From June 12-13, the China Association of Travel Agencies (CAAPA) will hold the 2025 China Family Tourism Innovation and Development Forum at the Shanghai LEGOLAND Resort. Click here for details

Editor | Liu Kaiye

Source | China Tourism Academy

New Trends in Tourism Scenic Spots and Resorts

New changes on the demand side: Daily life, high personalization, and rational consumption in the choice of scenic spots and resorts

First, daily life. Tourism and leisure are accelerating into people's daily lives, making tourism no longer a highly ritualistic activity. People are paying more attention to the beautiful scenery around them and the beauty of daily life. Weekend and holiday trips that can be taken at a moment's notice and leisure anytime, anywhere are becoming increasingly common. From the suburbs to shopping malls, from theaters to vegetable markets, the daily life scenes of urban and rural residents have become new spaces for tourism and leisure. In the process of tourism, people need to appreciate the beauty of nature, understand the beauty of culture, and experience the beauty of life.

Second, high personalization. From "I decide my itinerary" to "I decide my experience," in the past, people went out to travel to see mountains, rivers, and scenery. Today, people are more willing to have a better life beyond the scenery. Whether it's a barbecue or a music festival, it will become a reason for people to visit a city and spend a weekend. In the past, where to travel or what projects to consume were largely determined by the media, advertising, and travel agencies. Today, young people born in the 1990s, don't even make plans, and traditional high-A-level scenic spots and traditional tourist cities are no longer their first choice. "Small towns in fourth- and fifth-tier cities," "unknown scenic spots," and "uninhabited wilderness" are attracting young people who pursue individuality with their unique charm.

Third, rational consumption. In recent years, warm and cold cities, small airport cities, and central towns have begun to enter the public tourism field, driven by reverse tourism, substitute tourism, and special forces tourism. More and more tourists are beginning to pursue the cost-effectiveness of projects, products, and services. During weekends and holidays, they often avoid popular scenic spots and go to cities such as Hegang, Yanji, Weifang, and Enshi, which are time and budget-friendly, to experience new scenarios and consumption projects with high cost-effectiveness.

New atmosphere on the supply side: Scenic spots and resorts adhere to the principle of using culture to shape tourism and tourism to highlight culture, continuously exploring unique cultural and tourism integration models.

From the perspective of cultural leadership, rich cultural experiences continuously enhance the core appeal of tourism scenic spots and resorts. The scope of cultural experience is very broad, including not only visiting historical buildings and cultural relics but also visiting museums, experiencing intangible cultural heritage activities, and watching performances, which can themselves become relatively independent attractions. With the improvement of people's living standards and the increase in travel opportunities, people's demand for cultural experiences during travel is becoming stronger, and the forms of participation in cultural experiences are becoming more diverse. Museums, historical and cultural cities, ancient towns and streets, live performances, concerts, and singing performances have become important attractions for many tourist destinations.

From the perspective of tourism showcasing and creation, scenic spots, as important spaces for the development of cultural undertakings and industries, continuously expand and extend the cultural market, such as art troupes launching innovative programs for tourists, actors performing in scenic spots, and art galleries and cultural centers arranging special exhibitions for tourists. Tourism scenic spots and resorts have become new spaces for a better life that are both close and far-reaching, and are shared by both locals and visitors. Citizen leisure and tourism are increasingly integrated.

New Trends in Tourism Scenic Spots and Resorts

Scenic spots and resorts enhance the vitality of the night economy. Tourism scenic spots and resorts are introducing more night leisure projects, and public cultural spaces such as museums, art galleries, cinemas, and theaters are extending their closing times. Whether it is historical and cultural streets, commercial complexes, night markets, or main public spaces such as streets, squares, and parks, they are consciously integrating cultural, technological, fashionable, and entertainment elements to continuously promote night scene iteration and product innovation.

Theme parks create new urban life experiences. "Micro-vacations" of two or three hours' drive and two or three days' duration are on the rise, making theme parks the first choice for leisure and entertainment for more and more tourists, thus satisfying the pursuit of exciting, novel, and personalized experiences. More and more people are shifting from pleasing others to pleasing themselves, not only deciding their own itineraries but also their own experiences. Over the past year, the Chinese theme park market has shown a trend of quality, diversification, and personalization. According to the "2023 Global Theme Parks and Museums Report" released by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), Disney ranked first with 142 million visitors, while the Chinese Fantasi Group jumped from fifth to second place in the global operator rankings with a growth rate of 111%. China occupies 7 places in the list of the top 25 global theme parks.

