Data recently released by a travel platform shows that, as of January 6, the search popularity of "intangible cultural heritage tourism" related content, including intangible cultural heritage attractions and experiences, on the platform increased by 133% month-on-month. Popular experiences include visiting lantern festivals and temple fairs, enjoying folk song and dance performances, and wearing Hanfu for travel photography. In terms of destinations, Nujiang, Yunnan; Zhongwei, Ningxia; Lincang, Yunnan; Chongzuo, Guangxi; and Dehong, Yunnan led the country in the growth rate of tourism product bookings during the Spring Festival, and these places are traditionally considered "small places."

Douyin's 2024 City Cultural and Tourism Big Data shows that in 2024, the year-on-year growth of group purchase orders in third-tier and below small cities reached 112%. Foshan, Baoding, Weifang, Ningbo, and Xuzhou have become "treasure cities" favored and checked in by Douyin users. During the National Day holiday last year, the year-on-year growth of related group purchase orders for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunnan on Douyin reached 327%, and the group purchase orders for food, drink, and travel in characteristic counties such as Wuyuan, Jiangxi; Yangshuo, Guangxi; Anji, Zhejiang; Zhengding, Hebei; and Yixing, Jiangsu reached more than double the same period of the previous year.

Nowadays, traditional attractions such as scenic spots and historical sites alone can no longer satisfy the needs of new-generation tourists. In addition to pure sensory enjoyment, people are increasingly pursuing emotional satisfaction, experiencing the everyday life and human feelings in their travels. This emotion and expectation are usually ignited through short videos before the trip.

The game "Black Myth: Wukong" boosted the popularity of Shanxi's cultural and tourism industry, which is a typical example of mass emotional consumption. According to incomplete statistics, the scenes of "Black Myth: Wukong" were filmed in 36 ancient Chinese architectural sites, 27 of which are located in Shanxi. After the game became popular, clips of related architectural scenes continued to ferment on short videos, directly boosting the popularity of scenic spots such as Xiao Xi Tian in Shanxi and the entire Shanxi cultural and tourism industry.

Data shows that from October 1 to 6 during last year's National Day holiday, the year-on-year growth of Douyin group purchase orders for the Xiao Xi Tian scenic spot, which became popular due to "Black Myth: Wukong," reached 5884%; the entire Shanxi cultural and tourism consumption also ushered in a new wave of growth, such as a 204% year-on-year increase in Douyin food, drink, and travel orders in Shuozhou City, and a 123% and 50% increase in Xinzhou City and Datong City respectively. The year-on-year growth of Douyin group purchase orders for Shanxi cuisine reached 237%, and the group purchase volume of knife-shaved noodles increased by 186%.

As Zhang Yan, director of the Cultural Tourism Research Center of the Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said, "In the 2024 tourism market, there are countless examples of emotional tourism. Some tourists may choose to go to a specific tourist destination because of a performance, a competition, or a story in a book, in order to pursue that specific emotional experience."

Going to Harbin is to set off with the expectation of skiing, and the phrase "Erbin" is an interaction between tourists and a city; going to Tianshui is to set off with a yearning for mala tang, traveling thousands of miles to find a different taste; going to Shanxi is to set off with the mission of a "son of destiny," immersing oneself in traditional culture. Emotional value is becoming a new focus of the cultural and tourism economy, and is increasingly becoming a key point for various places to build soft power and competitiveness now and in the future.

Small Emotions, Big Value; Small Places, Big Life

In the new era of emotional tourism, tourists need a "complete city," favoring high-quality services and wonderful experiences throughout the entire process. Among them, thoughtful service and tourists' wonderful experiences are the key to whether a place's cultural and tourism industry can become popular. Looking back at those popular cities, they all put a lot of effort into service and experience.

Adequate service can win over tourists' hearts. Taking Harbin, where cultural and tourism is continuously booming, as an example, at the beginning of last year, 11 children from Nanning, Guangxi, formed a group to bravely venture into Northeast China, affectionately called "little sugar oranges," and received meticulous care in Harbin, which triggered a phenomenal event centered on the "two-way rush" between Guangxi and Northeast China, ultimately becoming a nationwide event with online and offline interaction.

Harbin also excels in some service details. For example, considering the dietary habits of tourists from the south, frozen pears are cut into small pieces; when tourists say they want to see the moon above the snow and ice, an artificial "full moon" is created. Similar examples include Zibo providing tourists with stomach medicine and Tianshui making space in the government compound parking lot. These details make tourists feel valued, cared for, and sincerely treated, maximizing emotional value.

Good experiences can capture users' hearts. Almost every place has mala tang, but why did Tianshui mala tang become popular? In addition to its hand-rolled noodles, spicy dishes, and regionally characteristic eating methods, Tianshui has also put a lot of thought into the tourists' overall experience, such as adding a mala tang bus line, opening a mala tang street, and having volunteers maintain queuing order in different areas, allowing tourists to truly feel "pampered."

