However, Laojunshan's journey to becoming an internet celebrity was not easy.

According to Luanchuan Rongmei, in order to promote the development of Luanchuan County's tourism industry, in 2007, Luanchuan County made a strategic decision to "support tourism with industry," encouraging industrial and mining entrepreneurs to make a green transformation. Laojunshan, as the "trump card" and "leader" of Luanchuan County's tourism resources, has always been highly anticipated.

On August 23 of that year, Yang Zhisan, an outstanding entrepreneur who was already in his sixties, took over Laojunshan and made a vow to "gather the wealth of Beishan to build a beautiful Luanchuan and gather the spirit of Nanshan to recreate secondary resources."

Subsequently, Laojunshan launched a series of innovations in scenic area transformation and operation and marketing.

On the one hand, Laojunshan actively promoted the development and construction of the scenic area, building three cable cars in Zhongling, Yunjing, and Fenglin, constructing 10,000-meter suspension walkways in Chuanyun, Buyun, and Feiyun, implementing cultural landscapes such as the Laozi Cultural Park and the Golden Summit building group, and was successfully rated as a national 5A-level scenic area in 2012.

On the other hand, during the National Day holiday in 2017, Laojunshan launched a heartwarming "one-yuan lunch," including a bowl of local characteristic San Tang noodles, a sausage, and a steamed bun. Building on its growing reputation, it steadily seized the traffic brought by short videos. In 2019, Laojunshan encouraged all employees and tourists to shoot short videos, creating a promotional matrix, which made Laojunshan become a "top streamer."

According to the disclosed data, in 2023, Laojunshan received more than 4.5 million tourists, and its comprehensive income historically exceeded 1 billion yuan. Driven by this, Luanchuan County received 15 million tourists in 2023, with a total tourism revenue of 10.58 billion yuan. Tourism has become the "super engine" driving the economic development of Luanchuan County.

The Tourism Industry is on the Road to "Nationalization"

Mr. A, who has been engaged in the tourism industry for many years, told the author that the nationalization of the tourism industry is not news; it is actually the general trend of the tourism industry's transformation in recent years.

Research has found that as early as last year, listed companies such as San Te Cableway and Tianmu Lake were undergoing nationalization transformations.

On June 12, 2023, San Te Cableway announced that Wuhan Contemporary Urban Construction and Development Co., Ltd., the controlling shareholder, would transfer 14.98% of its shares in San Te Cableway, namely 26.5513 million shares, to Gaoko Group through an agreement transfer. Gaoko Group subsequently became the single largest shareholder with voting rights in San Te Cableway, and the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone Management Committee became the actual controller of the company, and the nature of the company changed to a state-owned holding listed company.

In March of the same year, Meng Guangcai, then chairman of Tianmu Lake, planned to transfer 6.53% of his shares in the company to Liyang City Urban Construction and Development Group Co., Ltd., with a transfer price of 361 million yuan. After this equity change, Liyang Chengfa held 50.0302 million shares, accounting for 26.86%, and would become the controlling shareholder of the listed company, and the Liyang Municipal Government became the actual controller of the company.

According to media statistics, among the 21 A-share listed companies in the "Scenic Spots and Tourism" sector of Tong Hua Shun, two-thirds of the companies are or will soon be controlled by state-owned assets. Especially among the 14 listed companies whose main business is tourism scenic spot operation (Huangshan Tourism, Emei Mountain A, Guilin Tourism, Zhangjiajie, Jiuhua Tourism, Tianmu Lake, Lijiang Shares, Dalian Shengya, San Te Cableway, Qujiang Culture and Tourism, Changbaishan, Yunnan Tourism, Xiyu Tourism, Tibet Tourism), A-share tourism scenic spot enterprises have been fully nationalized.

In the released "2023 Top 100 List of Brand Influence of Tourism Groups," state-owned tourism groups have long occupied half of the country, with state-owned and central enterprises accounting for as high as 73.68%.

After Nationalization, How Can the Myth Be Sustainable?

Facing the trend of "nationalization" of tourism scenic spots, industry attitudes are mixed.

Some people believe that the trend of nationalization of the tourism industry is the result of the combined effects of industry foundation, industry stage, and external shocks. The "state-owned enterprise" strategy will undoubtedly help the tourism industry better concentrate its efforts to promote operations.

Mr. B, who has been operating tourism assets for many years, said in an interview that state-owned enterprises usually have strong financing capabilities and lower financing costs, which allows tourism enterprises to more calmly allocate resources when facing challenges such as large-scale investment and long-term operation, ensuring the smooth implementation and sustainable development of projects. At the same time, based on policy and other support, state-owned tourism enterprises also have stronger risk resistance and higher operational stability.

Other practitioners believe that after entering state-owned operation, the original flexibility of the enterprise will be greatly reduced.

Administrative decision-making, personnel arrangements, and operation models under the state-owned system will all be affected." Some practitioners gave an example, saying, "After the enterprise is nationalized, the funds become state-owned funds, and the assets become state-owned assets. How they are used will certainly not be flexible, and event planning will definitely have to consider multiple influences. The pursuit of stability will become the norm." Many people have the same view regarding the "nationalization" of Laojunshan.

With the large ship changing course and entering new waters, it naturally faces new opportunities and challenges.

Industry insiders believe that under the trend of nationalization of tourism enterprises, state-owned enterprises should accelerate their transformation and development. They must not only grasp the general trend of the industry and understand tourist needs, but also plan for next-generation products and business models in advance, improve service quality, and actively change their operating models. For example, they should leverage their own capital and resource advantages to widely connect with partners in various fields such as mature IPs, planning and design, professional operations, and marketing services. Furthermore, they need to strengthen capacity building, cultivate operational capabilities, and transition from resource-driven to operation-driven models.

Laojun Mountain faces similar opportunities and challenges. Can the nationalized Laojun Mountain continue its "myth"? What's your take?