Beijing, 6 June (ZXS) -- Question: Internet celebrity cities are frequently appearing, how can "traffic" become "retention"?
——Interview with Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Research Institute
China News Agency reporter Kan Feng
Since the beginning of this year, from Zibo, Shandong, which was set on fire by barbecue, to Jiangmen in Guangdong and Bengbu, Anhui, which were brought on fire by film and television dramas, to Qiandongnan Guizhou, which was led by "village BA" and "village chao", Internet celebrity landmarks and Internet red cities have emerged one after another.
What is the "out of the circle" password of the Internet celebrity city? How can city managers take advantage of the Internet's traffic dividend? China News Service "China Focus Face-to-Face" invited Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Research Institute, to interpret.
Excerpts from the interview are as follows:
Is the city's "out of the loop" accidental or inevitable?
China News Agency: When some cities suddenly became popular, many netizens had this question: Why did traffic fall on them?
Dai Bin: Internet celebrity cities often have some trigger points that can resonate. If these Internet celebrity cities have characteristics, their characteristics are grounded, that is, we often say pyrotechnics, where the scene is closely related to people's lives, and people are willing to participate and experience. In addition, the city's popularity is also due to the fission-like communication model of emerging media, everyone has a microphone, and network traffic can be quickly aggregated into a focus topic.
Of course, the active actions of local governments, optimizing public services, and taking advantage of the situation to enhance the city's popularity and reputation are also one of the factors for the city's popularity. Therefore, the popularity of cities is not only an accidental factor of traffic dividends in the Internet era, but also the inevitable result of the comprehensive effect of multiple internal factors.
Data map: On the evening of June 6, the opening ceremony of the "National Hemei Rural Basketball Competition (Village BA)" was held in Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Photo by China News Agency reporter Qu Honglun
China News Agency: You mentioned the characteristics of Internet celebrity cities becoming popular, so what are the commonalities and differences between them compared with traditional tourist cities?
Dai Bin: This needs to start with the development stage of China's tourism industry. Since the first National Day Golden Week in 1999, there has been a rise in China's mass tourism, and people in that era were keen to visit places of interest and historical sites, such as visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi'an, and the landscape in Guilin.
Now, China's tourism industry has entered a new stage of mass tourism. In the past, people ridiculed that "the motherland's mountains and rivers are not beautiful, all rely on the tour guide's mouth", but now with the help of the Internet, people prefer to "walk and go" independent travel, treat tourism, and more and more people have shifted from herd psychology to rational consumption. At present, those famous traditional tourist cities and well-known scenic spots in the past are still the fundamentals of mass tourism, but more small and medium-sized cities and niche attractions with relatively low tourism costs have begun to enter the public's field of vision. For example, the "flat tourism" often said by netizens is a phenomenon. Tourists' rational and self-help consumption behavior has made more and more emerging tourist destinations sought after.
Therefore, the "out of the circle" of Internet celebrity cities is actually an external manifestation of changes in the tourism market and changes in consumption patterns.
Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Research Institute, was recently interviewed by China News Agency's "China Focus Face-to-Face". Photo by China News Agency reporter Yi Haifei
Instead of looking for traffic passwords, it is better to grasp the underlying logic
China News Agency: When many people analyze the "out of the circle" of Internet celebrity cities, they will mention one reason: people's intimacy for human fireworks in the post-epidemic period. How to view the social psychological factors behind the popularity of cities?
Dai Bin: Today's younger generation, especially the "Z generation", is more choosing tourist destinations from "tall" to "small luck", and they prefer that my itinerary be my decision, so "flat tour", "reverse tour" and "special forces tourism" are sought after by netizens, which reflects that the subculture of the younger generation is impacting traditional tourism culture.
Behind this phenomenon, on the one hand, is the transformation of consumer psychology. For example, the cost of staying in a small city for a week may be equivalent to the cost of a day in a popular tourist city. On the other hand, community psychology is also at play. For example, college students go to Zibo to eat barbecue, or people of a certain age group go to a music festival or concert, these people are similar in age and experience, and they can evoke common youth memories together, which are all reflections of psychosocial factors in the tourism industry.
Infographic: A chef at a barbecue restaurant in Zibo, Shandong Province, grills meat skewers. Photo by China News Agency reporter Liang Ben
China News Agency: Now that some cities will take the initiative to create some Internet celebrity labels for themselves, how can cities weigh the costs and benefits of competing for network traffic?
Dai Bin: There is a law of diminishing marginal benefits in economics, and there is also such a law in Internet celebrity cities. For example, if you are excited when you check in an Internet celebrity landmark for the first time, you will still be happy the second time you go, but then everyone says that this is an Internet celebrity landmark, and you may not be interested. Therefore, tourism needs the phenomenon of Internet celebrities, but the phenomenon of Internet celebrities is not the whole of tourism.
A good tourist destination has its basic logic of development. For example, high-quality lifestyle, perfect business reception environment, modern urban governance system and governance capabilities.
