The "15th Five-Year Plan" period is the first new five-year period after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and it is also a crucial five years for achieving the long-term goals by 2035. In this new era of development, the tourism industry shoulders new historical missions and tasks. Over 40 years of tourism development in China, under the correct guidance of the Party and the state, the tourism industry has achieved tremendous development. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to tourism work and has made a series of important expositions on it, profoundly revealing the five basic characteristics, three major principles, five mission tasks, and the "five major relationships" that need to be coordinated and handled well in China's distinctive tourism industry. He has clarified the development goal of building a strong tourism nation and pointed out the direction for China's unique path of tourism development. This serves as a powerful ideological guide and fundamental principle for China's tourism development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and beyond. Standing at a new stage, the tourism industry must solve new problems, seek new breakthroughs, and plan for new developments before it can move forward successfully and healthily in the future development cycle of the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, truly playing its strategic role as a pillar industry and a happiness industry that serves a better life for the people and promotes economic and social development. Standing at a new stage, the tourism industry must solve new problems, seek new breakthroughs, and plan for new developments.

Innovation is the Way Forward for High-Quality Development of Tourist Attractions

Looking back at the path of tourism development, innovation has been a core element throughout China's tourism development process. This is determined not only by the industry characteristics of tourism being "new, unique, and special" but more importantly by the desire of the vast number of tourists for a better travel experience.

From the perspective of tourism consumer demand, tourism has undergone a transformation from group tours to independent travel to customized tours, from sightseeing to experiential to leisure and vacation travel, from multi-city tours to in-depth single-destination tours, and from single attractions to broader tourism circles and diverse personalized experiences. The continuous changes in tourism consumer demand require tourism supply to constantly innovate. Innovation is the inexhaustible driving force for the sustainable development of tourist attractions. Especially now, "travelers define the tourism industry," and the competitiveness of tourism enterprises increasingly depends on their ability to discover and create new demands.

From the perspective of the current development of tourist attractions, the number of A-level tourist attractions in China has now exceeded 15,700. Adding various local amusement parks, ecological parks, agricultural parks, zoos/botanical gardens, and distinctive villages, characteristic commercial streets, and other tourism spaces, the average number of attractions in a single county or urban district is more than 10. For a long time, a large number of attractions in China have had a single revenue structure, with a high and persistent reliance on ticket sales. As the concepts of "all-for-one tourism" and "tourism complex" become increasingly popular, the revenue model of traditional attractions faces significant challenges, and there is an urgent need for innovative development models to improve quality and efficiency.

Looking at the future development of tourism, after more than 40 years of innovative exploration, we have successfully forged a unique path for China's tourism development. There is no ready-made model to refer to or learn from for the high-quality development path of a strong tourism nation. On the path of practicing a livelihood industry and a happiness industry, tourism professionals need to continuously innovate in theory and practice to solve problems encountered in development.

Adhering to the Dialectical Unity of Maintaining Integrity and Innovation

General Secretary Xi Jinping elaborated on three major principles that must be upheld in tourism work: maintaining integrity and innovation, improving quality and efficiency, and integrated development. As the first of these three major principles, maintaining integrity and innovation plays a guiding role; improving quality and efficiency and integrated development need to be achieved through innovative technologies, methods, and pathways. Maintaining integrity prevents losing direction and making disruptive mistakes, while innovation allows us to grasp the times and stimulate vitality. Therefore, we must first clarify the direction and resolve for innovation.

Maintaining integrity means upholding the principle of serving a better life, promoting economic development, building a spiritual homeland, showcasing China's image, and enhancing mutual learning among civilizations. The historical mission and tasks of tourism must be taken as the foundation for innovative tourism development, continuously promoting tourism to become an important basis and effective support for satisfying people's aspiration for a better life while practicing the happiness industry and livelihood industry; in industrial development, it should leverage and drive, providing continuous impetus for stimulating economic growth and promoting consumption; in the practice of cultural and tourism integration, it should satisfy the people's ever-growing spiritual and cultural needs and enhance their spiritual strength; it should serve as a crucial means for cultural output and ideological dissemination, showcasing a positive image of China; and it should contribute to the formation of a diverse and interactive pattern of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, continuously promoting mutual learning and exchange among civilizations.

Suggestions for Innovative Development of Tourist Attractions during the 15th Five-Year Plan Period

First, adhere to a people-centered approach, focusing on tourist needs. "The people's aspiration for a better life is our goal to strive for." This fundamental stance requires us to do everything possible to improve tourist satisfaction. The popularity of Zibo, Harbin, and Tianshui is all due to their emphasis on tourist needs, showcasing the cities' friendliness and sincerity to visitors. In an era where "travelers define the tourism industry," it is imperative to establish a sound market research mechanism and a rapid response mechanism. Through big data and tourist feedback, we must understand the needs of tourists from different groups and regions, and accordingly develop new products and models to meet their diverse needs.