The popularity of research and study trips promotes the transformation and upgrading of scenic spot-type research and study camps. With the joint efforts of the government and the market, China has become a major country in the world for research and study tourism. Various museums, art galleries, science and technology museums, and other public cultural venues have also developed relevant courses for research and study groups, and have organized the reception of research and study teams from all over the country, initially forming a multi-level structure and multi-content dimension research and study base (camp) system from the national to the local level, from science to nature, and from humanities to society. The China Tourism Academy's "China Research and Study Tourism Development Report 2023-2024" shows that since 2023, the research and study tourism market has rapidly recovered. The phenomenon of "hot market, even hotter public opinion" reflects the strong market demand and the eager expectation for high-quality supply, and also gives new impetus to the transformation and upgrading of scenic spot-type research and study camps.

Ancient villages, towns, and cities have become important supports for regional tourism development. Tourism ancient towns are nostalgic memories in the process of modernization and cultural landmarks in an international perspective. They play the role of supporting multi-business spaces from urban leisure to rural vacations in the modern tourism system. Ancient town tourism has shifted from being mainly sightseeing to sightseeing, leisure, and vacation, and from focusing on the protection of architectural features and the inheritance of local culture to focusing on tourist sharing and community development. Ancient villages, towns, and cities have become important supports for regional tourism development, showing strong vitality and broad development prospects.

The ice and snow economic industry chain continues to extend, and the ice and snow tourism ecosystem continues to expand. According to a survey by the China Tourism Academy's snow and ice tourism research group, snow and ice tourism has become an important part of the good life for urban and rural residents; snow and ice tourism has broken the old spatial resource limitations of "snow and ice do not cross the Shanhai Pass," forming a new development pattern of "southward expansion, westward expansion, and eastward advance"; snow and ice tourism has driven "cold resources" to become a "hot economy," becoming a key area for expanding domestic demand and promoting consumption. The survey found that China has formed a product system of 15 major categories of snow and ice equipment and materials, covering the entire industrial chain from competitive events to tourism and leisure projects, including venue construction, snowmaking and ice-making equipment, supporting equipment, and the research, development, manufacturing, and maintenance of personal equipment.

Museums are increasingly becoming important tourist attractions. On the one hand, museums exist as an important force in cultural undertakings; on the other hand, the tourism and scenic area attributes of museums are constantly strengthening. Chinese museums have become important venues in the integration of culture and tourism, and are also important calling cards for expanding the international influence of the Chinese nation. In the context of mass tourism, museums have become an important tourism resource for tourists, and in terms of inheritance and innovation, museums play a leading role in the protection and utilization of cultural relics, the production and sales of cultural and creative products, and cultural dissemination.

Overall Investment Situation of Tourist Scenic Areas and Resorts

2024 is a period for consolidating and strengthening the rapid recovery and development of the culture and tourism market. Influenced by various favorable factors such as policies, supply, and publicity, the willingness of urban and rural residents to travel has surged, the tourism market is full of vitality, holiday consumption continues to heat up, the integration of culture and tourism is booming, and service supply is being upgraded. The overall expectation for the tourism economy in 2025 is even more optimistic, and the high-quality development of the tourism industry is steadily advancing. Investment enthusiasm remains unabated, and the scale of investment and financing in tourist scenic areas and resorts continues to expand; investment is becoming more rational, and investment in tourist scenic areas and resorts is tending towards "refined and beautiful"; investment targets are not broad enough, and capital is flowing more towards high-quality head resources; investment is concentrated in "transportation, food and accommodation, characteristic cultural tourism projects, and tourism informatization."

In addition, in the face of pressure and challenges, listed companies in the scenic area sector are actively innovating, enriching their products, and striving to enhance their core appeal, improve overall profitability, and optimize their revenue structure. The investment model is shifting from "cultural tourism +" to "+ cultural tourism," strengthening integration with other industries. For example, "agriculture + cultural tourism," "sports + cultural tourism," etc., creating more new consumption scenarios and formats. There will be a greater emphasis on light asset operation models, achieving optimal resource allocation and maximizing efficiency through the output of management, brands, and services.

