Wu Bihu: A new opportunity for culture and tourism industry to tide over the pandemic

Recently, Professor Wu Bihu, academician of the International Tourism Development Institute and director of the tourism research center of Peking University, was invited to share the " new opportunity for culture and tourism industry to tide over the pandemic " online in the second quarter of the weibo real estate experts lecture hall. What are the new opportunities of the pandemic? How can culture and tourism enterprises "save themselves"?

Host: some industries closely related to consumption, such as hotels, travel agencies, scenic spots, aviation, railways, catering, etc., have been severely damaged. Apart from consumption, what do you think are the negative effects in the short term?

Wu Bihu: Because the key to control the spread of the pandemic is to prohibit the flow of people, and tourism is the movement of people. One of the core concepts of tourism research is mobility. Without mobility, there will be no tourism. The most directly related industries of people's mobility have stopped, the related industries will certainly be affected, and tourism behavior will not happen. Besides, I think the biggest impact is psychological. Why do people fear ghosts? Because people are afraid of things that they don't know and have uncertainty. The biggest impact of this pandemic is the perception and response to the uncertainty. There is uncertainty in all walks of life. The uncertainty of tourism may be one of the biggest industries. How to understand the uncertainty, control and management uncertainty is the concern of the government and enterprises.

Host: now many scenic spots are gradually open, such as some scenic spots in Sanya. Do you have any tips for these open or to be opened scenic spots / service industries / enterprises?

Wu Bihu：Please take a look at the map of the pandemic situation published every day. Wuhan is the center of the map. The cities near Wuhan are relatively red, which indicates that the pandemic situation is serious and the color far away is light, such as Tibet. This is the regular pattern of geographical distance attenuation. The further away from it, the less impact, because there is less communication. Considering the long-term closure or non start-up of the enterprise, the economic pressure of the enterprise and the pressure of the people's life are very large. It can be started gradually according to the situation. According to the regular pattern of distance attenuation, the farther away the enterprise is, the earlier it can be started.

Host: Mr. Wu is very concerned about the integration of culture, tourism and technology. Now more and more scenic spots are starting to make online products, online tourism, visit and develop online zoos. Do you think there will be new changes and trends in the integration of technology and culture tourism? Will this industry be popular because of this pandemic?

Wu Bihu：During this period, museums and scenic spots can not be opened, and there is a lot of free time for product upgrading. For example, Daming Palace takes advantage of the closed period to upgrade and change contents, which is an opportunity. 5g technology is particularly fast, and some video conferencing apps have gained a large number of users in the near future. After the pandemic, including remote office, conference, and social organization will change. But tourism needs tourists to go to the scene. Tourists need to move to the destination or get into the attraction, while the network can not bring people to the scene. Human activities may be replaced by AI, but face-to-face direct communication cannot be replaced, and place experience cannot be replaced. It is certain that technology can improve the speed and convenience of transportation and make tourists have more rich tourism experience. In addition, before tourists go to the tourist destination, the acquisition and pre involvement of a large number of information will change greatly, that is the destination marketing will change greatly.

Host：Netizens asked if the pandemic would hit the small and medium-sized enterprises in the travel industry?

Wu Bihu：There must be a hit. Some enterprises may not survive. There is a saying called " Dividend to be paid", which means that most of them have not survived, and those who survive will develop well. So, be strong, dying enterprises should continue to insist and survive to meet the rebound of consumption.

Expert profile

Wu Bihu

Wu Bihu is a member of Experts Committee of World Tourism Cities Federation, a professor at Peking University. His research mainly focuses on urban and regional tourism planning, the system of tourism research subjects, the ring and spatial structure of urban tourism development, landscape protection and tourism development, and tourism destination brand in historical regions.