China's tourism industry shows innovation, strong vitality

Photo shows the picturesque Baili Watertown in Xibaipo, north China's Hebei Province. (Photo/Wang Xing)

China has seen continuous innovation and strong vitality in the tourism industry, as evidenced by technologies, business integration, diverse scenarios, and optimized services.

Recently, the China Tourism Association (CTA) held a seminar on new quality productive forces in tourism at Baili Watertown in Xibaipo, north China's Hebei Province. Experts, scholars, and business representatives from the tourism sector gathered to discuss new paths for high-quality development of tourism driven by new quality productive forces, focusing on areas including rural tourism, homestays, and educational tours.

China's "No. 1 central document" for 2025 said the country will advance the deep integration of rural culture and tourism, initiate pilot projects to empower rural revitalization through cultural industries, and make rural tourism more distinctive and standard with higher quality.

Baili Watertown, located in the hinterland of the revolutionary base of Xibaipo, was once a poverty-stricken village. Today, its forest coverage exceeds 85 percent. Leveraging its lush mountains, clear waters, and revolutionary culture, Baili Watertown has transformed into a national model for the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism, offering ecological leisure, educational tours on revolutionary culture, cultural experiences, distinctive homestays, conferences, outdoor sports, and wellness activities.

Liu Jiangmin, president of the CTA's leisure agriculture and rural tourism branch, stated that with greater potential, rural tourism has become a powerful engine for boosting rural industries.

He Hui, who is responsible for the rural tourism project of Douyin Group's corporate social responsibility department, said that over the past two years the group has partnered with cultural and tourism departments across various regions to launch a program of promoting the digital transformation of rural tourism. This has improved rural tourism products and services, further giving play to rural tourism's important role in building digital villages and advancing all-around rural revitalization.

File photo shows a seaweed homestay in Rongcheng, east China's Shandong Province.

Douyin has become one of the leading content platforms showcasing rural tourism resources, products, and routes. According to a 2024 report on rural tourism by Douyin, 1.09 billion pieces of content about rural areas were added on Douyin over the past year, garnering nearly 2.8 trillion views, attracting 19.9 million rural tourists to make bookings through Douyin, and helping 20,000 rural businesses related to the tourism sector increase revenue by over 4.7 billion yuan ($649.36 million).

With the booming development of leisure and vacation tourism, homestays have become a standout segment in the tourism market. Data from Tujia, a homestay booking platform, shows that homestay bookings in popular cities increased by 20 percent year on year during the Spring Festival.

Homestays have become places for showcasing local culture and new leisure spaces. Many regions now offer interactive intangible cultural heritage experiences at homestays, allowing tourists to transition from observers to immersive participants.

Zhang Xiaojun, president of the CTA's homestay inn and boutique hotel branch, called for promoting the digital, intelligent, green and international development of the homestay sector.

A performance of traditional fish-shaped lanterns attracts crowds of tourists during the Spring Festival in Shexian county, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo courtesy of Douyin)

Zhang suggested promoting business integration, exploring cultural elements and creating themed homestays to advance the innovative development of the homestay industry.

During this year's winter vacation, China's tourism market saw strong demand for educational tours, with the integration of educational tours with traditional culture, natural science popularization, and winter sports becoming a hotspot for tourism consumption.

Wei Bade, president of the CTA's educational tour branch, called for promoting the development of educational tours through technological innovation. Artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance the design of courses on education tours, the planning of most suitable educational tour routes, and the launch of customized content based on students' learning needs and interests, Wei added. AI can also enhance visitor experiences through virtual reality, augmented reality and other technologies.