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(1) A Thriving Market, Policy Dividends, and Industrial Innovation Boost Cultural and Tourism Investment

According to comprehensive calculations, in the first quarter of 2025, the comprehensive index of cultural and tourism industry investment was 127.6, an increase of 4.6% compared to the first three quarters of 2024. The investment demand in the cultural and tourism industry experienced a concentrated release in 2023 and a sluggish period in the second half of 2024. Entering the first quarter of 2025, the tourism market started strongly, and a thriving market, policy dividends, and supply-side innovation jointly pushed up the cultural and tourism industry investment index.

The prosperous development of the tourism market and the continued high level of cultural and tourism demand have boosted investor confidence in the cultural and tourism industry. Entering 2025, key indicators of the Year of the Snake Spring Festival and the 2024-2025 winter tourism season hit new highs, laying a solid foundation for the high-level start of the tourism economy and effectively boosting the confidence of tourism investment institutions and market entities. According to comprehensive calculations, in the first quarter of 2025, the confidence index of the cultural and tourism industry in the overall market and investment fields increased by 14.6% and 15.0%, respectively, compared to the first three quarters of 2024.

National strategic guidance and the release of policy dividends have helped to quickly repair the willingness to invest in the cultural and tourism industry. Since May 2024, when General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on tourism work during the National Tourism Development Conference, central and local cultural and tourism authorities have actively implemented the instructions to promote high-quality tourism development, promote the integration of culture and tourism, and introduce special policies such as artificial intelligence technology guidance and cross-field integration, providing a more open and broad space for investment in the cultural and tourism industry and expanding the feasibility boundary of industry investment. Entering 2025, positive signals such as special service plans to boost consumption, increased efforts to promote large-scale equipment upgrades, and a more proactive fiscal policy have been released, and the willingness to invest in the cultural and tourism industry has quickly recovered. In the first quarter of 2025, the willingness to invest in the cultural and tourism industry increased by 33.7% compared to the first three quarters of 2024.

The transformation and upgrading of the tourism supply side and technological empowerment have improved the efficiency of investment in the cultural and tourism industry. Driven by demand and supported by technology, the tourism industry is accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional fields and cross-field integration. The operational management efficiency of tourism market entities has been significantly improved, market demand forecasting has become more accurate, product innovation has become more frequent, and this has jointly promoted more accurate investment choices. With the increase in investment in more high-quality products and projects, the return on investment for tourism market entities has improved, further driving reinvestment, and the tourism industry investment has ushered in a new positive cycle.

Figure 1 Comparison of Tourism Industry Investment Index and Sub-indices from 2023 to the First Quarter of 2025

(2) Stock Revitalization, Content Operation, and Field Segmentation Constitute the Basic Investment Base

From new additions to upgrades and renovations, from single elements to composite formats, stock revitalization is key. Under the circumstances of rapidly upgrading demand and relatively saturated market stock resources, large-scale, long-cycle new investment has slowed down, and upgrading and renovation and optimization of existing resources have become the basic investment base. Survey data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the main areas of investment in the cultural and tourism industry were concentrated in scenic areas (scene creation, renovation) (23.9%), entertainment and leisure formats (23.0%), commercial complexes/cultural, commercial, and tourism complexes (20.2%), and technology fields (14.7%), with scene creation, format innovation, and product innovation around demand trends becoming the focus of stock investment. Old scenic areas are being renewed through "light renovation + heavy content," reducing hardware investment and enhancing immersive experiences and secondary consumption conversion. Investment in entertainment and leisure formats is transforming from single entertainment to "social + experience + consumption" complexes, and commerce is shifting from "shopping malls" to "local cultural experience centers," promoting cultural and tourism consumption and accelerating investment recovery.

