Research on Countermeasures for Empowering High-Quality Development of Cultural and Tourism Integration with Digital Economy ()
1. Introduction
The report of the 20th CPC National Congress proposes: “Adhere to shaping tourism with culture and manifesting culture with tourism, and promote the deep integration and development of culture and tourism.” As a bridge connecting history and modernity, culture and economy, it is especially crucial to realize high-quality development, which is of great significance for China to build a cultural and tourism powerhouse with global influence and competitiveness. The high-quality development of the integration of culture and tourism refers to the state in which culture and tourism achieve coordinated development through an integrated form that enhances their capabilities in both directions. The result of the high-quality development of the integration of culture and tourism is that culture “empowers” tourism and tourism “enables” culture. They are interlinked and move forward hand in hand.
At the same time, the digital economy has become an important engine of global economic growth, profoundly changing the pattern and operation mode of traditional industries. The digital economy has become the first power of innovation-driven development of the culture and tourism industry, which profoundly affects the culture and tourism industry, and with the help of digital technology to promote the integration of industry, innovation and industrial development, it has become an important focus point to realize the breakthrough of the bottleneck of the culture and tourism industry. Digital economy, with the help of big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and other cutting-edge technologies, can effectively promote the organic combination of the cultural industry and tourism industry, and promote the tourism element and cultural elements to be comprehensively excavated. The digital economy can help the tourism industry to comprehensively perceive, accurately analyze, and intelligently manage the city’s cultural and tourism resources, and provide tourists with a more personalized, convenient, and intelligent tourism experience. The digital economy can promote the digital protection and innovative use of cultural resources, expanding the boundaries and connotation of the culture and tourism industry [1] [2].
However, in the process of cultural and tourism integration, the role of the digital economy has not been fully stimulated; therefore, guiding the digital economy to enable the integration of cultural and tourism high-quality development is still an important topic that needs to be studied in depth at this stage. This paper analyzes the impact mechanism of the digital economy enabling the development of cultural and tourism integration, and puts forward relevant suggestions on the follow-up digital economy enabling the high-quality development of cultural and tourism integration, in order to provide assistance to practitioners.
2. Mechanism of Digital Economy’s Influence on the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism
Enabling the spatial expansion of the integrated development of culture and tourism. From a geographical perspective, the digital economy has broken the geographical limitations of the traditional cultural and tourism industry. The development of online travel platforms enables tourists to learn about tourism resources around the world and make reservations and plan their trips without leaving home. Some niche tourist attractions in remote areas have attracted a large number of tourists and expanded their source market through the dissemination of the Internet and social media. Meanwhile, digital technology has promoted the integrated online and offline development of the cultural and tourism industry, expanding the spatial dimensions of industrial development. Online virtual exhibitions, cloud tourism, and other forms complement offline physical tourism, providing consumers with more diverse choices. For instance, the online exhibitions launched by museums enable visitors who cannot be present in person to appreciate precious cultural relics, thus expanding the scope of cultural dissemination. In addition, the digital economy has also promoted the integration of the cultural and tourism industry with urban space. By building smart tourism cities and enhancing the cultural and tourism service functions of cities, every corner of the city has become a spatial carrier for cultural and tourism experiences.
