Luo Shugang | Discussing the Development of Study Tour

On the morning of March 20th, the "China Study Tour Development Report · Shaoxing Release" event, jointly organized by China Tourism Research Institute, Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and Shaoxing Municipal People's Government, and hosted by Shaoxing Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, was held in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. Luo Shugang, Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Health Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the meeting via video link and made a special speech.

1、 The current trend of tourism development

Currently, there are three obvious trends in the tourism industry.

The first trend highlights the importance and urgency of the tourism industry in driving consumption. This can be seen from both current and long-term perspectives.

From the current perspective, China's economy is in a critical stage of stabilizing and recovering. The primary way to promote economic stabilization and recovery is to stimulate consumption. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, consumption had become the main driving force for China's economic growth, with final consumption expenditure accounting for over 50% of GDP. The just concluded "Two Sessions" proposed to vigorously implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand and prioritize the recovery and expansion of consumption. In the process of restoring and expanding consumption, the tourism industry is one of the most powerful and effective levers. One is that the tourism industry can quickly drive the recovery and expansion of service industry consumption. The tourism industry includes food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment, and is a leading industry in the service sector with strong comprehensive driving capabilities. During this year's New Year's Day and Spring Festival, the recovery of the tourism industry has driven the rapid recovery of industries such as transportation, hotels, commerce, and catering. The rapid growth of the tourism industry will drive the revitalization of the tourism equipment manufacturing industry. According to the World Tourism Organization, the development of tourism can drive the growth of 110 industries. Statistics show that tourism equipment manufacturing enterprises have entered an active state at the beginning of this year. The data also shows that investment in tourist attractions and investment in new construction and renovation projects of tourist destinations have entered an active period. All of these will promote the recovery and development of China's manufacturing industry. The rapid growth of the tourism industry will drive a large number of employment opportunities. In 2019, the total number of direct employment and employment driven by the tourism industry in China exceeded 80 million. Due to the impact of the epidemic in the past two years, the number of tourism employment has decreased significantly. According to a sampling survey data, 37% of the respondents in the tourism industry were not affected by unemployment, and 63% of the surveyed tourism industry had experienced unemployment. Since the beginning of this year, the employment situation in the tourism industry has begun to improve, with 91.8% of surveyed tourism practitioners currently in a state of employment. Due to the short recovery and rapid effectiveness of the tourism industry, various regions have prioritized the recovery and expansion of the tourism industry.

In the long run, the importance of the tourism industry is becoming increasingly prominent. During the 14th Five Year Plan period, many provinces have cultivated the tourism industry as a trillion level industry. I will list some provinces here, for example, Beijing has proposed to achieve a total tourism revenue of 900 billion yuan by 2025; Shandong proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1.88 trillion yuan by 2025; Jiangsu proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1.7 trillion yuan by 2025; Hubei proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1 trillion yuan by 2025; Hunan proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1.3 trillion yuan by 2025; Yunnan proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of over 2 trillion yuan by 2025; Guangxi proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1.1 trillion yuan by 2025; Fujian proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1.05 trillion yuan by 2025; Jilin proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1 trillion yuan by 2025; Shaanxi proposes to achieve a total tourism revenue of 1 trillion yuan by 2025. Some provinces have proposed indicators based on the proportion of GDP, such as Zhejiang proposing to account for 8%; Liaoning proposes to occupy 5%; Sichuan proposes to account for more than 5%. So many provinces have designated the trillion yuan industry as the tourism industry, which shows the importance and status of the tourism industry. This is both pressure and motivation for our tourism industry. We must seize this great opportunity and, with a sense of urgency, quickly restore and develop the tourism industry.

The second trend is the increasingly prominent advantage of integrating culture and tourism development. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: "Adhere to shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture with tourism, and promote the deep integration and development of culture and tourism." Currently, China's tourism industry is in a transitional period and is entering a climbing stage of improving quality. Improving the quality of the tourism industry fundamentally means shaping high-quality tourism with high-quality culture. High quality culture shapes high-quality tourism, and high-quality tourism showcases high-quality culture. It can be said that the integration of culture and tourism is both a necessary path for cultural and tourism development.

