How internet-famous cities remain popular amid tides of cultural tourism

जन आस्था

फागुन ३०, २०८०

During the eight-day Spring Festival holiday this year, China saw 474 million domestic tourist trips, a year-on-year increase of 34.3%, with domestic tourism revenue reaching 632.687 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%. Both numbers set new historical highs.

With cultural tourism on the rise, cities are putting in much effort to show their unique qualities. How to facilitate the sustainable development of the tourism industry also triggered heat discussion.

Wang Shuang, the chairman of Millennium City Park (also called Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden), introduced that the park was inspired by the famous Northern Song Dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival." They recreated the bustling scenes of the Northern Song Dynasty's capital, Dongjing(today's Kaifeng city, mid-China's Henan province), on a 1:1 scale. "Employees are dressed in Song Dynasty attire, making tourists feel like they've traveled back to the ancient time."

Wang highlighted that building a city's cultural tourism IP requires efforts from all sides. "Millennium City Park operates as a mixed-ownership enterprise with private ownership at the helm. The company develops its projects with government guidance and utilizes its market expertise to organize various promotional campaigns."

Ma Qingjun, deputy director of the Dongcheng District Bureau of Culture and Tourism of Beijing Municipality, introduced that this year, Dongcheng district launched the "The Heart of Beijing" brand, hosting 262 Spring Festival-themed cultural activities to celebrate the Spring Festival. The number of tourists received and tourism revenue during the Spring Festival increased by 141% and 53% year-on-year, respectively.

In recent years, Dongcheng district's culture and tourism sector has been exploring trendsetting forms, such as producing variety shows and launching red tourism routes. "Dongcheng District is rich in cultural resources. As culture and tourism workers, we must have a sense of historical mission to inherit, promote, and disseminate these resources to the public," said Ma.

Ma believed that each city has its own characteristics, so culture and tourism promotion should still focus on the city's unique traits, positioning, and market trends. "We cannot copy others without thinking through," added Ma.

Yan Jingming, vice-chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, suggested that local culture and tourism departments seize the new consumption trends by creating exhibitions, theme parks, and hotels based on literature IP. This would meet the preferences of the younger generation for unique, immersive experiences. "By assisting in innovation and upgrading, these cultural tourism projects will realize more economic benefits and social value," said Yan.