The first Global Confucius Institutes Shandong Cultural Tourism Promotion Summit, jointly organized by Hanban (the Office of Chinese Language Council International) and the Shandong Provincial Tourism Development Commission, was successfully concluded in Qufu. This summit aimed to disseminate the profound culture of Shandong and shape the overseas image of the “Hospitality Shandong” brand, using over 1,600 Confucius Classrooms worldwide as channels. Together, they created a new collaborative model of “Han Language and Culture Dissemination Platform + Local Study Travel Cultural Tourism Resources,” opening a new window for the world to understand Shandong’s culture and tourism.
At this summit, the global headquarters of the Confucius Institutes and the Shandong Provincial Tourism Development Commission reached multiple cooperation agreements. The first batch of 44 overseas Confucius Institute directors were awarded the title of “Confucius Tourism Ambassadors.” Experts such as Liu Lening, Director of the Confucius Institute at Columbia University, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Head of the Chinese Department at Columbia University, and Feng Haolie, Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of West Flanders in Belgium, shared their perspectives from an international viewpoint on the international value of Shandong’s cultural tourism and the application of Shandong tourism elements in overseas Confucius Institutes. Their insightful speeches and clear strategies earned high praise and recognition from the attendees.
Through this innovative and pragmatic strategic partnership, 30 Confucius Institutes around the world will also join in promoting Shandong’s cultural tourism. By establishing Shandong tourism promotional hubs, producing multilingual versions of Shandong tourism materials, organizing “Hospitality Shandong” tourism promotion events both domestically and abroad, and utilizing Confucius Institutes’ online and offline media to promote Shandong’s cultural tourism, overseas tourists will gain a deeper understanding of the hometown of Confucius. At the same time, Shandong’s outstanding culture and rich, colorful tourism resources will continue to enter the global spotlight.
After the summit, domestic and foreign experts, scholars, and more than 60 overseas travel channel partners conducted on-site inspections of Shandong’s cultural tourism resources. By visiting ten major cultural tourism destination brands—including the Oriental Sacred Land, Peaceful Mount Tai, Spring City Jinan, Ancient Capital of Qi, and Fairyland Coast—they were able to further experience and connect with Shandong. In recent years, Shandong has continuously innovated in overseas tourism marketing and promotion. By introducing preferred methods for selecting overseas tourism marketing channel partners, establishing “Shandong Tourism Experts,” and inviting overseas channel partners to conduct inspection tours in Shandong, the province has continuously enriched, improved, and standardized its overseas marketing system. According to statistics, the Shandong Provincial Tourism Development Commission has established cooperative relationships with 68 tourism channel partners in 15 countries and regions overseas, and the number of certified “Shandong Tourism Experts” has reached over 2,100.
As the birthplace of Confucian culture, Shandong’s millennia-old cultural heritage is unparalleled by other regions. The “Hospitality Shandong” tourism image, along with its rich humanistic and natural tourism resources, serves as the best vehicles for culture and lays a solid foundation for the development of cultural tourism. The new model of cultural tourism promotion created by the Global Confucius Institutes Shandong Cultural Tourism Promotion Summit organically integrates Chinese language teaching with study-travel cultural tourism, achieving an international and diverse mode of cultural dissemination. It opens a brand-new window for people overseas to better understand Confucius, Shandong, and China. At the same time, it injects new vitality into inheriting Shandong’s traditional culture, shaping the “Hospitality Shandong” brand image, and expanding the overseas tourism market.