development of the tourism industry, while also consciously accepting practical tests. Looking back at the development history of the China Tourism Research Institute and academic community over the years, the reason why we have been able to obtain research results recognized by systems, regions, and industries such as tourism economic operation analysis and warning, tourist satisfaction surveys, night tourism, study tours, summer tourism, and ice and snow tourism fundamentally lies in our commitment to being thinkers in the era of mass tourism, companions in the tourism industry, and constructors of tourism development theories. Under the leadership of the former National Tourism Administration and the Party Group of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, we strive to become an independent force in promoting the development of the national tourism industry and international exchange and cooperation. This is a worthwhile path to take, but it is not easy to walk, let alone succeed. Theoretical builders should and can become high-level tourism research teams, producing both standardized academic achievements and high-level intellectual output. The current academic research and theoretical construction teams are mostly highly educated talents trained by universities and research institutes, but our value orientation and achievement measurement standards are different from those of universities and research institutes. Traditional academic achievements in tourism are often carried out through monographs, papers, and textbooks, with a focus on explaining the world. Scholars and researchers aim to become famous. The research on tourism theory and the construction of think tanks are presented in the form of internal references, specialized reports, data, internal discussions, and public speeches, with the aim of promoting the realization of national tourism rights and the high-quality development of the industry. In this system, scholars and researchers may become famous, but more often than not, they need to hide their names, empower tourism with ideas, and cultivate cultural markets. This is an inevitable requirement for the prosperity and development of philosophy and social sciences in the new era, as well as the value orientation of the construction of the tourism discipline system, academic system, and discourse system, which cannot be ignored. Theoretical builders should and can also become high-quality tourism promotion teams, spreading the theoretical achievements of cultural and tourism integration to both peers and the industry. Some relatively mature stage achievements need to be consciously published and disseminated, consciously subjected to theoretical and practical testing, and continuously enriched and improved. In the selection of publishing venues and platforms, one cannot isolate oneself in the small circle of traditional academia. Standardized and rigorous academic papers can be submitted to academic journals such as Tourism Journal and Tourism Science, as well as Economic Research and Literary Research. Some innovative theoretical articles can also be submitted to party theoretical publications such as People's Forum, Academic Frontier, Frontline, and China Tourism Review aimed at the tourism industry. Research reports that are not suitable for public publication can be submitted to decision-making and application agencies through "Tourism Reference", "Tourism Reference Special Report", and "Chinese Culture and Tourism Big Data". Theoretical builders should and can become high-quality tourism work teams, implementing the work deployment of the Party group and independently carrying out innovative projects for the future. The high-level theoretical achievements in the field of philosophy and social sciences have never been confined to the study, but have been achieved through practical experience in the market and production. The level of theoretical achievements created is not entirely judged by peers after submitting the final report, but rather verified through practical testing and preserved through historical accumulation. Yuan Longping, the meritorious scientist of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" program, the "Father of Hybrid Rice", Tu Youyou, the inventor of artemisinin, and Yang Zao and Han Chun, the first couple to obtain a "Chinese Green Card", all wrote their papers on the land of their motherland and applied their scientific research achievements to the process of socialist modernization construction. The academic research and theoretical construction in the field of tourism have never been, and will never be, aimed at personal success. Instead, they will focus on solving major issues and difficult problems in the national tourism development process through collective research and organizational methods. Otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve great success. Theoretical construction and production practice are of course two fields with division of labor, and with division of labor comes specialization, which is a natural thing. With the deepening of social and professional division of labor, scientific research and theoretical work can deepen understanding, produce theories, and overflow knowledge in increasingly segmented fields. But this is not an excuse for us to "hide in a small building and become unified, regardless of spring, summer, autumn, or winter". We cannot always talk about "how to do it theoretically", let alone simplify theory into research results published by Western scholars in academic journals. Instead, we should first see ourselves as frontline workers in practice. In 2015, the China Tourism Research Institute launched the "Tourism Thinker" project. Why is it aimed at entrepreneurs? Why write award speeches in classical Chinese? It is because we want to use the research platform of national brands and solemn and elegant language to establish a monument and biography for entrepreneurs who are willing and able to fight for national tourism rights, so that millions of tourism practitioners can enjoy professional dignity. Specifically, it is to promote the practice of ideas through practical thinking. We have also launched the "Parent Child Cultural and Tourism Laboratory" project with Daye Comic Wonderful Company. Why did tourism research institutions choose an anime company as a partner? It is because we want creators in the cultural field to see the consumption potential of the tourism market, and investors in the cultural industry to see the broad prospects of long-term returns. Over time, cooperation and continuous interaction between institutions and companies may fully cultivate a Chinese version of Sesame Street, becoming a classic project for the integration of culture and tourism development. These works may not be considered academic papers or included in a certain level of scientific research projects, but it is precisely these conferences, projects, and works closely integrated with the market that allow us to find the practical possibility of cultural and tourism integration development. Only by doing these tasks can we truly recognize and inspire more peers to consciously practice the principle of 'the greatness of literature is for the country and the people', and learning is no exception. 03 Actively explore new paradigms for philosophical and social science research in the new era that are recognized by the government, academia, and industry satisfaction, as well as new models for the construction of tourism think tanks. The Party and the state attach great importance to philosophical and social science research and think tank construction work. On November 30, 2014, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of New Type Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics". In November 9, 2015, the 18th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Reform passed the "Pilot Work Plan for the Construction of National High end Think Tanks". The new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics is different from the spokespersons of specific interest groups in Western countries, nor is it a strategist in feudal society who seeks power for emperors, generals, and ministers, nor is it a mentor or follower. Instead, under the leadership of the Party, it must adhere to the people-centered approach, serve the two centenary Chinese dreams, and provide high-level political and advisory results. At the same time, it is necessary to effectively guide public opinion, tap into the wisdom of the people, and tell the story of China in the new era well. As a research institute and data center directly under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, it is of course an organic part of a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics, including the research and development of major national social science projects that have received funding, and must adhere to and consciously serve the strategic deployment of the central government on cultural construction and tourism development. Philosophy and social science research cannot be separated from the support of positions, viewpoints, and methods, and tourism theory is no exception. We must adhere to the absolute leadership of the Party in the research of philosophy and social sciences, rather than studying whatever we want, publishing whatever we want, or even leading the way