China Tourism Academy: Development of World Tourism and Leisure Cities

The report mainly focuses on four aspects: the historical context of the development of world tourist cities, typical urban development models and experiences, typical characteristics of tourist demand, and trends and suggestions for the development of urban tourism and leisure.

1. From spontaneous to orderly development of urban leisure tourism

Western industrial countries gradually completed industrialization after the 1970s . Many cities are facing the pressure of the decline of traditional industries, environmental pollution, traffic congestion and other urban problems and are in urgent need of transformation. These cities began to carry out urban transformation in a planned manner, improve urban leisure space and facilities, and achieve urban revitalization and transformation through cultural revival and leisure function development. These efforts have objectively greatly improved the quality of urban leisure and tourism. It can be said that urban leisure functions are constantly improving with urban transformation and renewal .

The case of Bilbao is very typical. In response to the collapse of traditional industries and various urban problems, Bilbao implemented a comprehensive urban revitalization plan led by cultural, trade and tourism development since the 1990s . Bilbao finally achieved urban revitalization through measures such as building cultural and leisure facilities and public facilities such as the Guggenheim Museum, improving transportation, and introducing knowledge-based innovative industries.

China began to implement a two-day weekend work system in 1995 and the "National Day" Golden Week in 1999. With the rapid development of social economy and the continuous increase in people's income, the tourism industry has entered the era of mass tourism. Based on the current situation of urban tourism development, the former National Tourism Administration, through the release of standards and city selection activities, actively guided cities to continuously improve tourism and leisure infrastructure and improve the quality of tourism and leisure services through evaluation. From the "China Excellent Tourism City Inspection Standard (Trial)" and the creation of " China Excellent Tourism City " in 1998 , to the "China Best Tourism City Standard System" and the creation of " China Best Tourism City " in 2003 , to the "Tourism and Leisure Demonstration City" industry standard and the creation of " Tourism and Leisure City " in 2015. These standards and city selection activities have played an important role in promoting the development of urban tourism and leisure in China.

In contrast, the development trajectories of tourism and leisure in Chinese and Western cities are different. Under the pressure of post-industrialization urban transformation and residents' demands for improved community environment, Western cities began to plan and improve the city's leisure functions and serve foreign tourists. Chinese cities started with tourism development planning and gradually transitioned to urban tourism and leisure development to achieve host-guest sharing. The paths are different, but the end result is the same. The development of urban tourism and leisure is ultimately to meet people's needs for a better life. 

2. The power of culture behind the development of urban tourism and leisure

The tourism and leisure development modes and paths of cities vary with their size. Taking into account the geographical distribution of cities, the types of basic resources they rely on and their typicality, the research team selected Barcelona, ​​Orlando and Sydney as representatives of large and medium-sized cities, and Cancun, Rimini and Ubud as representatives of small towns.

Cancun has rapidly developed from a small fishing village into a world-renowned tourist city over the past three or four decades, and is a global model for the government-led development of urban tourism. Rimini is a coastal city in Italy with a rich nighttime leisure and entertainment life. In order to improve the " hedonistic " perception of nighttime entertainment life, Rimini launched the " Pink Night " festival in 2006. During the festival, the government and cultural groups decorated streets and urban facilities with pink, residents spontaneously decorated their shops or homes with pink, and tourists also actively decorated themselves with pink, making it a typical case of co-performing among stakeholders .

Ubud in Bali, Indonesia is a veritable small town. In addition to the lush green tropical jungle terraces, Ubud is full of artistic atmosphere and has many art museums and galleries. In addition to the development of Bali's tourism industry, the artists and craftsmen behind the culture and art that support its continued development and attractiveness are the artists and craftsmen behind the culture and art. As early as the 1920s and 1930s, the arrival of European painters formed an art community in Ubud, which cultivated a large number of local artists. To this day, many artists come here to find inspiration. Similarly, Jingdezhen's local and domestic and foreign ceramic artists ( " Jingpiao " ) also constitute the internal driving force for the sustainable development of cultural tourism and leisure in this small town. In order to further stimulate nighttime cultural tourism consumption, Jingdezhen actively creates and promotes the " Yezhushan " urban cultural tourism and leisure brand, and is gradually enhancing the city's cultural soft power.

Coastal leisure is an important part of tourism and leisure in many cities around the world, and this is also true for Qingdao. According to the domestic coastal city evaluation survey conducted by the China Tourism Research Institute, Qingdao is well-known as a coastal leisure city in the minds of domestic tourists, and tourists' satisfaction with all aspects of the city is almost higher than the national average. Coastal leisure is the foundation of Qingdao's tourism and leisure development, but on top of it, Qingdao has expanded its cultural landmarks, enriched its cultural tourism and leisure formats, products and scenes, and continuously improved its commercial leisure supporting facilities, from the earliest trestle to the May Fourth Square, to the Qingdao Beer Museum and the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center. In the future, Qingdao will also develop into a tourism and leisure city with distinct cultural characteristics, like many large and medium-sized international tourism and leisure cities.

3. Leisure tourism with cultural experience as the core

From the perspective of international tourists, the survey results jointly conducted by the China Tourism Academy and Google show that cultural experience continues to be the main factor attracting foreign tourists to China. From the perspective of domestic tourists, the proportion of cultural leisure is increasing. According to the cultural consumption survey data of the China Tourism Academy, in 2022 , more than 90% of the respondents said they would make cultural consumption during their travels. The top five cultural experiences that tourists like most are watching plays and exhibitions, checking in at literary and artistic places, visiting cultural venues, performing arts / festivals, and folklore experiences. It can be said that domestic tourists have turned from seeing mountains and rivers to fireworks on earth. 

IV. Development Trends and Suggestions of Urban Tourism and Leisure

Based on the practical experience of the development of tourism and leisure cities around the world and combined with the characteristics of tourists' tourism and leisure consumption, the report summarizes the development trend of tourism and leisure cities. Overall, with the improvement of living standards, people have higher demands for culture, entertainment, leisure and other aspects. Tourists pay more attention to interaction and participation in the tourism process to gain a deeper understanding and experience of urban culture and lifestyle. Tourism cities are moving towards urban tourism , and the city itself constitutes the attraction of tourist destinations. The high-quality development of urban tourism and leisure must first focus on the needs of tourists, adhere to the people-centered development concept, and build tourism and leisure cities that satisfy the people .

From the perspective of the core key elements and driving forces of urban tourism and leisure development, " culture " , " technology " and " sustainability " are the most core keywords. World tourism and leisure cities rely more on cultural characteristics to shape their distinctive personalities, rely on digital technology to empower urban tourism and leisure development, and pay more attention to green and sustainable development. In the future, the high-quality development of tourism and leisure in China's cities must be based on openness and mutual learning, and explore a Chinese-style urban tourism and leisure development model by " learning by doing " . Highlight the cultural background, promote the deep integration of culture and tourism, and build a tourism and leisure city with outstanding cultural temperament and charm. In terms of urban development space, we should not only focus on the main urban area, but also take into account the satellite cities, small towns and rural areas within the administrative jurisdiction to build a rural tourism and leisure city.

Finally, Dr. Liu Xiangyan, on behalf of the research team of the China Tourism Academy, announced the top ten domestic coastal leisure cities in the hearts of tourists. They are: Sanya, Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen, Haikou, Qinhuangdao, Beihai, Zhuhai, Weihai and Ningbo (the above ranking is in no particular order).

Contributor | Liu Xiangyan

Editor | Zhang Danyang

Proofreading | Yang Liqiong

Source | China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism)