2019 Report on Digital Innovation and Development of Cultural and Tourism Integration in China

Guided by China tourism academy, sponsored by Shanxi provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and hosted by Shanxi Provincial Cultural Tourism Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., the “2019 digital tourism integration innovation and development conference (Shanxi)” was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Data Analysis Institute of China Tourism Academy has released the “2019 report on digital innovation and development of cultural and tourism integration in China”.

In 2019, digital tourism activities flourished in rich variety. Nearly ten provinces in China held special conferences on data cultural tourism, including not only Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and other eastern provinces, but also Chongqing, Yunnan, Qinghai and other central and western provinces. The China Tourism Research Academy has carried out a series of research focusing on the integration of 5G and cultural tourism, has held a BBS on the development of digital cultural tourism and has released a report on the development of China’s digital cultural tourism. Since this year, with the culture and tourism development improving in quality, and digital culture tourism getting hot, the questions of how to go further, more stable, more rational, the China Academy of Cultural Tourism and the Shanxi Tourism group have jointly researched and written the 《Cultural Tourism Integration: Digital Innovation Development Report 2019》.  It provides market and industry trend judgment and data support for the innovative development of cultural tourism integration.

The integrated digital innovation and development of culture and tourism has a considerable industrial basis and social consensus.  From cartoon games to online literature, from music to video, more and more digital cultural products have entered daily life, emerging a number of high-quality works such as Digital Palace Museum and Digital Dunhuang. In the past 20 years, digital innovation has become one of the important factors of tourism economic growth. In 1999, Ctrip was founded in Shanghai, afterwards, online travel like Elong, Tong Cheng, Qunaer, Tuniu, Nuimama, Hornet’s Nest, Tujia, etc, and other  related businesses, like Baidu, Ali, Tencent, Jingdong, Meituan, Telecom, Unicom, etc have crossovered successively into the tourist areas, pushing China to become a global leader in the field of mobile online travel services.

Cultural and tourism integration of digital innovation ushered in unprecedented historical opportunities. “The new normal needs new drivers, and digital economy can do a lot in this area.” In the second half of the rapid internet development of digital economy, the threshold of transform and upgrade of all industries will be lowered constantly, and the development of industrial Internet will enter the “fast lane”. The integration of cultural and tourism driven by digital innovation is not only the organic integration of information technology and cultural and tourism formats, but also an important part of the strategic thinking of cultural and tourism integration at the practical level. Driven by policy, market and technology, the enthusiasm of market players for integrated innovation of culture and tourism is effectively stimulated, and the integrated digital innovation and development of culture and tourism is expected to become the most widely applied sector of digital economy.

Digital economy is the fertile ground for digital innovation of culture and tourism industry. In recent years, digital economy has largely affected the lives of ordinary people, with survey data showing that about 40 percent of people carry little cash on a daily basis. Mobile apps related to tourism accommodation, culture and art are used as frequently as financial management, travel navigation, etc., second only to social networking, news, shopping, video, games and other high-frequency life software, which fully shows that there are a large number of culture and tourism enthusiasts and a wide range of participants. Nearly 70% of mature Internet users believe that digital economy will have an important impact on the cultural and tourism industry, eqivalent to the impact on the whole economy and society. The development of the digital culture and tourism industry should be considered in all the digital infrastructure, business, people’s livelihood, government affairs aspects.

To boost high-quality development of rural cultural tourism with digital innovation. About 50% of the respondents believe that digital tourism industry will become an important starting point for rural revitalization, and about 40% believe that digital tourism industry will have a positive impact on rural areas but only in certain areas. Innovative achievements such as “rural web celebrity landmark”, “taobao village”, “digital home stay facility”, “digital cultural tourism poverty alleviation” and “one-machine tour” have accumulated rich experience for the digital innovation of rural cultural tourism. We should further integrate cultural and tourism resources in rural areas by digital means, reinforce tourism resources and service quality, complement online and offline resources, and turn “web celebrity landmark” into “cultural and tourism holy land”.

Cultural and tourism integration of digital innovation bloom, iterate and upgrade. Digital convergence of cultural and tourism resources requires innovative product supply and high-quality cultural and tourism services. The use of artificial intelligence, 5G, Internet of things, VR and AR, cultural tourism platform, cultural tourism big data and other series of digital technologies will further tap the needs of cultural tourism in the mass market and force the iterative upgrading and expansion of digital cultural tourism services and products.

Source: Cultural Industries Monthly