Artificial Intelligence based Innovation Path of Tourism Industry:

Empowering Wudang Wushu

Di Zhang*

School of Physical Education and Equestrian, Wuhan Business University, Wuhan, China

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, Innovation, Design, Wushu, Tourism Industry.

Abstract:

With the continuous development of science and technology, artificial intelligence characterized by internet+,

big data, intelligent analysis and other technologies is gradually producing technology-enabled effects on

different industries including tourism industry, and bringing innovation of industry operation mode and new

growth momentum. At present, some tourist attractions have made good attempts with the help of artificial

intelligence and achieved some good results. Currently, the development of Wudang martial arts tourism

industry is steadily rising, but there are also some problems such as traditional and old-fashioned operation

ideas and poor visitor experience. The author believes that, through in-depth research and analysis, finding an

innovative path for Wudang wushu (martial arts) tourism industry from the perspective of artificial

intelligence and trying to propose specific programs and measures will help to promote the continuous

development and prosperity of martial arts tourism industry in the region, and can also provide some

theoretical references and materials for other similar tourism industries.

1 INTRODUCTION

Sports tourism is becoming one of the most dynamic

sunrise industries in China, and in recent years, the

government has introduced relevant policies to

encourage, support and guide the industry. In the

second half of 2021, the sports industry in Hubei

Province, as a new growth point for economic

development to further consolidate its position. The

total scale of the province's sports industry exceeded

150 billion, and the added value of the sports industry

was nearly 70 billion. The 14th Five-Year Plan for

tourism in Hubei Province stated that Wudang

Mountain as a whole will be built into a tourism brand

with international influence.

The emergence of artificial intelligence has

promoted the continuous upgrading of the new era of

intelligence. As the tourism industry is a kind of

personalized leisure and entertainment demand of the

people, the traditional tourism of "walk and see" has

gradually lost its attraction, and the integration of

intelligence has started to become the main direction

of upgrading tourism products and services. The

author tries to analyze the pros and cons of Wudang

Mountain tourism from the perspective of artificial

intelligence, and proposes a better development path

based on artificial intelligence to promote the

optimization of Wudang Mountain tourism,

expecting to provide some constructive thoughts for

the development of sport tourism in that region.

2 OVERVIEW ON TOURISM

INDUSTRY OF WUDANG

WUSHU

2.1 Advantages and Prospects

Above all, there is continuous release of favorable

policies of artificial intelligence, Internet+ and

tourism from national level. In 2019, the General

Office of the State Council officially released the

guiding opinions on promoting the development of

all-area tourism (hereinafter referred to as the guiding

opinions), emphasizing the need to "strengthen

tourism services and improve the satisfaction index",

and clearly pointing out the need to "promote service

intelligence". 2020 In November, the State Council

executive meeting to determine the measures to

support the development of "Internet + tourism" to

meet the needs of consumer upgrading, the tourism

industry ushered in a new round of digitalization,

Zhang, D.

Artiﬁcial Intelligence based Innovation Path of Tourism Industry: Empowering Wudang Wushu.

DOI: 10.5220/0011719000003607

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Public Management, Digital Economy and Internet Technology (ICPDI 2022), pages 11-17

ISBN: 978-989-758-620-0

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

intelligent policy benefits. 2022 January, the State

Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" Tourism

Industry Development Plan". The Plan specifies that

a number of smart tourism cities, tourist attractions,

resorts, and tourist neighborhoods will be built, a

number of innovative enterprises and key projects in

smart tourism will be cultivated, digital experience

products will be developed, new tourism services

such as immersive interactive experiences, virtual

displays, and smart tours will be developed, and the

tourism scenario represented by "Internet+" will be

promoted. Construction

(https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=17

22521431988260964&wfr=spider&for=pc).

Furthermore, immense investment are being taken

by local government in Wudang Mountain scenic area.