Enabling the upgrading of cultural and tourism fusion industry products. Digital technology has brought rich innovative means to the integration of culture and tourism, promoting the upgrading of business forms and products. In terms of content creation, technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and holographic projection can digitize cultural resources and create immersive cultural and tourism experience scenarios. For instance, the “Digital Treasure Pavilion” application launched by the Palace Museum, by leveraging 3D modeling and AR technology, enables users to fully appreciate precious cultural relics through their mobile phones, as if they were in a virtual exhibition hall of cultural relics, breaking through the limitations of traditional exhibitions in terms of space and time. For instance, the immersive drama “Sleepless Night” in Shanghai has created a multi-scene interactive space through digital technology. Viewers can choose their own plot clues and deeply participate in the development of the plot. This innovative form of viewing and performance has greatly enhanced the audience’s experience and sense of participation. Meanwhile, digital technology has also promoted the cross-border integration of the cultural and tourism industry with other industries, giving rise to new business forms. The integration of culture and tourism with e-commerce, through forms such as live-streaming sales, promotes local characteristic cultural and creative products and tourism commodities, expanding the boundaries of cultural and tourism consumption. Taking TikTok live-streaming as an example, many traveling experts have attracted a large number of consumers to buy through live broadcasts of local cultural and tourism products, ranging from exquisite traditional handicrafts to local specialties. In addition, based on big data analysis, cultural and tourism enterprises can accurately grasp consumer demands and develop more personalized products. For instance, Ctrip Travel Network uses big data to analyze users’ travel preferences, consumption habits, and other information, and customizes exclusive travel routes for users, covering one-stop services such as hotel reservations, scenic spot ticket purchases, and recommendations of characteristic restaurants, which has greatly enhanced tourists’ satisfaction and experience. For instance, among the top ten cases released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the murals of Fahai Temple are based on technologies such as virtual reality, multi-channel automatic projection splicing and fusion, and digital virtual humans. Through technological means like 360-degree dome cinemas and fully immersive cave systems, a comparative interpretation of the murals of Fahai Temple is conducted in terms of time and space dimensions. The Fahai Temple Mural Art Museum offers a close-up display of the wonderful details of the local murals, bringing traditional murals to life. Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition Park is also based on virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things technologies, deeply integrating the virtual world with the real physical landscapes within the space. Through personalized tour guide equipment, it enhances interactive experiences and forms an immersive science popularization and interactive exploration space in the Plant Pavilion of Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition Park. All these fully demonstrate the powerful force of digital technology in promoting the product upgrade of the cultural and tourism integration industry [3] [4].
Enabling the optimization of the operation mechanism of cultural tourism integration. In terms of management and operation, the digital economy provides efficient tools and methods for the integration of culture and tourism. Big data, cloud computing, and other technologies can help cultural and tourism enterprises achieve refined management and improve operational efficiency. Through real-time monitoring and analysis of tourist flow and consumption data in scenic spots, enterprises can rationally arrange resources and optimize service processes. For instance, based on the prediction of tourist flow, scenic spots can allocate staff in advance, reasonably control the number of tourists entering, avoid congestion, and enhance the comfort of tourists’ visits. Meanwhile, digital technology has also transformed the marketing model of the cultural and tourism industry. Social media, short-video platforms, etc., have become important channels for cultural and tourism marketing. Through precise push and word-of-mouth promotion, the popularity and influence of cultural and tourism products can be rapidly enhanced. In addition, the digital economy has also promoted the coordinated development of the cultural and tourism industry. By establishing industrial alliances and data sharing platforms, it has achieved information exchange and resource sharing among enterprises between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, optimizing the industrial ecosystem.
3. Strategy of Digital Economy Empowering the High-Quality Development of Cultural Tourism Integration
1) Deepen product innovation and create digital cultural and tourism products
Continuously increase the investment in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), holographic projection, and other digital technologies in the development of cultural and tourism products, in-depth excavation of the characteristics of the cultural resources of each place, to create more immersive and interactive cultural and tourism experience projects. Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, for example, can further use of digital technology, not only to achieve high-definition digital display of murals, but also combined with VR technology, so that tourists feel as if they were in the ancient caves to create a scene, to feel the process of mural creation, to enhance the depth of the cultural experience. At the same time, to encourage cross-border integration of the cultural tourism industry and e-commerce, film and television, games, and other industries, the development of diversified cultural tourism derivative products. For example, combining popular film and television IP to create thematic tourism lines, launch film and television with the same cultural and creative products; the use of game engines to develop cultural and tourism theme games, through the game to promote tourism destinations, to realize the synergistic development of multi-industry, and enhance the added value of cultural and tourism industry. In addition, make full use of big data analysis technology to establish a dynamic consumer demand feedback mechanism, adjust and optimize cultural tourism products in a timely manner according to market changes, provide more accurate and personalized services for different consumer groups, and meet the increasingly diversified needs of consumers [5].