Figure 2 Distribution of Key Investment Areas in the Cultural and Tourism Industry in the First Quarter of 2025

From long-term fixed assets to high-frequency updates, from imported to self-developed content operations. Whether it is the hardware equipment of amusement parks, the exhibits of cultural and museum venues, or the promotional activities of commercial districts, the upgrading of residents' and tourists' experiences is forcing the acceleration of content innovation and updates on the supply side, and the acquisition of high-quality products and projects has become the main goal of investors, while the demand for shortening the payback period is becoming more urgent. Survey data shows that the investment period of surveyed cultural and tourism enterprises is mainly concentrated in (1-3 years) and (3-5 years), and the proportion is showing an upward trend. In recent years, the investment enthusiasm for local cultural excavation, national style and trend innovation, and localized operations has increased. By absorbing the operational experience of international IPs, the research and development and operation of traditional cultural IPs are developing rapidly, and the "culture + technology + fashion" content operation model is widely practiced in scenic areas/resorts, commercial districts, and cultural spaces.

Figure 3 Advantages Most Desired by Investors in the Cultural and Tourism Industry in the First Quarter of 2025

Figure 4 Distribution of Investment Payback Periods in the Cultural and Tourism Industry in 2024 and the First Quarter of 2025

Investment preferences are segmented by industry and field. From the perspective of innovation-driving factors, technological support, cultural leadership, fashion trends, and creative design are the main types of product/project investment, with technology and culture as the core driving forces. For different industries and fields, investors show differentiated segmentation characteristics. In the tourism industry, comprehensive tourism groups, scenic areas/resorts, hotels and other accommodation industries, and tourism performing arts companies prefer cultural excavation/activation investment; travel service industries (travel agencies and online travel companies), tourism equipment manufacturing companies, and tourism technology service companies are more focused on technology investment; theme parks/amusement parks and travel service industries (travel agencies and online travel companies) have a higher proportion of investment in trendy entertainment and fashion trends in the tourism industry; tourism planning/design/construction companies and the hotel accommodation industry are more interested in creative design investment. In the cultural industry, in addition to cultural entertainment and leisure companies, cultural venues, cultural investment and operation, and cultural publicity and education companies have a more concentrated preference for technology and culture. Cultural space experience relies on the combination of virtual and real, cultural expression relies on technology, and the real feeling of technological experience relies on the connotation of cultural relics themselves.

Table 1 Preferred Investment Projects/Product Types of Tourism Enterprises

Table 2 Preferred Investment Projects/Product Types of Cultural Enterprises

(3) Hotspots and Trends

The family leisure market, focusing on young and middle-aged groups, is widely considered a promising investment area. In terms of potential consumer groups, married couples with children (34.2%) and young unmarried individuals (30.9%) are seen by surveyed companies as having greater consumption potential. Based on consumer group expectations, family-parent activities, educational tourism, urban leisure, short getaways, night tourism, and healing tourism constitute investment areas that the industry is focusing on, planning to invest in, or viewing favorably in the future.

From the perspective of demand trends, current leisure groups focus on emotional value and interactive experiences. In the future, with social development and progress in thinking, tourism and leisure will evolve towards deeper cultural immersion and spiritual needs such as consciousness awakening. Industry investment should focus on content empowerment for continuous deepening.

From an operational perspective, greater emphasis should be placed on refined and precise operations. By learning from international experience, exploring local culture, and continuously innovating content and services, content operation can revitalize existing resources, promote consumption, and drive high-quality tourism development.

Figure 5 Investment areas that the tourism industry is focusing on, planning to invest in, or viewing favorably in the future

Figure 6 Word cloud of investment hotspots identified by surveyed companies

Amusement equipment procurement accelerates upgrades, ushering in a good start

In the first quarter of 2025, the amusement equipment/service procurement index reached 58.0%, recovering from the contraction in the first three quarters of 2024 to a growth expansion range. Entering 2025, in a more competitive external environment, the amusement equipment/service procurement market relied on technological innovation, service upgrades, and product optimization to actively make strategic shifts to adapt to changing circumstances, and achieved good overseas expansion.

