Analyzing The New Path of Cultural and Tourism Integration

Development in Quanzhou

Jingwen Shi

Business College, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang City, Henan Province, The People's Republic of China

Keywords: Integration of Culture and Tourism, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Cultural Tourism, Quanzhou.

Abstract: As an important policy in response to the Chinese “14th Five-Year Plan”, cultural and tourism integration has

a certain degree of fragmentation and limitations, which affects the comprehensive exploration of new paths

of Cultural and Tourism Integration. The article selects Quanzhou City as a case study, analyzing the

advantages and disadvantages of the integration of culture and tourism and proposes corresponding measures

to promote further development of cultural and tourism integration in Quanzhou. The study found that there

is a natural resonance between promoting cultural heritage preservation and upgrading the tourism industry.

However, issues such as an imbalanced development relationship between the two and inadequate integration

of cultural and tourism resources under the context of Cultural and Tourism Integration. Thus, there is a need

to enrich the form of Cultural and Tourism Integration, innovating the development model, and exploring new

paths of Cultural and Tourism Integration.

1 INTRODUCTION

On July 25, 2021, Quanzhou, as the 'China's World

Ocean Trade Center in Song Dynasty (960-1279) and

Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368),' successfully passed the

review of the 44th session of the UNESCO World

Heritage Committee and was officially inscribed as a

World Heritage site. It includes 22 representative

elements, making it China’s 56th World Heritage site

(Ying et al, 2021). Quanzhou is a famous historical

and cultural city located on the southeast coast, not

only is it an industrial powerhouse. There are also rich

and unique intangible cultural heritages such as

Nanyin Music, puppet shows, chest slapping dance,

and Southern Fujian Culture of red brick architecture,

which are listed in the World Cultural Heritage List

and at the same time the starting point of the Maritime

Silk Road, with certain international influence, the

development of Cultural and Tourism Integration has

obvious cultural advantages and regional

characteristics. In recent years, the Quanzhou

government has responded to the strategy of

promoting the integrated development of culture and

tourism put forward in the Outline of the 14th Five-

Year Plan of the State, and has vigorously promoted

the integrated development of culture and tourism.

Cultural and Tourism Integration refers to the

synergistic development of culture and tourism,

through resource integration, exchange and

interaction, and complementary advantages, to

innovate cultural expressions while developing

tourism, and to promote the upgrading of the tourism

industry while inheriting culture, the core of which

lies in the promotion of the in-depth fusion of culture

and tourism and high-quality development, which in

turn drives the development of the social economy,

and at the same time, Cultural and Tourism

Integration is the new goal and mission of the Chinese

government in the context of a new era. Chinese

practicing the new goal and mission of socialist

thought with Chinese characteristics (Liu et al.,

2022). Therefore, the promotion of Cultural and

Tourism Integration in Quanzhou is conducive to the

promotion of local economic development and social

progress, improving local infrastructure, promoting

cultural innovation and inheritance, enriching the

attractiveness of the city brand of “Song-yuan China

- maritime Quanzhou,” increasing international

influence, and attracting domestic and foreign tourists

to come and visit. Promoting Southern Fujian culture

and Hokkien enhances citizens' sense of cultural

identity and cultural self-confidence, and at the same

time, it can also provide reference significance for

other historical and cultural cities in China. However,

how to integrate Culture and Tourism Integration of

resources in a balanced manner, to present the result

that the force of the two together can exceed the role

Shi, J.

Analyzing the New Path of Cultural and Tourism Integration Development in Quanzhou.

DOI: 10.5220/0013976600004912

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Innovative Education and Social Development (IESD 2025), pages 187-193

ISBN: 978-989-758-779-5

187

played by the separate parts, how to avoid

homogenization of the Cultural and Tourism

Integration at the same time, how to promote new

paths for the integration of the two and the achievable

of the development of a new model have not been

sufficiently discussed. Therefore, this study is mainly

through sorting out the relationship between cultural

value and tourism resources, considering tourism as

the carrier of cultural development and culture as the

soul of tourism economy, based on the dialectical

analysis of the advantages and disadvantages in the

development of Cultural and Tourism Integration,

with the main purpose of promoting and inheriting the

culture in the development of tourism, and promoting

and developing the tourism industry while pursuing

the significance of the culture, and with a deep

understanding and implementation of a series of

Cultural and Tourism Integration Policies by the

government of Quanzhou. A series of Cultural and

Tourism Integration policies, combined with the local

cultural elements of performing arts activities

supported by the policy, non-heritage cultural

creations and tourism in the ancient city, expanding

the tourism industry and other projects, in the context

of digitalization, starting from the perspective of

cultural preservation, cultural and creative

development, economic development and other

aspects, to explore the implementation of a new path

of Cultural and Tourism Integration development to

answer the solution to the above problems.