High-quality lifestyle, although we will choose different tourist destinations, but more will choose places with higher living standards than our cities; Perfect business reception environment, that is, when we go out to travel, local hotels, travel agencies, resorts, etc., not only must be complete, but also optional, should provide a perfect business environment and cultural facilities; The modern urban governance system and governance capacity means that we should have high-quality public services during tourism, and the personal safety and legitimate rights and interests of tourists can be guaranteed.
Many cities are looking for "traffic passwords", but I think that instead of studying other people's "passwords", it is better to grasp the operation laws of these tourism economies and grasp the underlying logic of the development of tourist destinations.
Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Academy (right), recently gave an exclusive interview to China News Agency's "China Focus Face-to-Face". Photo by China News Agency reporter Yi Haifei
China News Agency: This year, the phenomenon of "rolled up cultural and tourism bureau directors" has also attracted attention, and many netizens suggested that "instead of the director of the bureau rolled, it is better to roll up urban services".
Dai Bin: This year, we have seen many cadres of cultural and tourism departments appear as heroes and fairies to promote urban cultural tourism resources, and the starting point is good, especially for the vast central and western regions, it is an exploration to promote themselves. However, the "first person to eat crabs" is eye-catching, but if it is a "swarm" to follow the trend and imitate, it is a bit overdone, and all localities should innovate the communication of the city's image according to their own characteristics. Netizens are hotly discussing "the director of the cultural and tourism bureau is out of the circle", in fact, what we hope is that people remember a city, not a certain director.
In addition, it must be clarified that the functional positioning of the cultural and tourism department is to cultivate the image of tourism destinations, publicize and promote tourism destinations, make local tourism development planning, and manage tourism market order, etc., which is the main business of work.
Therefore, it is still necessary to return to the underlying logic of tourism economic operation and improve the city's quality of life, commercial reception environment, and public service level. If these basic work cannot keep up, even if the director of the cultural and tourism bureau praises the city as beautiful as a flower, but tourists are disappointed after going, which becomes the embarrassment of "seller show" and "buyer show". The cultivation of tourist destinations requires wisdom and patience, which is consistent with the level of local economic and social development.
Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Research Institute, was recently interviewed by China News Agency's "China Focus Face-to-Face". Photo by China News Agency reporter Yi Haifei
Traffic ebb and flow, testing city managers
China News Agency: For cities, sudden traffic may also be a "double-edged sword". For example, the challenge of traffic to the carrying capacity of the city, and the rush of the tourism industry and catering industry, do you have this concern?
Dai Bin: I am also paying close attention to this phenomenon. I often say that the operation of the tourism economy is the superposition of foreign consumption and local consumption. In my mind, the better tourist destination should be "a new space for a better life shared by hosts and guests". That is to say, tourists come or not, our common people here live like this, tourists come is nothing more than one more person, one more pair of chopsticks.
However, in the process of developing tourism, some tourist cities or cities based solely on tourism, when local consumption capacity is limited and urban development depends on a large number of foreign consumption to promote, it is easy to form a tidal phenomenon, which is not conducive to the operation of tourism economy and the development of urban industrial chain and supply chain. For Internet celebrity cities, the sudden arrival of traffic may put the entire city in an unstable state, which is also a big test for urban management.
Where the common people live a life every day beating gongs and drums and wearing red colors, everyone lives a long life, and the city cannot expect to rely on traffic to develop. I hope that cities can follow the laws of tourism economy and the underlying logic of the development and growth of tourism destinations, and follow a stable, healthy and sustainable development model.
Data map: Chongqing's two rivers and four banks are brightly lit. Photo by Chen Chao
China News Agency: Many people think that Internet celebrities are short-lived, for cities, what should they do when the traffic is gone? How to turn traffic dividends into urban internal forces?
Dai Bin: First of all, we must adjust our mentality. If the ultra-high flow rate is maintained all the time, the city is overloaded every day, and it will not be able to eat itself. When the flow has a high tide, there is a time when the tide is low.
When the flow of traffic recedes, cities need to cultivate new momentum, especially those that support sustainable development. For example, many of our Internet celebrity cities, in addition to the human fireworks, should we cultivate a little more book aroma? The development of modern tourist destinations should strive to become a new space for a better life, from "theater" to "wet market".
The "vegetable market" represents one aspect of our daily life, but with the improvement of people's living standards, we must also pay attention to the "theater" of the city, so that the consumption needs of citizens and tourists can move from material life to spiritual vitality. It not only allows citizens and tourists to experience fireworks, but also allows them to experience the aroma of books, and work cultural connotations, so that tourists can appreciate the magnificent beauty of mountains and rivers, experience the temperature of life, and appreciate the humanistic atmosphere and urban connotation.
Of course, when the traffic tide rises, do not refuse, do not turn away guests, and respond rationally. On the one hand, objectively evaluate its own carrying capacity and pay attention to the tourism experience of tourists. It can't be that after the tourist comes, you tell him that "I can't receive it", which will turn the tourist's expectations into complaints and damage the image of the city. On the other hand, to provide high-quality urban services, this requires the efforts of market players and government agencies.
Therefore, in the face of traffic, city managers should have a rational mentality, clearly understand the rising and low tide of traffic, and put effort into daily life. (End)