(a) A More Competitive External Environment

Entering 2025, a prosperous market situation, strong travel demand, and stable local resident leisure demand provided a favorable environment for the development of amusement equipment/service procurement. Survey data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, orders, output, personnel, and inventory growth in amusement equipment/service procurement increased, with 61.0% of surveyed companies having a demand for amusement equipment/service procurement, higher than the level in the first three quarters of 2024 (57.6%).

At the same time, factors such as increasingly rational and cautious consumption, slowing down of new investment in large-scale amusement facilities, and uneven operations of equipment purchasers have led to operating pressure being transmitted to the amusement equipment/service procurement market. Based on survey data and company interviews, amusement equipment/service suppliers face a more competitive environment, needing to compete in terms of quality, price, delivery time, and service guarantees. Market demand for amusement equipment mainly focuses on excitement, safety, and interactive atmosphere, with product iteration speeds continuously accelerating, putting greater pressure on amusement equipment and service suppliers. Survey data shows that innovation and R&D capabilities (32.6%) and technological breakthroughs (30.7%) are the biggest challenges currently facing the amusement equipment/service sector, followed by service and maintenance improvements (18.5%) and price (17.9%).

Figure 7 Fluctuation of the amusement equipment/service procurement index and sub-indicators from 2023 to the first quarter of 2025

(b) Faster Strategic Shifts

The application of amusement equipment/services in cultural venues, commercial/cultural and commercial tourism complexes, and hotels/homestays has increased. Theme parks/amusement parks and scenic areas/resorts remain the basic dominant markets for amusement equipment/service procurement, but with the slowdown in new investment in large theme parks and investment in scenic areas/resorts increasingly favoring content updates and renovations, amusement equipment procurement/service suppliers have begun to actively expand into other areas. Survey data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the demand for amusement equipment/services in cultural venues, commercial complexes/cultural and commercial tourism complexes, and hotels/homestays has increased. In response to current hot demand for experiential economy and relaxation economy, cultural venues have increased their procurement of amusement equipment, especially technological equipment, to better meet the needs of parent-child educational tourism groups; commercial complexes/cultural and commercial tourism complexes are constantly enriching entertainment and leisure formats to promote consumption, with high demand for amusement equipment procurement and leasing, and temporary amusement activities; in response to the quality leisure needs of family and parent-child groups, domestic hotels/homestays and other accommodation scenarios have increased the procurement of amusement equipment/services based on brand style and themed activities, achieving better accommodation services.

Figure 8 Comparison of amusement equipment/service application areas in the first three quarters of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025

The supply area of amusement equipment/services is shifting towards third-tier and below cities and county-level regions. Currently, the resources of large theme parks, amusement parks, and urban parks in first- and second-tier cities are relatively saturated, and the pace of new projects is slowing down, with updates and upgrades of existing equipment dominating. There is still room for growth in the construction of amusement parks and urban parks in third-tier and below regions, and new investment is driving growth in the demand for amusement equipment procurement in lower-tier regions.

(c) More Stable Overseas Expansion

Overseas product and service output is steadily progressing, with international business becoming a growth highlight. Amusement equipment/service manufacturers, represented by leading domestic amusement equipment companies, are actively exploring different directions for product exports and overseas business while consolidating their domestic market foundation. High-quality large-scale amusement equipment is actively exported to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and South America, and Chinese amusement equipment standards have also been widely recognized. High-quality small and medium-sized amusement equipment has not only achieved good exports in Asia, but also benefited from the favorable conditions of overseas Chinese widely operating amusement parks in the Americas, with exports of domestic small and medium-sized amusement equipment to the United States and other places also rapidly increasing.

In the first quarter of 2025, China's tourism economy achieved a high-level start, boosting the confidence of industry investment institutions and tourism equipment manufacturers. The revitalization of existing investment areas and continuous optimization of content operations have led to the continued expansion of amusement equipment/service procurement. In the future, driven by cultural leadership, technological empowerment, and creative impetus, the innovation and upgrading of amusement equipment procurement/services will continue to accelerate, driving high-quality development of the tourism industry.

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CHINA ASSOCIATION OF AMUSEMENT PARKS AND ATTRACTIONS

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