Recommended Key Events in the Tourism Industry Recently
(Click the image above for details)
(Click the image above for details)
▲
Editor-in-Chief | Yang Ming
Editor | Jing Xiangyuan
Source | China Tourism Academy
Jiaxing has a high density of ancient towns, high market recognition, mature development, and rich innovative experience, giving it a significant advantage in the national development of ancient town tourism. After years of development, the Jiaxing Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government are determined to establish the brand image of "See Jiaxing for China's Ancient Towns". As a government think tank and industry think tank, the China Tourism Academy has accumulated rich experience in the cultivation of new tourism formats and the shaping of tourism brands in recent years, and has the advantage of leveraging its professional capabilities to conduct specialized research.
Based on this background, the Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism commissioned the China Tourism Academy to conduct research on ancient town tourism, hoping to grasp the number, spatial distribution pattern, and market characteristics of ancient town scenic areas at the macro level, and to analyze the development level of China's ancient town tourism from the perspective of tourists. The report shows that whether it is the number and quality of ancient town scenic areas, or the development level of ancient town tourism, it indicates that Jiaxing has the foundation and conditions to lead the development of ancient town tourism. The core viewpoints of the report are as follows:
Spatial Distribution Pattern and Characteristics of Ancient Town Tourism
(1) Spatial Distribution Pattern of Ancient Town Scenic Areas
Ancient town scenic areas gradually decrease from southeast to northwest in China, with the "Hu Huanyong Line" serving as the geographical boundary of ancient town distribution. According to the research team's statistics on sample ancient towns, 95.7% of ancient town scenic areas nationwide are located east and south of the "Hu Huanyong Line".
Ancient town scenic areas are densely distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. From the number of sample ancient towns in each province, ancient town scenic areas are mainly concentrated in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Yunnan, and Jiangxi provinces. The number of ancient town scenic areas in these six provinces is 36, 27, 21, 21, 19, and 17 respectively. Overall, with 14.5% of the country's land area, these six provinces have gathered more than half of the ancient town scenic areas nationwide; while the proportion of ancient town scenic areas in Gansu, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Beijing, Hainan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Tianjin, Tibet Autonomous Region, and Heilongjiang provinces is all less than 2%.
The clustering characteristics along rivers are significant, with ancient towns densely distributed along the Grand Canal. The local dense characteristics of ancient town scenic areas nationwide are significant, forming highly concentrated areas of ancient town scenic areas in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui and western Zhejiang, southeastern Sichuan, and northwestern Yunnan, showing a pattern of decreasing density from these areas to surrounding areas. In particular, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang have the highest density of ancient town scenic areas, decreasing successively to southern Anhui and western Zhejiang and surrounding areas. Looking at these highly concentrated areas of ancient town scenic areas, most of them are located in areas with high population density and abundant river networks. The characteristics of ancient towns distributed along rivers are significant. According to statistics, there are more than 80 representative ancient towns along the Grand Canal, among which the distribution of ancient towns is relatively even in sections such as the Tong Hui River, Bei Yun River, Nan Yun River, Lu Yun River, Zhong Yun River, and Li Yun River, while ancient towns are densely distributed along the Jiangnan Canal. Overall, the Jiangnan region, as the overlapping area of the Yangtze River Basin and the Jiangnan Canal, has become the main area for the distribution of ancient town scenic areas in China, especially high-quality ancient town scenic areas.
5A-level ancient town scenic areas are highly concentrated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces. According to statistics, there are currently 33 5A-level ancient town scenic areas nationwide. From the perspective of spatial distribution, Zhejiang province ranks first among all provinces with 5 ancient town scenic areas, namely Xitang Ancient Town, Wuzhen Scenic Area, Nanxun Ancient Town, Nianbadu Ancient Town, and Taizhou Prefecture City. Anhui and Jiangsu provinces follow with 4 5A-level ancient town scenic areas each. The number of 5A-level ancient town scenic areas in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces accounts for 39.4% of the national total. 5A-level ancient town scenic areas are highly concentrated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces.