2 ANALYSIS OF ADVANTAGES

AND DISADVANTAGES OF

CULTURE AND TOURISM

INTEGRATION IN

QUANZHOU CITY

2.1 Strengths

2.1.1 The Advantage of Policy Support

In recent years, China has introduced a series of

policies to support Cultural and Tourism Integration.

In China's 14th Five-Year Plan, it is clearly proposed

to promote the in-depth integration of the cultural and

tourism industries. China has set up economic support

programs for the development of cultural tourism,

such as establishing special funds, preferential

taxation and financial support. It has also formulated

relevant policies for the introduction of talent, which

is conducive to the cultivation of high-level talent for

the development of Cultural and Tourism Integration,

all of which provide macro policy support for the

development of Cultural and Tourism Integration in

Quanzhou City. Meanwhile, the Quanzhou municipal

government also attaches great importance to the

development of Cultural and Tourism Integration. A

number of local policies are in place to safeguard and

lay the groundwork for the development of cultural

tourism. Such as rewarding quality cultural works,

supporting cultural performances, enriching the form

of tourism, and developing the mode of “tourism

plus”.

2.1.2 The Advantage of Regional Location

As the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road,

Quanzhou is an important maritime trade interface

between China and Southeast Asia， the Middle

East and other regions, Quanzhou has unique regional

advantages that attract a large number of domestic

and foreign tourists to visit. At the same time,

Quanzhou has an international airport, several

railroad stations and ports. Among them, the ports of

Quanzhou and Jinjiang are important nodes for global

trade and maritime transportation. The advantage of

convenient transportation can lead to individual

tourism behaviour, but also as a guarantee basis for

the organic integration of culture and tourism.

Therefore, sea-land-air connectivity provides good

support for large basic transportation for Quanzhou

City, and tourists have a variety of travel options to

travel to Quanzhou easily (Shi et al., 2021). Good

external transportation is the basis for enhancing the

dissemination of cultural and tourism resources.

2.1.3 The Advantage of Humanistic and

Historical

Sites and landscapes selected as World Heritage Sites

have a more endogenous connection with local

identity, and Quanzhou, as a World Heritage City, is

rich in Southern Fujian culture, religious culture, and

overseas Chinese culture, and is a place where

multiple cultures converge (Sun et al., 2015).

Quanzhou City is an important part of the southern

part of Fujian Province. South Fujian has a unique

language, Hokkien, and a rich folk culture. Such as

the God Pageant Ceremony, Nanyin Music, flower-

pinning and chest-slapping dances. These folk

activities have created a wave of tourism in Quanzhou

in recent years. The historical relics such as the

Kaiyuan Temple, Mazu Temple, Mosque and

Catholic Church are the records of the fusion of

Chinese and foreign cultures in Quanzhou's religious

culture. At the same time, Quanzhou, as a famous

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“hometown of overseas Chinese”, has a long cultural

history. Overseas Koreans have taken root in many

countries and regions. Especially in Hong Kong,

Macao and Taiwan, as well as Southeast Asian

countries, where they have greater influence. The

source of visitors is mainly Chinese from Hong Kong,

Macao, and Taiwan who come to Quanzhou to do a

pilgrimage, visit relatives, do business study and

sightseeing, The large number of expatriates is an

important link between Chinese and foreign cultural

exchanges (Hong, 2013). These are unique and

important resources for Quanzhou City to face the

development of Cultural and Tourism Integration.

2.1.4 The Advantage of Natural Resource

Advantages

Located on the southeast coast, Quanzhou City has

the geographical advantage of the convergence of

mountains and the sea. The stone carvings and

temples on Qingyuan Mountain by which the majestic

mountain. The traditional sea defense architecture of

Chongwu Ancient City complements the magnificent

coastal landscape, creating an ideal place to combine

leisure tourism and cultural experience. The Gold

Coast is blessed with beautiful beaches and rich

marine resources, and the local temple of Logar

Temple, known as the “Buddha Land on the Sea”, is

the perfect sanctuary to enjoy the culture of the coast.

Quanzhou's natural landscape is a tourist attraction

and a natural stage for displaying history and culture.

Natural scenic spots such as Qingyuan Mountain,

Chongwu Ancient City and Gold Coast are combined

with rich history and culture, which have the dual

attraction of culture and landscape.

2.2 Weaknesses

2.2.1 The Shortage of Inadequate

Tourism-Supporting Elements

At present, Quanzhou's tourism infrastructure still

needs further improvement. Especially in terms of

scenic transportation facilities. Although the relevant

departments have redeployed their planning in terms

of bus frequency the number of parking spaces, and

the setting up of special tourist routes, a mature and

intelligent public service system for transportation

has not yet been formed, issues such as road planning

and road safety in scenic areas also need to be

addressed by proposing more sophisticated methods

(Huang, 2024). Moreover, the supporting

accommodation in Quanzhou should be further

planned. For example, reasonable pricing of

accommodation, basic requirements for

accommodation environment and facilities. Both the

infrastructure and the quality of services in a tourist

place are important influences on how good or bad

the tourist experience is. Existing problems in the

infrastructure of Quanzhou City may reduce the

satisfaction of tourists.

