Promoting cultural inheritance and development with tourism and promoting tourism upgrade with culture. It’s not a simple combination of culture and tourism, but a high-level integration which is a new economic growing point full of local cultural element.
In recent years, cultural and tourism industries have been playing a more and more important role in China’s economic and social development. Tourism is an effective carrier for cultural promotion and an opportunity for Chinese culture to go out and in turn, culture offers driving force for tourism upgrade, transformation and sustainable development. As early as 2009, the former Ministry of Culture and the former China National Tourism Administration established “Guidance of the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism” to push forward the integrated development of culture and tourism to step on a standard progress road. The writer holds that currently, there are following ways of development.
First, historical and cultural streets, a culture and tourism integration based on the spirit of a place. Historical and cultural streets are regions with the strongest atmosphere. They are composed of large-scale historical architectures and abundant cultural relics, reflecting the history of cities in a complete and authentic way. Folk culture is the feature of historical and cultural streets and is closely linked to urban life. Development of streets should be based on the maintaining of their traditional appearance and folk culture and business promotion which means to introduce catering, hotel, entertainment industries and soon, so as to create a modern public leisure space combined with the traditional culture. In this way a geographical space can be transformed into a place for tourism and cultural consumption and a bridge connecting people, culture and history is built in an innovative cultural experience. Meanwhile, a cultural scene in daily life is activated in the interaction of “inheritance and consumption” and the spirit of an urban space can also be shaped in a special cultural space. In this process, historical and cultural memory is relived; urban culture continues; the attraction of tourism is improved; protection and development are coordinated as well as traditional culture and tourists’ eating, living, moving, traveling, shopping and playing are closely connected, so historical and cultural streets became the most-easily identified cultural signal for cities.
Second, tourism town, a cultural and tourism integration based on industrial value networks. The definition of a tourism town is a space whose main business is tourism service, based on the development of value-rich natural ecological culture and social culture in the local region. The town construction must be a part of the overall tourism planing. A tourism value network with the form of “tourism+” must be constructed with clear cultural positioning and guidance for tourism demand as well as within suitable geographical space. Relating departments should gather all cultural elements to create tourism projects and to upgrade tourism, like folk customs experience, theme home-stay and cultural art festival. The government also need to combine production, living, ecological and tourism space; use tourism as a carrier; introduce differentiated industries like characteristic agriculture, characteristic industry and characteristic leisure industry; study the content of local culture to launch culture-experience project, so as to expand the production, living and ecological space to tourism space; to promote local characteristic culture to tourists and to improve economic and social benefit.
Third, theme park, a cultural and tourism integration based on the evolution of theme park. The 30 years development can be divided into 4 periods, including landscape simulation, miniaturized landscape, amusement park and theme park. It has witnessed simulating landscape, entertainment facilities and story introduction, the core of the transition is the more and more profound study of the cultural value. At the end of the 2017, there were more than 2500 theme parks in China and 13 of the 20 Asian theme parks with most visitors were situated in China. The market of theme parks is thriving with local one expanding, including Overseas Chinese Town, Fantawild, Wanda, Chimelong and other Chinese theme parks. The key to establish and run a theme part is to use science and technology to make effective and seemingly real shows of popular cultural IP within a specific space. The task is in line with Chinese responsibility of this era which is to “tell China’s story well”. Fantawild tell China’s stories through content creation, science and technology research and project launching, all of which are based on traditional Chinese culture. The enterprises also has an integrated industrial China of “invention, research, production and selling” to develop a cultural IP conducive to the sustainable development of the theme park. Those IP are reflected in the park’s tourism factors. In this way, a platform of all processes is presented, composed of “cultural supply, local brand shaping, cultural presentation and cultural export”, stimulating tourists’ warm feeling towards local cultures.
Forth, cultural innovation industrial park, a cultural and tourism integration based on innovative space. In the October of 2017, 10 parks including the cultural tourism industrial park “Summer Mountain Resort in the 21st Century” gained the qualification to be included in the first batch of national cultural industrial demonstration park. Cultural innovation industrial parks are launched with tourism resource and in a specific area; attract diversified capital investment; improve local infrastructure with the influence of tourism development; promote local culture; attract cultural enterprises and encourage system enterprises to move in as well as set up cultural spaces and multi-functional parks gathered with local tourism resource and tourism innovation. Xi'an Qujiang Cultural Industry Investment Group built a cluster of cultural tourism industrial chains with the development theory of “culture+tourism+city” based on abundant cultural heritage, before it became the cultural tourism brand with most creativity and the most rapid development speed.
Fifth, large-scale performance against a natural background, cultural and tourism integration based on stage representation. Tourism art and performance are showed in scenic areas with a certain degree of popularity. Local cultures are presented in a profound way with technology of sound and light. Tourism performance enables tourists to have a whole-day experience in which “scenic beauty is seen in the day while shows in the night”. In this way, traditional cultures are more lively with innovative content and stunning space visual effect. The space to carry out these performance are natural scene stage, theme park stage and performance stage. The background of the first one is natural mountains and rivers and the whole stage is an independent tourist site, like the “impression” series. The leading program of the second one is shows, the theme park is created according to which to extend the industrial chain, like the “thousand-year romance”. The third one is an indoor theater which connects tourism in the day and enrich the cultural content of the scenic area, like the “Dream to Tang Dynasty” produced by Xi'an Qujiang Cultural Tourism Group.
Promoting cultural inheritance and development with tourism and promoting tourism upgrade with culture. It’s not a simple combination of culture and tourism, but a high-level integration which is a new economic growing point full of local cultural element. In an era focusing on “customers and experience”, as long as one can present a good show of local characteristic culture; study and transform content and feeling innovatively and add story and warmth to tourism experience, one can process the essence of the integrated development of culture and tourism. Tourism products can be injected with life with methods liked by people. The integrated development of culture and tourism is conducive to create a batch of strong cultural and tourism brands to inherit Chinese culture through tourism; tell China’s story well; support Chinese culture to go out; improve national cultural soft power; increase tourism attraction by injecting culture; creating new business for tourism and realize the upgrade and transition of tourism.