Figure 1 Number of 5A-level ancient town scenic areas in each province (Data source: collected and compiled by the research team)
(2) Characteristics of Tourist Source Distribution in Ancient Town Tourism Market
Provinces with strong economic strength and large populations have wider coverage of residents visiting ancient towns. According to the tourist source data of the sample ancient town scenic areas, residents from 12 provinces (cities) including Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Beijing, Jiangsu, Henan, Sichuan, Hubei, Shandong, Fujian, Hunan, and Anhui visited more than 200 sample ancient town scenic areas between October 2023 and March 2024. Residents of Guangdong province have visited 88.9% of the ancient town scenic areas nationwide, while residents of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Beijing, Jiangsu, and Henan provinces have visited more than 80% of the ancient town scenic areas. In contrast, the coverage of residents visiting ancient towns is lower and the activity level is not high in the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China and provinces in Northeast and Northwest China.
Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the number of sample ancient towns visited by residents in each province (Data source: data collected and compiled by the research team)
Ancient towns in East China have stronger brand awareness and attraction to out-of-province tourist sources. From the reception perspective, this study compares the tourist sources of provinces with 6 or more ancient town scenic areas. It is found that the proportion of in-province tourist sources is higher in provinces in Southwest China such as Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, and Guizhou, while the proportion of in-province tourist sources is significantly lower in East China provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi, indicating that ancient town scenic areas in East China have stronger attraction to tourists from other provinces and have a broader out-of-province tourist source market. In addition, in economically developed and densely populated provinces (cities) such as Guangdong and Shanghai, the out-of-province tourist source market of their ancient town scenic areas occupies an absolute dominant position (Figure 3). From the perspective of tourism, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Sichuan provinces lead cross-provincial ancient town tourism with an absolute advantage, forming the main tourist source market for cross-provincial ancient town scenic areas (Figure 4).
Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the proportion of total in-province tourist sources in sample ancient towns in each province (Data source: data collected and compiled by the research team)
Figure 4 Proportion of the number of people visiting out-of-province ancient towns in each province to the total number of cross-provincial ancient town tourists nationwide (Data source: data collected and compiled by the research team)
Ancient Town Tourism Development Index
Tourism is premised on tourist visits. In the context of "tourists defining the tourism industry", a development index from the tourist's perspective is more meaningful. Based on this, this study constructs an index system from the perspective of tourists, covering three aspects: pre-trip search popularity, in-trip popularity, and post-trip satisfaction, to study ancient town scenic areas.
(1) Ancient Town Tourism Search Popularity Index
The spatial distribution of the search popularity index for ancient towns in China shows a clear "core-periphery" structure: the Jiangnan region is the primary core hotspot area, the junction of Shanxi, Hunan, Guizhou, and Chongqing constitutes the secondary core hotspot area, and Northwest Yunnan is the tertiary core hotspot area. The popularity index decreases successively from the primary, secondary, and tertiary core hotspots to the surrounding areas.
Looking at the top 10 ancient towns in terms of search popularity index, the Jiangnan region accounts for 4 seats, namely Zhouzhuang, Wuzhen, Nanxun, and Xitang, located in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. It can be seen that the Jiangnan water towns, with their leisurely atmosphere and comfortable climate, have won the favor of a large number of tourists and are the type of ancient town that potential tourists focus on. Besides Zhouzhuang, Wuzhen, Nanxun, and Xitang, the top 10 ancient towns by search popularity index also include Fenghuang Ancient Town, Pingyao Ancient City, Lijiang Ancient City, Gubei Water Town, Taierzhuang Ancient City, and Langzhong Ancient City, distributed in Hunan, Shanxi, Yunnan, Beijing, Shandong, and Sichuan provinces. These encompass different types of ancient town scenic areas, such as Southwest ancient village type, Northern courtyard type, and Nanzhao ancient village type, fully reflecting the diverse needs of potential tourists.
(II) Tourist Attention Index
Slightly different from the ancient town scenic area search popularity index, the OTA platform tourist attention index has formed a relatively dispersed "multipolar" spatial distribution pattern in the Jiangnan region, southeastern Sichuan, northwestern Yunnan, the Hunan-Guizhou border, and Shanxi. Looking at the distribution of the top 10 ancient towns by tourist attention index, the Southwest region accounts for 4 seats with Lijiang Ancient City, Dali Ancient City, Maguikou Ancient Town, and Qingyan Ancient Town. Zhenbei Fort Ancient City is also among them, which is closely related to the widespread practice of the "film and television + tourism" model in recent years, highlighting the powerful driving force released by the integration of culture and tourism.
