By Wang Chuanjiang and Wu Hongyu
Recently, the Tourism Association of Yunnan Province paid an exchange visit to the Communication University of China, centered on the theme "Deepening Culture-Tourism Integration and Creating New National Trends Together." This initiative has build a collaborative bridge between local culture-tourism industries and the academic resources of higher education institutions, injecting fresh impetus into the transformation and innovative development of Yunnan's cultural and tourism resources toward a national trend.
Panoramic view of the symposium – Yunnan Tourism Association representatives (left) and CUC representatives (right)
During the symposium and subsequent discussions, both parties conducted in-depth exchanges on key topics, including the exploration of Yunnan’s national trend culture, the incubation of cultural and tourism IP creativity, and the development of a collaborative ecosystem integrating "government, industry, academia, research, and application."
Liu Xuesong, President of the Yunnan Tourism Association, emphasized that as a pivotal platform serving Yunnan’s entire tourism industry chain, the association is driving the transformation of Yunnan’s tourism industry from a "service-focused" model to a "deep empowerment-driven" one. This external engagement implements the association's "seeking wisdom externally and connecting upward" strategy. Yunnan possesses rich intangible cultural heritage from 25 ethnic groups, with unique ecological and historical assets. Turning these resources into China Chic trends that resonate with Gen Z’s aesthetic tastes has become a central issue for the upgrading of the local cultural and tourism industry.
Zhou Yang, Vice President of the Yunnan Tourism Association, pointed out that the cultural and tourism industry in Yunnan is currently undergoing a critical phase of transformation and upgrading. The region possesses profound historical and cultural resources along with distinctive natural landscape IP. However, Its attractiveness to younger audiences needs to be further boosted. Boosting secondary consumption through multifaceted approaches , such as the design of cultural and creative derivative products, has become a pivotal strategy for boosting industrial revenue.
Liu Xuesong, President of Yunnan Tourism Association and Zhou Yang, its Vice President
Professor Huang Xinyuan, the Party Secretary of the School of Animation and Digital Art at CUC, expounded on the industrial development path of the integration of national trends from an academic perspective. Taking the animated film "Jiang Ziya" as a practical case, he expounded on how to convert local cultural resources into cultural products that resonate with contemporary audiences through systematic research and creation, realizing the coordinated development of cultural value and industrial ecosystems. He also emphasized that Yunnan's ethnic culture, mythological stories and intangible cultural heritage resources are precious treasures for the integration of national trends, and the cultural genes within them have the potential to create a contemporary audio-visual language aesthetic system.
Professor Huang Xinyuan, the Party Secretary of the School of Animation and Digital Art at CUC（Source: Baidu)
Xu Ruozhao, an associate professor at the School of Animation and Digital Art and the director of the Institute of National Trends at CUC, stated that the integration of national trends is not a mere superficial overlay of cultural symbols, but rather a systematic deconstruction and innovative reconstruction of the cultural core. The Institute of National Trends of CUC is willing to partner with the Yunnan Tourism Association to jointly explore the development path of cultural and tourism resources in the form of national trends. Relying on the advantages of interdisciplinary research and industrial linkage, it aims to achieve mutual empowerment through practical exchanges.
Associate Professor Xu Ruozhao, Director of the Institute of National Trends at CUC
During the exchange, the delegation from the Yunnan Tourism Association also visited the School of Animation and Digital Art, the Digital Human Research Institute, and the National Trend Research Institute of Communication University of China on site. They observed firsthand the cutting-edge achievements of the integration of digital technology and national trend culture, as well as the academic accumulation and practical cases of the university in the fields of cultural creativity, IP incubation, and digital media.
Yunnan Tourism Association delegation visiting the School of Animation and Digital Art at CUC
Both sides have reached a consensus on cooperation. In the future, they will uphold "resource integration and complementary advantages" as the core principle, promote the in-depth integration of the digital art innovation forces of universities and the characteristic cultural and tourism resources of Yunnan, explore practical approaches to the transformation of local tourism into a national trend, and strive to build a benchmark model for the high-quality development of China's cultural and tourism integration.
Participants from Yunnan Tourism Association and Communication University of China
Editor: Fang Yiran
Managing Editor: Shao Jianyu
Editor-in-chief: Yu Ran, Yang Zhongtian
