Original Title: Snowy Fields Roundtable 2014: A Successful Dialogue on Cross-Sector Innovation in China’s Tourism Industry
Another winter solstice has come to Snowy Fields, and it’s time once again for a cozy fireside chat. This year, on the winter solstice, the “Snowy Fields Roundtable 2014: A Dialogue on Cross-Sector Innovation in China’s Tourism Industry” was held as scheduled. The event was hosted by the People’s Government of Laiwu City and the Shandong Provincial Tourism Bureau, organized by the Laiwu Municipal Bureau of Tourism, the Administrative Committee of Laiwu Snowy Fields Tourism Area, and DeAnJie Global Consulting Group, and supported by Qilu Securities Co., Ltd. With the theme of “Cross-Sector · Diversity · Integration,” the roundtable invited top representatives from various industries engaged in tourism cross-sector innovation to forecast trends in the new era, new challenges, and new landscape of China’s tourism industry development. Bi Sidong, Vice Mayor of the People’s Government of Laiwu City, delivered a welcome speech. Officials from Laiwu and other cities, heads of relevant districts, enterprises, key projects, important business partners from across the country, as well as central and local media attended the event. Some government guests even made a special trip from Shanxi to the roundtable venue after reading pre-event reports to learn from the experience.
After the event, the guests spoke highly of the three-year journey of the “Snowy Fields Roundtable.” This annual gathering has evolved beyond the realm of the tourism industry alone, becoming a meeting place for individuals with cross-sector influence in this great era. Each participant brings deep cultural insight and a distinct contemporary spirit. Within them resides an unwavering sense of responsibility amid a rapidly changing era, and a shared spark of inspiration born from cross-sector convergence. When this sense of responsibility and creative inspiration intertwine, they endow the “Snowy Fields Roundtable” with forward-thinking wisdom.
In a way, this wisdom is also a poetic presence—evoking the imagination like “Snowy Fields” and offering warmth like a “fireside chat.”
[Appendix] Snowy Fields Roundtable 2014: Ten Predictions on the Future Trends of China’s Tourism Industry
1. In response to the central government’s “Belt and Road” initiative, international exchanges and cooperation in China’s tourism industry will strengthen.
2. Accelerated implementation of paid leave policies will bring institutional dividends, making 2015 the first year of leisure and vacation in China; as paid leave becomes widely adopted in eastern regions, the first wave of leisure and vacation demand will peak around 2017.
3. Tourism driven by legal frameworks, disruption, and reconstruction will become the new normal.
4. As major e-commerce players such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu make significant inroads into the tourism industry, financial innovations like WeBank and crowdfunding travel will emerge as key drivers shaping consumer expectations.
5. Tourism will shift from fragmented travel patterns to those centered around core competitiveness.
6. Health and wellness tourism, as well as senior tourism, will grow rapidly, becoming a dynamic force in the elderly care industry.
7. The opening of low-altitude airspace will facilitate cross-sector integration between tourism and general aviation, bringing new aerial sightseeing experiences.
8. The tourism industry will develop richer cultural content, and brand image building will enter its 2.0 era.
9. Efforts to improve tourism quality will shift from focusing mainly on product and service standards to placing equal emphasis on enhancing both product/service quality and the civility of travelers.
10. The government will take strong measures to regulate the tourism market and order, bringing hope for improvement in the current chaos.