(III) Ancient Town Tourism Popularity Index
Based on the kernel density distribution of the ancient town scenic area popularity index, ancient town tourism has initially formed a high-density popularity aggregation area in the shape of an inverted "C", with Jiangnan water towns as the core and areas such as the Yunnan-Sichuan-Chongqing and Hunan-Guizhou junctions jointly forming the structure. The top 10 ancient town scenic area popularity index shows that Jiangnan water towns Xitang, Nanxun, and Wuzhen are among them, and the Southwest region accounts for 5 seats, namely Lijiang Ancient City, Maguikou Ancient Town, Furong Town Scenic Area, Anren Ancient Town, and Jian Shui Ancient City.
(IV) Ancient Town Tourism Satisfaction Index
According to the kernel density distribution of the ancient town scenic area tourist satisfaction index, ancient towns with higher satisfaction are mainly concentrated in the Jiangnan water towns and the Sichuan-Chongqing-Hunan-Guizhou junction area. Specifically, looking at the top 10 tourist satisfaction rankings, Jiangnan water towns account for 5 seats, namely Wuzhen Scenic Area, Nanxun Ancient Town, Tongli Ancient Town, Xitang Ancient Town, and Zhouzhuang Ancient Town, while Anren Ancient Town, Furong Town Scenic Area, and Langzhong Ancient City in the Southwest region are also among them.
(V) Summary of Ancient Town Tourism Development Index
The aforementioned search popularity index, tourist attention index, popularity index, and satisfaction index all indicate that ancient town tourism has formed a "multi-core agglomeration" spatial development pattern. The different index "core" development levels further characterize that the ancient town scenic areas in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, and Jiangxi region show high spatial agglomeration characteristics in terms of search popularity, tourism popularity, and tourist satisfaction, belonging to the first echelon and hotspot areas of China's ancient town tourism development.
Figure 5 Top 10 Ancient Town Tourism Development Index (Data Source: Research team data collection; Questionnaire survey data; Baidu and OTA platform data)
Further focusing on Jiaxing City in Zhejiang Province, which is in the first echelon, the city has a large number of ancient towns with diverse types. There are relatively mature towns like Wuzhen and Xitang, emerging towns like Puyuan and Yanguan, and a batch of ancient town tourism resources with development potential such as Wangjiangjing, Xin Cheng, and Shendang. From both a national and Yangtze River Delta perspective, Jiaxing has the foundation and conditions to lead the development of ancient town tourism in terms of the number, quality, and innovation of ancient town scenic areas. According to statistics from the research team, there are 33 5A-level ancient town scenic areas nationwide, distributed in 29 prefecture-level cities, while Jiaxing City accounts for two of them: Wuzhen and Xitang. In recent years, Wuzhen has used the drama festival, the World Internet Conference, and various cultural activities as carriers, while Xitang relies on the Hanfu Culture Week and "Twelve Flower Gods" activities. Puyuan uses the development path of "ancient town + fashion + culture and tourism," and Yanguan focuses on the development direction of tide-watching and music, promoting the formation of distinctive and differentiated cultural brands in Jiaxing's ancient towns. The research results show that Wuzhen Scenic Area's search popularity, satisfaction, and OTA platform tourist attention indices are all leading among the sample ancient towns, while Xitang is also ranked in the top 10 of multiple indices. Jiaxing's ancient towns are leading high-quality development in ancient town tourism through continuous innovation, meeting the yearning for a better life in the diverse market. The basic pattern of "China's ancient towns look to Jiaxing" has initially taken shape.
Characteristics of the Ancient Town Tourism Market Based on Sample Surveys
(I) Strong Demand in the Ancient Town Tourism Market
Ancient town tourism is an important travel choice for tourists in the mass tourism development stage. According to a special survey by the research team, 93.4% of respondents have participated in ancient town tourism, while only 6.6% have not, indicating that ancient town tourism occupies an important position in China's domestic market. A large number of tangible settlement-type cultural heritages such as ancient villages, ancient towns, and ancient cities across the country are important travel spaces for domestic tourists in China and are also important objects for supply-side protection and development. Among the respondents who have participated in ancient town tourism, the proportion of those who participated once in the past two years is 41.05%, twice is 40.35%, and three times is 9.66%. It can be seen that more than 80% of tourists have visited ancient towns once or twice in the past two years. Therefore, in long-line and short-line tourism with an average of 4.3 trips per person per year (2019 data), ancient town products are quite popular with tourists, and a large number of tourists will trigger ancient town tourism products in their first one or two trips.