Zibo barbecue, in addition to the "small stove" soul technique, also has a unique set of small cakes, scallions, and sauce, cleverly combining Shandong rolled pancakes, stovetop tea, and barbecue, giving tourists a very ritualistic dining experience. In addition to satisfying the taste buds, Zibo has also provided sufficient emotional value by setting up customized barbecue bus lines, offering free pick-up and drop-off services for private cars, offering discounts to college students, and calling on tourists to "travel to brother cities during off-peak seasons."

Unique features can capture tourists' memories. Taking Xiao Xitian Scenic Area as an example, although the game "Black Myth: Wukong" "opened a window," its ability to handle the traffic flow is fundamentally due to its profound historical and cultural heritage. Xiao Xitian's architectural style is unique, known for its "small, exquisite, refined, and peculiar" features. The temple also houses the rare official edition of the "Ming Yongle Beizang," which is not only an important carrier of Buddhist culture but also possesses high historical and artistic value.

In addition, Xi County, Shanxi Province, where Xiao Xitian is located, also boasts characteristic cuisines such as Youyou Rou (braised pork), Xi County Sanfen (a type of porridge), and Xizhou Mutton Soup. These unique selling points, where "they have it, but we have it better," constitute tourists' unique memories, encouraging them to take photos and share them on social media platforms.

The essence of tourism is an emotional release and satisfaction. Many small towns offer a slow pace of life and good moods, serving as places for emotional rest. Tourists are the best promoters; happiness is contagious. "The happy lightning told me, and I will tell everyone." In the era of short videos, when many people share and recommend a place, people accumulate a certain emotion. As netizens say, when going to a place, they set off with the most familiar Douyin BGM in their minds.

Cultural tourism needs an "all-rounder"

In the world of table tennis, Ma Long, whose skills have "no weaknesses," is known as an "all-rounder." In the current booming emotional tourism, consumers pay more attention to interaction, emotions, and service experience, which requires a more refined approach from the operators. Local cultural tourism destinations should also take the initiative to become "all-rounders," that is, to create a cultural tourism model that combines policy-driven development, technological support, traffic amplification, public participation, and the creation of unique features.

Tourism groups are diversifying, and service experience requirements are becoming more personalized. For example, considering family tourism, a child-friendly travel experience should be created; for "silver hair tourism," a senior-friendly tourism environment should also be created. In recent years, "special forces" tourism, mainly involving university students and working people, has become popular. How to provide thoughtful service for them in terms of transportation and accommodation is also a direction that should be pursued.

In addition to strengthening offline operations and providing thoughtful services, both local government departments and businesses in the cultural tourism industry chain should focus on improving their online publicity and marketing capabilities, especially making good use of the dissemination effectiveness of short videos. Douyin's Life Service "2024 Douyin City Cultural Tourism Big Data" shows that Wuhan, Harbin, Zhengzhou, and Baoding cultural tourism official accounts have become popular among netizens, and they have indeed made leading contributions to promoting their cities.

Short videos have strong participation and interactivity. Short videos published by hundreds of millions of ordinary users from all walks of life are often close to life and diverse. Once resonance is triggered, the speed of dissemination is particularly fast and the scope is very wide, which can effectively stimulate the discussion cycle of local characteristic cultural tourism, forming phenomenal dissemination and bringing multiple economic and social benefits to the region.

Looking back at the success of every city, it is the result of the joint creation and dissemination by local governments, users, key opinion leaders, and businesses, as well as the recognition and inheritance of unique folk customs, scenery, and culture across the internet. In this process, the platform acts as both a microscope and a magnifier. Especially for reverse tourism and small town tourism, the beautiful scenery, delicious food, and unique folk customs of some rural areas have been seen, thanks to the empowerment of platform traffic.

For small places with unique cultures, continued prosperity requires further strengthening of IPs. Cultural tourism/shop exploration key opinion leaders can better discover local cultural tourism, excavate the city's fireworks, and see the big life in small places. A shop exploration key opinion leader is a local cultural tourism promoter, so it is possible to invite celebrities and key opinion leaders to experience local specialties, recommend real, cost-effective, and fresh small town lifestyles to netizens, and help create small town cultural tourism business cards.

In fact, more and more celebrities are entering the local life track. Not long ago, Qian Hui, an actress from Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, launched a "Hometown Star Discovery" public welfare live broadcast activity, which not only featured tourism landmarks such as Suzhou Gardens, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, and the Confucius Temple Lantern Festival, but also regional delicacies such as Songhe Tower, Nanjing Dapaichang, and Jiming Soup Dumplings. The more than 6-hour live broadcast drove 1.7 million local Jiangsu food and beverage and entertainment group purchases, with a total exposure of over 12 million.

The dissemination of short videos has allowed more people to fall in love with a city because of a dish or a scene. From the dreamy snow scenery of Harbin, the ice and snow city, to the unique charm of Tianshui, a small city in Northwest China, and to the amazing artistic treasures of Xiao Xitian in Xi County, short videos are driving unique cities to become popular with unprecedented power. With the combined efforts of the government, users, and businesses, where will the next popular city be? Let's wait and see.