Greater emphasis is placed on the construction of the cultural connotation of tourist scenic areas and resorts, enhancing tourists' sense of identity and memorable moments through tourism performances, situational performances, game interactions, and immersive experiences; attention is paid to product details and user-friendly design, emphasizing the creation of a comfortable, convenient, and safe resort environment, developing high-quality tourism products and services to meet the diverse, personalized, and high-quality needs of tourists.

Further optimize regional layout. In addition to resources in popular tourist cities and regions, areas with unique resources but not yet fully developed may receive more attention to achieve balanced development of the tourism market. Investment tends towards areas with convenient transportation and complete infrastructure to ensure the accessibility and attractiveness of scenic areas and resorts.

Greater emphasis is placed on cooperation and collaborative development. Cooperation between tourist scenic areas and resorts is strengthened, jointly creating competitive tourism and resort projects through resource sharing and complementary advantages; emphasis is placed on close cooperation with local governments and communities, fully considering local interests, promoting local economic development, and achieving a win-win situation.

Chinese Style and World Flair of Tourist Resorts

At the invitation of Fosun Tourism Culture, Pop Mart, Beijing Universal Studios, and other resorts, and the governments of Zhengzhou Zhongmu County, Luoyang Old City, and Shenzhen Futian District, Dean Dai Bin conducted field research on relevant projects and held exchange discussions, resulting in a special lecture on "Chinese Style and World Flair of Tourist Resorts." It points out that the construction of tourist resorts should take the deep integration of culture and tourism as the main line, inherit the genes of excellent traditional Chinese culture, create new scenarios for Eastern aesthetic life, and promote the prosperous development of the tourism industry in the new era with the cultural confidence of Chinese style and the industrial openness of world flair.

Tourist resorts have completed the transformation from administratively led functional area construction to market-driven brand cultivation. To date, there are 85 national-level tourist resorts, plus more than 600 provincial-level tourist resorts, resort projects in key tourist cities, and ring-city, ring-lake, and ring-mountain resort belts in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Sichuan and Chongqing, Guanzhong, Central Plains, and Yangtze River Midstream urban agglomerations, basically meeting the diverse types, levels, and durations of vacation needs of the general public.

The construction of tourist resorts should follow the path of classified guidance and graded construction. It is necessary to build "few but fine" national resorts, as well as "special and excellent" national and provincial resorts, and a large number of "small but beautiful" national resorts. With the completion of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the accumulation of national tourism experience, the optimization of the national holiday and commemorative day system, and the implementation of the paid leave system, the demand for vacations is increasing. Sightseeing, leisure, and vacations are market demands shown by the tourism economy at different stages of development, and it cannot be simply assumed that one is low-end and the other is high-end. To meet the new needs of the people for vacation tourism, it is necessary to bring vacation projects closer to urban and rural residents. Through the synergy of capital, technology, creativity, and entrepreneurship, through urban renewal and rural revitalization, a large number of "small but beautiful" projects, products, and services are introduced, making more urban and rural spaces good places for "micro-vacations," allowing more people to enjoy "evenings in the suburbs of Beijing," "weekends on the beaches of Beidaihe," and "holidays in Taihu Lake estates."

Promoting the expansion of domestic tourism and the revitalization of inbound tourism is the new mission and new driving force for the development of tourist resorts. China's development of the tourism resort market and the construction of tourist resorts cannot, and should not, replicate the development model of the Western resort industry. National conditions, markets, systems, and development stages do not allow it. A feasible approach is to sort out the cultural heritage and aesthetic orientation of "It is better to enjoy happiness with others than to enjoy it alone," "The benevolent find joy in mountains, the wise in water," and "Osmanthus in autumn, lotus flowers for ten miles," targeting the vast majority of the people, cultivating new spaces for a good life that are rich in levels, combine movement and stillness, and are shared by hosts and guests, in order to forge a uniquely Chinese model of tourism resort development. In the planning, construction, and operation of tourist resorts, attention should be paid not only to the creative inheritance and innovative development of excellent traditional culture, but also to the promotion of advanced socialist culture, enriching the experience content and consumption scenarios of tourist resorts.

Contributed by | Research Group of "China Tourism Scenic Area and Resort Development Report (2024-2025)"

From June 12-13, the China Association of Travel Agencies (CAAPA) will hold the 2025 China Family Tourism Innovation and Development Forum at the Shanghai LEGOLAND Resort. Click here for details