Figure 6 Number and Proportion of Respondents' Visits to Ancient Towns in the Past Two Years (Respondents Who Have Participated in Ancient Town Tourism) Data Source: Sample survey data from the research team. The same below.
(II) Leisurely Atmosphere and Local Cultural Experiences are the Main Needs of Tourists in Ancient Town Tourism
Tourists are increasingly pursuing emotional value and a leisurely atmosphere within the ancient town space. Among the factors that most attract respondents to ancient town tourism, a leisurely atmosphere is the most popular, accounting for 27.1%; followed by architectural style and local specialties, accounting for 23.4% and 20.7% respectively; while the attractiveness of historical culture, folk activities, natural scenery, and environment to respondents decreases successively. At the same time, the survey shows that the main purposes of visiting ancient towns are concentrated on relaxing, experiencing the slow life of ancient towns (43.5%), appreciating scenery, taking photos or artistic creation (18.6%), and tasting local specialties (30.7%).
Figure 7 Factors That Most Attract Tourists to Ancient Town Tourism
Figure 8 Main Purposes of Participating in Ancient Town Tourism
Tourists have high demands and expectations for experiencing local culture. Respondents ranked their desired services and experiences in ancient town public spaces as follows (from highest to lowest): traditional handicraft experiences (42.39%), local history and culture exhibitions (38.83%), and folk performances (31.15%). The selection rates for creative studios (16.6%), visual arts bars (14.44%), digital leisure and entertainment (5.64%), and night tours of the ancient town (3.5%) were relatively low.
Figure 9: Options for services or experiences that respondents hope the ancient town's public spaces will provide, and their proportions
(3) Traditional word-of-mouth communication and sharing are important channels for promoting ancient town tourism
Ancient town tourism relies heavily on pre-trip "grass-growing" (creating excitement and anticipation), and the reputation and satisfaction of the scenic area are the best "grass-growing" channels. 51.58% of respondents will briefly understand the basic information before traveling to the ancient town, and 35.39% will make detailed plans. Only 11.02% of respondents only focus on information such as transportation and accommodation. This shows that most tourists will understand relevant information before their trip to ensure a smooth and pleasant journey. Therefore, the pre-trip "grass-growing" stage is crucial for ancient town scenic area operators and tourist destinations. At the same time, the survey shows that tourists' main sources of information about ancient town tourism are concentrated on recommendations from friends or family, travel websites or APPs such as Ctrip and Mafengwo, and social media such as Bilibili, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Kuaishou. Among them, recommendations from friends or family have the highest proportion, reaching 46.28%, followed by travel websites or APPs such as Ctrip and Mafengwo, accounting for 31.44%, while the proportion of local official WeChat accounts and cloud platform recommendations, travel agencies, or travel guides is relatively low. This shows that word-of-mouth about the ancient town is the best "grass-growing" method.
(4) Local cuisine in the ancient town is an important way for tourists to experience the atmosphere of a different place
Local specialty food is an important part of the ancient town experience, and its price and comfortable environment have a significant impact on the tourist experience. The survey shows that 66.02% of respondents like or very much like to try the local specialty food in the ancient town, believing it to be an important part of experiencing the ancient town culture. When choosing a dining place in the ancient town, the most important factor for respondents is whether the price is reasonable, accounting for 46.41%. This is followed by the comfort and cultural atmosphere of the dining environment, accounting for 40.64%. The taste and characteristics of the food are also important considerations, accounting for 32.4%. At the same time, ancient town-style restaurants are the preferred type of restaurant for respondents, accounting for 49.97%, followed by specialty snack stalls, accounting for 27.12%. The selection rate of star-rated hotels or high-end restaurants is low, only 2.04%.