Shiyan City takes cultural tourism industry as the

second pillar industry in the city to cultivate, the city's

A-class tourism scenic spots reached 85. The city

government has issued the "Implementation Opinions

on the Integrated Development of Culture and

Tourism Industry" and the "Incentives for Supporting

the Development of Culture and Tourism Industry in

Shiyan", etc. Every year, the city government

allocates 13 million yuan of special funds to reward

culture and tourism market players and brand

creation, and takes advantage of the construction of a

strong tourism province by the provincial government

to include Wudang Mountain and other core scenic

spots in the key support. In 2021, Shiyan was awarded

the medal of "The Most Beautiful International

Leisure Tourism City" at the awarding party of the

"Eritis Award". At the opening of China (Wuhan)

Cultural Tourism Expo at the Wuhan International

Expo Center, Shiyan was ranked 19th on the list of

the top 100 cities for recreation and tourism in China.

At present, the cultural tourism projects in Shiyan

City have entered a virtuous cycle of "reserve a batch,

start a batch, build a batch" (see the table below).

More than 20 cultural tourism projects, such as Zixu

Lake Carnival, Wudang Daming Peak and Wudang

Ski Resort, have been completed and operated. A

number of major cultural tourism projects, such as

Joy World, have been fully launched. The city's

cultural enterprises above the scale increased from 62

in 2017 to 148 today.

Moreover, there is rising Development Trend of

Wudang Mountain Tourist Area. Wudang Mountain

Tourist Area is a leading tourist industry in Shiyan

City and a famous business card of tourism of Hubei

Province (see table2). In September 2020, Wudang

Mountain Scenic Area was approved as the first batch

of forest recreation pilot units. In October 2021, in the

project promotion meeting and signing

activity of

"Chushan Huiyan Wudang on Health", Wudang

Mountain Tourism Special Economic Zone

successfully signed four key projects, involving big

tourism, big health, big culture and other fields, with

a total investment of about 4.8 billion yuan

(https://baijiahao.baidu.com/sid=1713915882311392

786&wfr=spider&for=pc). In November, at the

Hubei Culture and Tourism Key Project Investment

Signing Conference, Shiyan cultural and tourism

resources debuted in Wuhan, seven projects

amounting to 3.26 billion yuan were signed, four of

which were built around the tourism industry

resources of Wudang Mountain. During the May Day

holiday of 2021, Wudang Mountain scenic area

received 82,700 visitors. On the National Day of

November, Wudang Mountain Scenic Area received

nearly 60,000 tourists on holidays.

Table 1: Shiyan City cultural tourism projects.

Progress of cultural

tourism projects

Scale Description

Reserved

23 projects Entered the provincial major project planning project pool

46 projects Included in the provincial major projects scheduling

57 projects Entered the national support for new central budget projects

11 projects

Included in the national cultural and tourism business consumption

cluster support projects

In planning 243 projects

Planned for the 14th Five-Year Plan, with a total investment of over

100 billion yuan

Under construction 112 projects Cultural tourism with over 10 billion yuan of completed investment

Completed More than 20 In operation

ICPDI 2022 - International Conference on Public Management, Digital Economy and Internet Technology

Table 2: Increasing investment and projects of the Wudang Mountain Tourist Area.

Dates Items

Amount of

investment

Involved fields

November 2021

Signing

projects

3.26 billion yuan

Four of which were built around the

tourism industry resources of Wudang

Mountain

October 2021

Signing

projects

4.8 billion yuan

Big tourism, big health, big culture and

other fields

September 2020

forest recreation

ilot unit

TBD Comprehensive tourism sectors

Lastly, Wudang Wushu Tourism Resources are

expanding at a very fast pace. Wudang Mountain,

also known as Taihe Mountain, is located in Shiyan

City, which is a sacred place of Chinese Taoism and

the birthplace of Wudang Wushu. Wudang Mountain

Scenic Area mainly consists of Golden Peak Scenic

Area, Zixiao Scenic Area, Wulong Scenic Area,

Nanyan Scenic Area, Prince Slope Scenic Area and

Laoying Scenic Area, etc. The existing area is 312

square kilometers, with 53 surviving ancient

buildings, 27,000 square meters of construction area,

9 architectural sites and 5,035 pieces of various

cultural relics. Wudang Mountain is very rich in

tourism resources, with excellent ecological

environment, deep cultural heritage and

characteristics. The unique natural and humanistic

resources such as Taoist palaces, music, etc. are very

attractive, and the Wudang Wushu, which originated

in the area, deeply attracts visitors from all over the

world to come here to have a glimpse of Taoist

martial arts. Wudang martial arts are deeply

influenced by Taoist thought, advocating the

cultivation of the mind and martial virtues, focusing

on internal connotation and cultivation of the body.

