How to achieve a win-win situation in cultural tourism

Professor Yu Dan of Beijing Normal University says to create tourist attractions, just romantic landscapes and comfortable consumption are not enough. The experience must be enhanced by a brand. The brand should be unique, and not be copied. It is obvious that the brand needs to be inspired by the local culture and reflect deep local characteristics.

Minister of Culture Cai Wu says the integration of cultural industry and tourism industry will promote each other and have a huge social and economic benefit. A series of large-scale cultural performances, such as “Impression: Liu Sanjie” of Guilin, “Zen of Shaolin: Music ceremony” of Songshan Mountain in Henan, “Beijing Night” of Bejing, and “Eternal passion of Songcheng City” in Hangzhou, have reflected the market value in combination with the tourism market.

Taking Actions that Suits Local Circumstances:

People in China know the “Five Sacred Mountains,” “Five Lakes” landscape well, but seldom heard the “Five Towns.” In fact, since the Tang and Song dynasties, the “Five Towns” have been famous as the “Five Sacred Mountains.” In the last century, because of continuous wars, poor management and other reasons, the fame of “Five Towns” gradually declined. In 2001, the tourist departments of the five towns combined to set the “Five Towns Brand Project” by holding a series of cultural activities, setting up a program on the “Economic and Cultural Cooperation of Five Towns,” publishing a painting album of major scenery of the five towns and producing a television show. But the economic effect achieved is not ideal. At present, the cultural tourism of the five towns is still tepid.

The case of “Five Towns” shows that the development of cultural tourism should also pay attention to changes in operations. The combination of culture and tourism should give full play to local characteristics, and not rigidly adhere to a certain kind of culture. To develop cultural tourism, local circumstances should be taken into consideration. Researcher Yong Kuang at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences believes that in China's current tourism industry market, there is a trend toward passenger-oriented diversification. Tourism is divided into leisure, vacation, adventure, exploring the suburbs, exploring farms, and self-driving. However, the marketing, construction, and management of domestic scenic spots are generally lagging behind. The tourist attractions are of high quality, but no brand; with historical remains, but no culture; with tourism, but no market; with attractions, but no effect; with resources, but no development; and with facilities, but no support. He suggested that the combination of culture and tourism cannot be blindly copied. It should fit its specific time and place, and be taken step by step to set up the brand. The overall resources and planning of the area should be taken into consideration. Cultural tourism should integrate organically into the overall pattern of local economic and social development.

Avoiding Mistakes:

1. Developing cultural tourism is not equal to making up stories. In recent years, as living standards improved, people became no longer satisfied with a simple sightseeing tour. The internal demands of tourists has become for the enjoyment of natural scenery and pursuit of spiritual culture. Tourism has turned to cultural consumption. In this context, it has been realized that to promote the cultural tourism, the cultural taste should be enhanced. The quality and prospects of the tourism industry depend on the cultural depth reflected in the tourist production and services. Therefore, the enthusiasm to explore the depth of culture has been unprecedented. While in the process, some unexpected phenomena have appeared, no matter the fight about the celebrity’s hometown or making stories for the local scenery.

2. Pure Cultural Tourism Recently, it is reported that the Lushan Mountain Scenic Area plans to move the tens of thousands of residents living on the mountain down for the transformation of its tourism and market strategy. Tourism experts have expressed deep concern about this: on the end of last century, Gulangyu Island has performed the same pure tourism development strategy. With the movement of schools and residents, Gulangyu Island is accused of losing the cultural continuity. We are sorry to see the similar phenomenon in the Three Gorges. In the inundated area of small Three Gorges, there is an ancient town, Dachang Town, which is rebuilt by the country with the cost of millions of dollars in 1990s. The rebuilt Dachang Town, however, has turned to a real estate program to attract business, and all the residents have been moved out. In this way, a living ancient town has become a “dead town” without life and culture.

Conclusion:

At present, the development of cultural tourism has come into an important period of transition and strategic promotion. Exploring the depths of culture and upgrading society’s cultural taste is the inevitable choice in the transition to realize the differentiation, building brands and sustainable development. To achieve win-win conditions for the cultural industry and tourism, the only way is to follow the law of culture. Whether in developing tourist programs or designing tourist activities, the carrying capacity of cultural resources should be taken into consideration so that they can be reasonable and appropriate. Tourism relies on culture, but also nurtures culture. More financial and material resources should be invested in the protection and development of culture to promote the wonderful circle of tourism development and cultural protection.

Translated by Zhang Min