Figure 10: Proportion of respondents who like or very much like to try local specialty food or snacks in the ancient town
Figure 11: Factors respondents value most when choosing a dining place in the ancient town, and their proportions
Figure 12: Proportion of respondents choosing different types of dining places in the ancient town
(5) Most tourists prefer comfortable and characteristic accommodation within the ancient town
The comfort and unique features of accommodation within the ancient town are important criteria for tourists' choices. Data shows that 81.76% of respondents said they would choose to stay inside the ancient town, while 18.24% said they would choose to stay near or outside the ancient town. Preferences for accommodation types within the ancient town are mainly concentrated in star-rated hotels or chain hotels (40.95%) and themed hotels (35.17%), respectively accounting for a large proportion of respondents. The selection rate for traditional guesthouses or B&Bs is 17.86%, slightly lower than the former two. The selection rate for youth hostels or backpacker hostels is only 6%. Overall, the choice of accommodation types within the ancient town tends to favor the comfort and convenience of star-rated hotels or chain hotels, as well as themed hotels with unique characteristics. Among the reasons for choosing not to stay within the ancient town, the preference for staying slightly further away from the attractions to enjoy a quiet environment accounts for 48.55%; more convenient and complete accommodation facilities account for 34.15%; and price factors account for 29.35%. At the same time, 71.26% of respondents chose an accommodation price range of 200-600/night.
Figure 13: Proportion of respondents choosing different accommodation types in the ancient town
Figure 14: Reasons for choosing accommodation outside the ancient town and the corresponding proportion of respondents
Figure 15: Appropriate accommodation price range for ancient town tourism according to respondents and the corresponding proportion of respondents
(6) Folk cultural activities provide a lever for interaction between hosts and guests in the ancient town tourism space
Folk cultural activities in the ancient town are an important carrier of the integration of culture and tourism. The ancient town provides tourists with activity space, while folk activities, folk dances, and music within the ancient town provide opportunities for tourists to arouse their emotions and create emotional resonance. The survey shows that 92.77% of respondents are willing to participate in local folk activities, with traditional festival celebrations being the most popular ancient town folk activities, accounting for 51.54%. This is followed by folk dance or music performances, accounting for 40.8%. Traditional handicraft experiences and characteristic folk games account for 22.37% and 26.19%, respectively. In addition, regarding the accessibility of ancient town folk activities, more than half of the respondents believe that they are good or very good, with a certain number of activities available for tourists to participate in, rich and diverse activities, and high tourist participation.
Figure 16: Ancient town folk activities that respondents participate in or hope to participate in
Figure 17: Accessibility of ancient town folk activities
(7) The characteristics, types, and quality of tourist goods affect tourists' willingness to buy
Retail tourist goods are high-frequency elements in tourism consumption, and their characteristics, types, and quality affect tourists' willingness to buy. According to the survey, 62.82% of respondents sometimes buy local products, and about 30.65% of respondents always like to buy local products as souvenirs or gifts for relatives and friends. At the same time, among the types of ancient town tourism products, handicrafts are the most popular, accounting for 27.58%, followed by antique art, accounting for 24.19%, and ethnic clothing or accessories, accounting for 22.37%. Ancient town tourists are more inclined to buy products with local characteristics and cultural traditions, which can better showcase the local cultural charm and attract tourists' interest. In comparison, the selection rate of souvenirs is low, only 2.16%, and their attractiveness and uniqueness need to be further improved. Regarding the problems with ancient town tourism goods, 42.50% of respondents believe that they lack characteristics and are similar to goods in other places, 25.05% believe that the types are monotonous and the selection range is limited, and 18.26% believe that the quality is poor, not durable, or easily damaged. This shows that ancient town tourism goods still have considerable room for improvement in terms of characteristics, types, and quality.
Problems and Development Directions of Ancient Town Tourism Development
(1) Homogenization of products, excessive commercialization, and short-term profit-seeking phenomena are beginning to appear
Insufficient theoretical guidance, coupled with superficial innovation and imitative practices, has led to the homogenization, excessive commercialization, and short-term profit-seeking behaviors in recent years within the ancient town tourism sector. According to a special survey conducted by the research team, 51.3% of respondents believe that there are some similarities between ancient towns, while 38.5% feel that ancient towns are very similar and lack unique characteristics. Excessive commercialization, loss of authenticity, and poor service quality are the main concerns of tourists; while the lack of unique shops and products, and similar dining options, are considered the primary manifestations of the homogeneity of ancient towns. Data shows that nearly 60% of respondents believe that the loss of original residents and lack of innovation are the main reasons for the homogenization of ancient town tourism (Figure 18).