Wudang Kung Fu is a valuable heritage of Chinese

culture and is also influential internationally. Today,

Wudang Quan, Taiji Quan and Taiji Sword are well-

known and loved by the public. Famous martial arts

schools such as Wudang Mountain International

Martial Arts Academy, Taiji Theater, Wudang

Kungfu Performance Group, "China Wudang Culture

and Martial Arts Festival", "Wudang Mountain

Martial Arts Tournament", "Wudang Quan

International Exchange Conference", "Wudang Quan

Kung Fu Theory and Technique Seminar" and other

martial arts events and seminars have also enriched

the content of martial arts tourism.

2.2 Disadvantages and Challenges

Firstly, the management awareness and level is in

urgent need for improvement. Relevant statistics

show that, up to now, the network coverage rate of

government affairs of party and government organs

has reached 100% in China at the central level, the

coverage rate of e-government networks at the

provincial and municipal levels has basically reached

more than 80%, and the coverage rate of government

affairs networks in districts and counties has also

reached 50%, so the construction of "Internet +

government services" has achieved initial results.

Although the level of government intelligence has

been continuously improved, the governance system

of the government is still largely not out of the basic

framework of the traditional system, artificial

intelligence is still regarded as a technical tool, the

understanding of its importance is no different from

that of the Internet, big data and other technologies,

the value of the preset positioning is to assist the

instrumental role of people, the understanding of its

still remains in the primary stage of "automation

machine" in the primary stage

(https://www.fx361.com/page/2019/0920/5574035.s

html). In Wudang Mountain tourism scenic area,

tourism management mainly relies on the

government-led, administrative force by the

government to promote, the management of both the

understanding of artificial intelligence-enabled

tourism, or the intelligent technology into the actual

tourism scene, are still very limited.

Secondly, there is inadequate innovation of

martial arts tourism patterns. In recent years, Wudang

Mountain has created a number of tourism patterns

with martial arts as its ace card. For example, the

large-scale kung fu show "Fantasy Wudang" has

become a must-see for visitors to Wudang Mountain,

which is a Wudang kung fu show lasting for more

than an hour. Then there are the Wudang martial arts

summer camps for young students from home and

abroad, and the organization of foreign tourism

groups to Wudang for martial arts health tourism

activities. Although they have higher reputation and

popularity, these martial arts tourism patterns are

mainly based on several forms of training, health care

and viewing performances, which are a more

traditional form of martial arts tourism. At a stage

Artiﬁcial Intelligence based Innovation Path of Tourism Industry: Empowering Wudang Wushu

Table 3: Wushu performance buildings invested by different tourist areas.

Pro

ect name Location Scale

Taichi Theatre Wudang Mountain

Covering an area of about 3.5 hectares, with a construction area of

about 12,000 square meters, including a main performance hall and

six other functional halls, which can accommodate an audience of

about 1,200 people, with 280 parking spaces

Martial Arts Hall of

Wushu Traning Center

Shaolin Temple

There are more than 550 seats in the martial arts hall and more than

2,200 regular performances every year.

Impression Taichi

Grand Space

Chenjiagou Village

of Wenxian County

With a total investment of 690 million yuan and a height of 18.2m,

the total construction area is 17,150 square meters, with an above-

ground construction area of 9,150 square meters and an

underground construction area of 8,000 square meters, and each

performance can accommodate 1,199 audience members.

Shaolin Flying Monks

Theatre

Shaolin Temple

The building has four basic functional zones with 614.8 m2. The

interior of the theatre is organized in three floors and includes all

the necessary premises and facilities for visitors and performers

(https://www.sohu.com/a/302652760_188910)

when tourism continues to develop in the direction of

intelligence and wisdom, the forms of martial arts

tourism are not yet rich enough and the innovations

are not yet bold enough.

Thirdly, the competition in the same category is

getting much more fierce (see table3). As mentioned

above, the main form of martial arts tourism in

Wudang Mountain is to watch performances and

participate in training courses to practice primarily.