Second, leverage the tourism multiplier effect to boost economic growth. First, promote the upgrading, transformation, and optimized revitalization of existing resources. In a situation where demand is rapidly escalating and market existing resources are relatively saturated, the upgrading and transformation of existing resources become the basic investment. Accelerating the renewal and transformation of old attractions, upgrading scenarios, improving quality and efficiency, and innovating business models, etc., are conducive to promoting cultural and tourism consumption. The Bear Cave Street project created by Dalian Botao using an old factory site, and the MSG Sphere launched in the old town renovation of Las Vegas, USA, which attracted worldwide attention, are benchmark examples of revitalizing existing assets. Second, build a modern tourism industry ecosystem. For tourism to grow and strengthen into a strategic supporting industry, it needs to extend its industry chain upstream and downstream, and strengthen and expand the tourism industry chain to form a competitive synergy and jointly promote industrial development. Third, deeply explore the consumption potential of the night economy. According to the "Urban Residents' Consumption Habits Survey Report" released by the Ministry of Commerce, 60% of consumption in China occurs at night, and the market size of the "night economy" has exceeded 50.25 trillion yuan. Night tourism, as an important way to satisfy people's yearning for a better life, stimulate tourism consumption, promote supply-side structural reform, and enrich in-depth cultural experiences, represents new potential demand and new supply momentum for the integrated development of culture and tourism, and will provide new impetus for the sustained and healthy development of the tourism economy.

Currently, we observe that large-scale heavy asset investments in tourist attractions and resorts are slowing down, and the tourism industry has entered a stage of existing asset operation. In the process of promoting and nurturing world-class, national-level, and provincial-level attractions and resorts to improve quality and efficiency, it is necessary to enhance their high-quality development level through strengthening foundations, renewing, and innovative transformation. In this process, the China Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (CAAPA) can further leverage its industrial platform effectiveness. As a domestic industrial platform for tourism, leisure, and entertainment, CAAPA possesses resources to integrate large domestic and international cultural groups, cultural tourism groups, manufacturers of amusement facilities and equipment, cultural performances, film and television animation, cultural tourism planning, design, construction, and other industry chain resources. It plays an important role in cultural tourism creative planning, IP planning and empowerment, and the application and upgrading of amusement equipment, facilities, and technologies. CAAPA is actively participating in the transformation and upgrading of existing resources such as China's tourist attractions and resorts, and it will certainly and inevitably play a crucial role in improving the quality, efficiency, and innovative transformation of tourism resources, as well as in the "strengthening foundations and renewing" efforts for our tourism industry during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

Third, apply diverse technological means to deepen the integration of culture and tourism. Promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism is a major decision and deployment made by the Party Central Committee. Through exploration in recent years, by applying diverse means such as digital technology, artificial intelligence, and immersive experiences, many places across the country have explored innovative models for deep intertwining of culture and tourism, injecting strong impetus into the industry's development.

To date, in areas such as domestic theme parks, indoor amusement parks, science museums, theme exhibition halls, and tourist attractions, technology-based amusement projects account for 35%-85% of experiential projects. Multimedia immersive experiences, represented by creativity, modernization, cultural richness, and interactive participation, are the main direction for future technological reserves and innovation. These technological means, combined with IPs and local culture, are widely acclaimed by tourists. From the Digital Forbidden City and Digital Dunhuang to various museums, the empowerment of various technological means such as holographic projection, artificial intelligence, digital performance, and smart operations continuously enhances the depth and breadth of cultural and tourism integration. Practice shows that advanced technological means are the core engine for integrated innovation in the cultural tourism industry. In the future, continuing to deepen the "culture + technology" strategy will allow traditional resources to radiate contemporary charm and write more vivid cultural tourism chapters!

Fourth, focus on creating emotional value and telling good stories about scenic spots. Compared to traditional cultural tourism, more and more tourists now travel long distances to a city, which could be for a meal, a game, pinning a flower, or listening to a song. Behind cultural tourism products like Guizhou Village BA, Harbin Ice and Snow World, and Aranya, what's reflected is the evolving nature of tourist destinations. Emotional tourism is redefining the supply and demand relationship in the cultural tourism market. The shift from "material-level" satisfaction to "spiritual-level" pursuits has made the creation of emotional value a productive force in cultural tourism.

The core of creating emotional value lies in unique content experiences that resonate with tourists. Deep exploration and interpretation of local culture, vivid recreation of specific scenes, sublimation of special meanings and emotions, and service expressions of warmth and friendliness can all become emotional value points. Scenic spots should unearth their unique charm and stories, especially during the renovation and upgrading process, by proactively identifying and embedding value points, planning and constructing products and scenes well, and strategizing activities and services to create cultural tourism products with strong emotional value.

Fifth, deepen exchanges and cooperation to showcase the image of a beautiful China. Tourism plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the harmonious coexistence of civilizations, exchanges, and mutual learning. We must further deepen international cooperation in the cultural tourism sector, explore new models of cultural tourism cooperation, strive to achieve effective integration of international resources and dissemination, and form a diverse and interactive pattern of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

2025 China (Beijing) International Amusement Facilities & Equipment Expo

For many years, the China Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (CAAPA) has been actively building and participating in international exchange and cooperation platforms. At the world's largest IAAPA Expo held in Orlando, USA in November 2024, approximately 140 Chinese exhibitors participated, promoting the export of Chinese equipment and facilities. Our products have been exported to over 30 countries and regions worldwide. Simultaneously, each international expo organized by CAAPA also attracts numerous internationally renowned enterprise brands. For instance, at the CAAPA International Expo held in Beijing this March, over 40 international travel and equipment brands, as well as well-known international tourism associations and organizations, sent delegations to participate in our international expo. Throughout this process, we continuously showcase the development of China's cultural tourism industry, promote international exchanges in cultural tourism technology, equipment, and culture, and foster mutual learning among civilizations. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, we will continue to promote China's tourism internationally, deepen the construction of international exchange platforms, and facilitate exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign tourism in areas such as technology, creativity, and planning.

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