Figure 18: Survey Results on Issues Facing the Development of Ancient Town Tourism
Note: A represents the most concerning issues for respondents in ancient town tourism; B represents respondents' perception of significant similarities between ancient towns; C represents respondents' view of the main manifestations of ancient town homogeneity; D represents respondents' view of the causes of ancient town homogeneity. A1 represents crowded crowds; A2 represents excessive commercialization and loss of authenticity; A3 represents poor service quality; A4 represents poor ancient town protection and dirty environment. B1 represents feeling that many ancient towns are very similar; B2 represents some similarities; B3 represents no similarities. C1 represents similar architectural styles and lack of unique features; C2 represents shops and goods sold lack unique features, mostly souvenirs and antique crafts; C3 represents similar dining options in ancient towns, lacking authentic local cuisine; C4 represents similar cultural activities and experience projects; C5 represents the same tourism services and management models. D1 represents the pursuit of rapid commercialization and tourism development; D2 represents the loss of original residents; D3 represents imitation of successful cases and lack of innovation; D4 represents lack of in-depth cultural excavation and inheritance; D5 represents insufficient government planning and policy guidance.
(II) Inheriting the History of Ancient Towns Through Deep Integration of Culture and Tourism
Deepening cultural experiences for tourists is the key to ancient town tourism breaking free from homogeneity and achieving differentiated development. Ancient towns must not only "look back at history" but also "innovate forward." Continuous investment should be made in carefully crafted products, meticulous services, engaging activities, and efficient and optimized operations to ensure that ancient towns remain fresh and keep pace with the times. Taking the U Town Theatre Festival as an example, each edition presents different plays, and this continuous innovation and change have become the aspiration of countless tourists.
The uniqueness of ancient town tourism lies in the in-depth excavation of local culture, history, and tourism resources, providing tourists with immersive experiences, personalized tastes, and differentiated needs. While maintaining the inheritance of the inherent culture within ancient towns, it is also necessary to innovate the forms of tourism products and promote the balanced development of the functions of ancient town life, commerce, and tourism. Through the deep integration of culture and tourism and high-quality development, we can promote innovation in ancient town tourism formats and industrial upgrading.
The protection and development of ancient towns cannot be separated from local residents. Residents are not only an important part of the historical and cultural heritage of ancient towns, but also a direct window to showcase the unique style and local customs of each ancient town. The key to ensuring the long-term vitality of the protection and development of the historical and cultural heritage of ancient towns lies in retaining the original residents and their traditional lifestyles.
(III) Shaping the Future of Ancient Towns with Traditional Culture, Fashion Elements, and Modern Services
The development and creation of ancient town tourism requires the integration of traditional culture, fashion elements, and modern services to meet tourists' dual needs for historical and cultural experiences and modern convenient facilities.
In-depth excavation and display of the historical and cultural heritage of ancient towns is the foundation for shaping ancient town tourism. The integration of fashion elements can add new vitality to ancient town tourism. Without damaging the original appearance of ancient towns, modern art design concepts can be introduced to create unique cultural and creative products and cultural activities to attract young tourists and enhance the fashionable atmosphere of ancient towns.
Modern services are the key to improving the quality of ancient town tourism. Complete infrastructure, such as convenient transportation, clean sanitation facilities, a clear guidance system, high-quality accommodation facilities, and diversified catering services, are the basic needs of tourists. Ancient town tourism development should also pay attention to maintaining a balance between traditional culture and modern elements. Excessive commercialization will destroy the original charm of ancient towns, while being overly traditional may make tourists feel inconvenient. Therefore, ancient town tourism development needs to cleverly integrate fashion elements and modern services while protecting traditional culture, creating a tourist destination that is both ancient and full of vitality.
Excavating the essence of traditional culture, integrating fashion elements, and providing modern and convenient services to create ancient towns that combine historical and cultural charm with modern tourism experiences will be an important path to attracting more tourists to experience the unique charm of ancient towns.