2) Expand development space and build a digital cultural tourism ecology
Further strengthen the construction and optimization of the online tourism platform, integrate global cultural and tourism resources, and provide tourists with intelligent itinerary planning, personalized recommendations, and other services using artificial intelligence technology, so as to enhance the convenience and accuracy of online tourism services. For cultural and tourism resources in remote areas, comprehensive and multi-angle publicity and promotion are carried out through short-video platforms, social media, and other channels, combining with forms such as net red carding and live broadcasting to visit stores, so as to attract the attention of more tourists. Actively promote the in-depth integration of online and offline travel scenes to create a new model of “cloud tourism + field experience”. For example, museums can launch online exhibitions while organizing offline digital art exhibitions, so that after understanding the cultural relics online, the audience can further experience the charm of culture through digital interactive devices offline. In addition, taking the construction of smart cities as an opportunity, digital technology is integrated into urban cultural tourism facilities and public services to create smart scenic spots, smart neighborhoods, etc. The intelligent management of scenic spots and facilities is realized through IoT technology, and high-speed information services are provided by using 5G networks to create a more convenient and comfortable cultural tourism environment for tourists, and to expand the dimension of the development of the cultural tourism industry in the urban space [6].
3) Optimize operation and management, and enhance the effectiveness of digital cultural tourism
Accelerate the establishment of a perfect cultural tourism big data monitoring system, integrate multi-dimensional data such as tourist flow, consumption behavior, public opinion feedback, etc. in scenic spots, and use big data analysis and cloud computing technology to realize real-time monitoring and accurate prediction of the cultural tourism market, providing scientific basis for the decision-making of the cultural tourism enterprises and the management departments. According to the data forecast, the scenic spot can formulate the diversion plan for holiday visitors in advance, and optimize the commercial layout and service facilities configuration in the scenic spot. Innovative cultural tourism marketing mode, give full play to the communication advantages of social media, short video platforms, and other new media, combined with content marketing, event marketing, and other means, to create a cultural tourism brand with topicality and communication power. For example, by organizing online cultural tourism live festivals, launching cultural tourism topic challenges, and other activities, attracting users to participate in the interaction, and enhancing the popularity and reputation of cultural tourism products. At the same time, it actively promotes the construction of the cultural tourism industry alliance, builds a data-sharing platform and a collaborative cooperation mechanism, promotes resource integration and complementary advantages between enterprises upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, realizes information sharing, technology sharing, and market co-expansion, improves the overall competitiveness and operational efficiency of the cultural tourism industry, and promotes the high-quality development of cultural tourism integration.
4. Conclusion
The vigorous development of the digital economy has brought unprecedented opportunities for the high-quality integration of culture and tourism. This article delves deeply into the influencing mechanism of the digital economy, empowering the integration of culture and tourism, and puts forward specific strategic suggestions from the perspectives of deepening the innovation of business forms and products, expanding development space, and optimizing operation and management. Through these studies, we clearly recognize that the digital economy is not only the core driving force for the innovation-driven development of the cultural and tourism industry, but also the key path for promoting the high-quality development of the integration of culture and tourism. However, the potential of the digital economy in empowering the integration of culture and tourism still needs to be further explored. In the future, we need to keep a close eye on the cutting-edge development of digital technology, actively explore more innovative application scenarios, and at the same time, strengthen policy support and guidance to promote the in-depth integration of the cultural and tourism industry with the digital economy. Only in this way can we truly achieve high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry, build a cultural and tourism power with global influence and competitiveness, and inject new vitality into the sustainable development of the economy and society.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the associate editor and the reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions, which improved the quality of the paper.
Funding
This work was supported by the Key Project of Art and Science in Shandong Province: Research on Countermeasures for Empowering the Integration of Culture and Tourism with High Quality Development through Digital Economy (25ZR20021813).
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.