Here, let me give you an example. This year's Spring Festival, tourism in Xi'an has been extremely popular, and people are analyzing the reasons behind it. The reasons are multifaceted, but there is a consensus that the integration of culture and tourism has sparked the "fire" of tourism in Xi'an. Xi'an shapes tourism with traditional culture, and this shaping is not a single point, but a city. Xi'an has created the Chang'an Twelve Hour Theme Block, covering an area of over 24000 square meters, becoming China's first immersive block that restores the common life of the Tang Dynasty. Tourists can experience Tang Dynasty culture in a touchable, interactive, tasting, and experiential way here. Xi'an has created the Tang Dynasty Never Night City, which is 2100 meters long and 500 meters wide. It is the only large-scale Tang architectural complex pedestrian street in China with the background of the prosperous Tang culture. Xi'an has created the garden landscape and song and dance performances of the Tang Dynasty Furong Garden, the Tang style visual feast of the historical dance drama "Song of Everlasting Regret", and the leisure area of the Tang City Wall Ruins Park, among others. This is a city's cultural and tourism fusion creation. Going to Xi'an is not about visiting one or several scenic spots, but a cultural tour of the city. It can be said that without these cultural contents, there would be no popularity of tourism in Xi'an. This once again demonstrates that tourism is content oriented and culture oriented;

The third trend is that peripheral tourism is developing in the same direction as inter provincial and cross-border tourism. During the epidemic, surrounding tours were the main choice for tourism. Starting from New Year's Day and Spring Festival this year, cross provincial and cross-border tourism has started to gain momentum, immediately becoming popular and receiving widespread attention from the industry and media. It can be foreseen that cross provincial and cross-border tourism will experience rapid growth this year, and we should seize this opportunity to quickly restore the market for cross provincial and cross-border tourism. At the same time, we also need to continue building the surrounding tourism market. It should be noted that despite the explosive growth of inter provincial and cross-border tourism, peripheral tourism is still the mainstay. 80% of tourists who travel on New Year's Day and Spring Festival are those who travel within a radius of 300 kilometers. Before the epidemic, peripheral tourism accounted for about 70% of tourists. Why didn't people pay much attention to peripheral tourism at that time? Because the benefits are not as good as cross provincial and cross-border travel. During the epidemic, local tourism has been given more attention. People are increasingly realizing that peripheral tourism is a new growth pole for the tourism industry. Why? Because people's tourism concepts are changing, they have shifted from sightseeing to leisure vacations. There is no distinction between distance and leisure vacation, go wherever it is comfortable. Especially on weekends and short holidays, cross provincial and cross-border travel is time-consuming and laborious, and people tend to prefer to vacation in the surrounding areas. This is why peripheral tourism still has vitality after the normalization of epidemic prevention and control.

The key now is to improve the quality and upgrade the surrounding tours. The direction and goal of upgrading the quality of peripheral tourism is proposed by the central government: during the 14th Five Year Plan period, "build a number of world-class tourist attractions and resorts with rich cultural heritage, and create a number of national level tourism and leisure cities and blocks with distinctive cultural characteristics." These "two batches" tasks have been implemented, and peripheral tourism will be tasteful and of high quality, and will also promote the development of China's tourism industry to a new level of quality.

2、 Promote the sustainable and healthy development of study tours

The concept of study tours is very broad. Here, I will only talk about study tours in primary and secondary schools, because primary and secondary school students are the main body of current study tours. Research and study activities have long existed in China. The poet Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty once wrote, "What you get on paper is shallow, and if you know nothing, you must put it into practice." Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty once said, "Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles." Chairman Mao actively advocated for studying and traveling during his youth. In 1913, at the age of 20, Mao Zedong wrote in his "Lecture Hall Record": "Studying behind closed doors is useless. If you want to learn from all things in the world and the country, you will sweat nine gai and travel all over the four buildings." This expressed the idea of exploring the world. In the summer of 1917, Mao Zedong saw a report in the People's Daily about two students hiking across the country all the way to Dajianlu (now Kangding, Sichuan). Encouraged by him, he traveled to Hunan with his classmate and friend Xiao Zisheng. We have traveled through these five counties without spending a penny. The farmers have provided us with food and a place to sleep; wherever we go, we are welcomed and entertained. "Chairman Mao also said," Traveling is a great benefit! Climbing the peak of Zhurong, we can see the mountains and rivers; crossing the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, we can see the rivers and lakes in an instant; crossing the Xiaoxiang, West Lake, Kunlun Mountains, and famous mountains and rivers in the Zhou Dynasty, our hearts are broadened. On March 15, 1938, at the graduation ceremony of anti Japanese university students, Comrade Mao Zedong emphasized: "There are two types of books for learning: lectures with words are books, and everything in society is also a book - the 'wordless heavenly book'. This is all about the significance of studying and traveling.