The number of scenic spots that promote martial arts

tourism in this mode is big nationwide, and Wudang

Mountain faces extremely fierce competition. As an

example, Henan Province, which is geographically

close to Hubei, is a large province for martial arts

tourism, and is making great efforts to build a martial

arts tourism industry. For example, Songshan Shaolin

Temple in Dengfeng City, take Shaolin martial arts as

the brand, create Shaolin kung fu performance,

Shaolin martial arts short-term training, and promote

Shaolin martial arts tourism. The city of Jiaozuo, with

Taiji strategy to create a whole area of tourism,

promote Taiji events, performances, health, training,

vigorously develop the martial arts tourism industry,

and has achieved very proud results: To boost the

martial Arts tourism industry there, the local

government bulit a huge performance building called

Impression Taichi Grand Space in Chenjiagou

Village of Wenxian County where the renowned

Chen style Taichi was originated. The building is

empowered by multimedia digital technology, around

the 360°rotating stage, highlighting the ultimate

sensory experience and won the title of Bronze

Award in World Architecture News Network in 2020

(https://article.xuexi.cn/articles/index.html?art_id=1

1017956974277979545&sub_source=10020_1&sou

rce=10020&study_style_id=feeds_default&item_id=

11017956974277979545). In the face of strong

competition from many similar scenic spots, Wudang

Mountain is still under great pressure and needs to

find a breakthrough point to ensure competitive

advantage.

3 THE ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE TO

PROMOTE THE TOURISM

INDUSTRY

From the management point of view, there are various

types of managing and servicing objects in the

tourism industry such as tourists, tour guides, travel

agencies and scenic spots, etc. Through artificial

intelligence technology, awareness of big data and

extraction of useful knowledge, it can improve the

level of big data application and intelligent service

capability of tourism management. A better

satisfaction of a variety of physical, psychological

and social needs of tourists and travelers, resulting in

a meaningful and optimal experience, can make

tourism more efficient. From a consumer perspective,

AI-based travel has many benefits. Artificial

intelligence technology can make travel easier and

more convenient. Travelers no longer need to deal

with a lot of extraneous information, whether they are

planning a trip, traveling, or choosing a travel

program; travel is more personalized and targeted

through intelligent platforms that make it simple and

ICPDI 2022 - International Conference on Public Management, Digital Economy and Internet Technology

easy to enjoy relevant services. Artificial intelligence

technology can also innovate the travel experience,

allowing tourists to have a better sense of experience

under a new model empowered by AI.

4 INNOVATION PATH OF

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING

WUDANG WUSHU TOURISM

INDUSTRY

4.1 Artificial Intelligence Integrating

Wushu Tourism Resources

Every year, a large number of tourists are attracted by

Wudang martial arts to travel to Wudang Mountain.

The main martial arts tourism resources in Wudang

Mountain are undertaken and operated by different

organizations, which are independent of each other

and do not share information, and the channels for

tourists to obtain these martial arts tourism resources

mainly come from their own manual inquiries or

recommendations from travel agencies. If with the

theme of Wudang Wushu, a comprehensive

promotion platform is created and displayed

electronically to introduce the information of Wushu

tourism resources in the scenic spot in an all-round

way, the exposure rate of Wushu tourism resources

can be increased and the Wushu tourism industry can

be better promoted. At the same time, a special app

can be created in the online platform to introduce and

display Wudang wushu tourism resources, so that

tourists can easily inquire, understand, and make

reservations and choices, providing convenient

services for tourists.

There are a lot of wushu senarios taking place in

Wudangshan tourist area including stage show,

experiential practice, cultural experience, etc. Hereby,

the author proposes the following overall design

scheme to integrate wushu tourism resources and

deliver better services for tourists (figure1):

Figure 1: overall design scheme to integrate wushu tourism resources.

Artiﬁcial Intelligence based Innovation Path of Tourism Industry: Empowering Wudang Wushu

4.2 Artificial Intelligence Expanding

Martial Arts Tourism Events

As mentioned before, Wudang martial arts tourism

resources mainly focus on the categories of martial

arts performance, martial arts health care and martial

arts training courses, and in terms of tourism projects,

they are not very different from other similar scenic

spots. To vigorously enhance tourism attractiveness

and competitiveness, it is necessary to create a new

experience of martial arts tourism projects with the

help of artificial intelligence. For example, by

innovating the form of existing martial arts

performances, new technologies such as multimedia

technology, three-dimensional panoramic technology

and light and shadow technology can be used on the

stage to create a technology-led immersive martial

arts performance program that will surround the

audience with immersion. The strong participation

brings the audience a multi-sensory viewing

experience and enhances interactivity so that visitors

not only find it nice to watch, but also fun to

experience. The ability of the audience to participate

in the performance scenes leads to a dramatic change

in the viewing relationship of martial arts performing

arts, which directly affects the audience's viewing

behavior

(https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=165503172302936

3411&wfr=spider&for=pc). As the number of

visitors to Wudang Mountain has been growing, it is

also important to strengthen the penetration and

promotion for other general tourists with the help of

artificial intelligence technology. For example,

interactive robots for introducing martial arts

resources are introduced in the lobby of each major

hotel in the scenic area, implanting project

information and providing multilingual support in

advance. VR equipment can be equipped in guest

rooms to give tourists the opportunity to conveniently

experience Wudang martial arts culture and virtual

martial arts tourism experience when they stay,

expanding the potential participants of martial arts

tourism.

4.3 Artificial Intelligence Optimizing

Martial Arts Tourism Experience

For some existing martial arts tourism events, the

sense of experience can be optimized by artificial

intelligence technology. For example, some tourism

projects launch various kinds of experience sessions

and training courses of Wudang martial arts with

technical guidance by martial arts instructors, who are

usually professional martial arts talents. And the

participants are martial arts tourists from all over the

world, in the process of learning, language

communication is the biggest problem. If the multi-

lingual interaction is solved with the help of artificial

intelligence technology, the communication is made

tedious and delay-free. During the process of

experiencing the practice, you can communicate

instantly, which undoubtedly greatly increases the

attractiveness and experience of the program (see

table 4).

Table 4: Artificial intelligence application list.

scenarios recommended technology Quantity Remarks

Tourist district

scenario

Artificial intelligence interactive platform Mutiple sets

To improve tourist

experience

VR smart glasses equipment 1 set

Event scenario

Face recognition, self-service ticketing, and

auto-controlled gate system

1 set

To optimize event process

and experience

AI cameras Mutiple sets

AI real-time capture and video editing

software

1 set

People-to-people

exchange scenario

AI assisted equipment of martial arts

training

Mutiple sets

To assist in training and

international

communications

AI instant translator

Mutiple sets

ICPDI 2022 - International Conference on Public Management, Digital Economy and Internet Technology

5 CONCLUSION

Although AI is currently far from replacing human

intelligence, it has permeated all aspects of the

tourism industry. Therefore, the tourism field should

objectively understand the impact of AI, raise

awareness, and further theoretical sublimation of

tourism experiences that are personally meaningful

and beneficial to both society and the environment,

which will guide the future development of AI

(Ulrike GRETZEL, 2020). The Wudang Mountain

martial arts tourism industry has both opportunities

and challenges in its development. The author

believes that with the help of AI technology, it is

quite likely to propose a theoretical path to innovate

the form and overall experience of martial arts

tourism. AI can play as an important force to

empower the Wudang wushu tourism industry as

long as the local government, relevant organizations

and touring companies take good advantage of this

trending technology by formulating specific plans

and adopt corresponding measures to better improve

the various aspects of wushu tourism. As above

mentioned, they can provide more convenient

services for visitors through the introduction of AI

software and hardware. What's more, a more user-

friendly experience can be created on different

scenarios like training session and martial arts culture

exchange activities with AI technology. And for

those martial arts events on the touring spots,

innovation with AI technology can give tourists a

new audio-visual experience. In conclusion, with

proper and rational use of AI technology, we can

definitely promote and boost the regional sports

tourism industry.

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Ulrike GRETZEL, AND Xiang Zheng." Tourism in the

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Artiﬁcial Intelligence based Innovation Path of Tourism Industry: Empowering Wudang Wushu