Our country's schools have also had summer camps for a long time, which is also a type of study tour activity. But what truly constitutes study tours has been the rapid development since the reform and opening up, especially in the past decade. Nowadays, the penetration rate of study tours among primary and secondary school students is rapidly developing, and more and more schools are carrying out study tours. The market entities for study tours are also rapidly developing. Especially during the epidemic, the upward trend against the trend has shown a strong growth momentum. In 2019, the number of visitors increased to 4.8 million, and in 2021, it reached 4.94 million, exceeding the number before the epidemic. In 2022, the number of study tours exceeded 6 million, reaching a historical high. This situation is unique among other categories of tourism. It can be seen that there is a strong demand for study tours.

Under such circumstances, efforts should be made to maintain the sustained and healthy development of study tours. There are three questions I want to emphasize.

Firstly, further increase the coverage of study tours. In recent years, China's regulations on conducting study tours for primary and secondary school students have become increasingly clear. In 2013, the General Office of the State Council issued the "National Tourism and Leisure Outline (2013-2020)", which proposed to gradually promote study tours for primary and secondary school students. In 2014, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Several Opinions on Promoting the Reform and Development of the Tourism Industry", which for the first time explicitly included study tours in the daily education of primary and secondary school students. It proposed that "in accordance with the requirements of fully implementing quality education, study tours, summer camps, winter camps, etc. should be regarded as important carriers of patriotism, revolutionary tradition education, and national education for young people, and included in the daily moral, aesthetic, and physical education of primary and secondary school students. This will enhance students' understanding of nature and society, cultivate their sense of social responsibility and practical ability." In 2016, the Ministry of Education and 11 other departments issued the "Opinions on Promoting Study Tours for Primary and Secondary School Students", which required that study tours be included in school education and teaching plans, and proposed that "education administrative departments in various regions should strengthen guidance on study tours for primary and secondary schools. And help. Each primary and secondary school should incorporate study tours into their school education and teaching plans based on local conditions, and coordinate them with comprehensive practical activity courses to promote the organic integration of study tours and school curricula

I cited these documents to illustrate that firstly, study tours are increasingly valued by schools and parents, and secondly, the government's inclusion of study tours in compulsory education for primary and secondary schools is becoming more and more clear. The key now is to increase coverage and involve more primary and secondary school students. Because practice has proven that study tours are one of the best ways to improve students' practical abilities. The strength of primary and secondary school students in our country is exam preparation, while their weakness is practical experience. Making study tours a popular activity in primary and secondary schools will greatly enhance the practical abilities of students.

Secondly, we need to further strengthen the development and construction of research and learning products, and organize research and learning trips with "learning" as the center. The fundamental difference between study tour products and other tourism products is that they focus on "learning" rather than "action". Without "action", study tour cannot achieve the desired learning effect. But in the study tour, we should always grasp that "learning" is the center and the goal, and "action" is the way and the carrier. We should integrate learning with action and learning with travel. If we ignore "learning" and rely solely on "travel" to attract primary and secondary school students for study tours, it is a reversal of priorities and lacks vitality. Whether one has the ability to improve the level and quality of study tours mainly depends on whether they learn well while traveling well. The most common problem during study tours now is having too much time to travel but not enough time to learn. This is also a problem that we should make great efforts to solve. One is to pay attention to the specificity of study tour products. Study tours must be closely integrated with the courses learned by primary and secondary school students, closely integrated with their acceptance abilities, and closely integrated with their interests and hobbies. Without attention to this aspect, the specificity of study tours is lost. Secondly, study tours must demonstrate practicality. The essence of study tours is to allow primary and secondary school students to experience firsthand, not just to see and explore, but also to have opportunities for hands-on experience, brainstorming, speaking, and expression. This is the unique feature of study tours compared to other types of tourism, and also the distinctive advantage of study tours compared to classroom teaching.

Thirdly, relevant regulations should keep up with the development of the study tour market. Nowadays, study tours are flourishing in China, with travel agencies, educational institutions, consulting firms, and others competing to enter the study tour market. It should be noted that China's study tour market has just begun and is not sound. The study tour market has problems of uneven quality and high dispersion. The urgent task now is to maintain this good development momentum and ensure its healthy and sustainable development. As a government department, we should attach great importance to the regulation of the study tour market. Firstly, there must be standards. Standards determine quality, there are standards that determine quality, and only high standards lead to high quality. Currently, the supervision of the study tour market in China is inadequate, fundamentally due to a lack of standards. We need to establish admission standards, qualification standards, product standards, operation standards, content standards, etc. for study tours. With standards in place, strict supervision should be carried out based on the standards. At the same time, we must accelerate the construction of a comprehensive system for study tours. Study tour is a complete system and industry chain, including study bases, study routes, study teachers, study courses, and study safety. These five elements constitute the complete chain of study tours. Now, each of our elements is not cultivated enough, and the five major elements cannot form an organic whole. This is all the focus of our efforts.