2.2.2 The Shortage of Talents

High-quality integrated development of Cultural and

Tourism Integration ultimately depends on talent,

which is the key to development, while talent

cultivation is the fundamental driving force and

important guarantee to promote the high-quality

development of Cultural and Tourism Integration

(Bai, 2019). At present, Quanzhou City lacks

professional and innovative talents who are deeply

engaged in the excavation and protection of cultural

significance, planning of cultural and tourism scenic

spots, and Internet marketing and promotion.

Insufficient innovation drive, local cultural and

tourism resources are difficult to fully explore, and

the resources of special cultural and tourist attractions

are difficult to systematically and effectively

integrated. At the same time there is also a lack of a

more professional self-media marketing team, in the

face of the Internet tourism boom the wind grasp is

not timely and accurate, the a lack of effective

promotion of more characteristics of the culture on

the Internet, and not enough external publicity.

3 CONTENT OF THE CULTURAL

AND TOURISM POLICY OF

QUANZHOU CITY

In recent years, the Quanzhou Municipal Government

has issued a number of cultural and tourism policies

to support the development of Cultural and Tourism

Integration, mainly focusing on the integration of

cultural and tourism resources, economic incentives,

the protection and development of the ancient city,

the heritage and innovation of the non-heritage, and

the digital technology in the era of big data, and is

actively exploring the development model of

“promoting tourism through culture and highlighting

the culture with tourism”.

3.1 Policies on The Integration of

Cultural and Tourism Resources

Quanzhou develops diversified tourism products,

Analyzing the New Path of Cultural and Tourism Integration Development in Quanzhou

189

including study tourism, red tourism, recreation and

health tourism, sports tourism, seaside tourism World

Heritage tourism and other “tourism + development

model”. It also improves tourism dynamics and

enhances the added value of the industry, including

optimizing the development pattern, improving the

transportation network, securing space supply and

strengthening infrastructure. At the same time also

actively utilizes the star effect, the introduction of a

special hairpin experience, and the use of “hairpin

around” detonation of Quanzhou cultural tourism, so

that more characteristics of culture go out. The

development of tourism in Quanzhou cannot be

separated from the blossoming of non-heritage.

Quanzhou as a world heritage city for the

development of tourism to lay a solid foundation,

such as Zanhuawei, string puppetry, and South

Shaolin martial arts, to strengthen the protection and

utilization of cultural heritage, for the development of

tourism to continue to power.

3.2 Policy on the Award of Outstanding

Literary and Artistic Works

Quanzhou City supports performing arts activities

with local cultural elements, such as Nanyin Music,

puppetry, Gaojia opera and breast-slapping dance. It

also rewards quality literary and artistic works that

reflect Quanzhou culture, such as the Nanyin Music

“Hundred Birds Returning to Their Nests” and the TV

series “Love Spells Win”. It also encourages the

development of small theatres and immersive

performance formats and promotes characteristic

culture and tourism innovation and heritage.

Quanzhou City supports the market-oriented

development of non-genetic inheritance and cultural

and creative products and encourages cooperation

between venues and cultural and tourism enterprises,

such as the Museum of Non-Heritage and the Fujian-

Taiwan Rim Museum.

3.3 Policies on The Protection of

Ancient Cities and The Inheritance

of Intangible Cultural Heritage

For non-heritage projects and characteristic

restaurants, in the old city of Quanzhou, the

government provides rent reduction and exemption

policies. Moreover, encouraging the conversion of

unused assets in old cities into cultural and tourism

uses, such as setting up non-heritage exhibitions,

street performances and non-heritage experience

halls. Through this, the city brand of “Song-yuan

China – maritime Quanzhou” and its cultural and

tourism IP will be actively expanded, and its

influence will be enhanced through the dissemination

of new media.

3.4 Policies on Digital Cultural Tourism

In the context of digital development, Quanzhou City

promotes the use of digital protection of cultural

relics, so that cultural relics “live up”. It is also

actively launching intelligent and digitized cultural

and tourism products, building a smart tourism

platform, improving tourism service information on

the Internet platform and providing digitized services.

Support the development of virtual tourism products

such as digital museums and digital heritage

museums. Relying on big data, in the process of

developing Urban Cultural and Tourism Integration,

digitalization is used to empower the cultural and

tourism industry, so that digital technology can

become a linking medium and play a role in

connecting traditional cultural resources and

innovative tourism experiences, and improve the

experience of cultural and tourism products (Zhou et

al., 2021).

4 EXPLORATION OF NEW

PATHWAYS FOR THE

INTEGRATION OF CULTURE

AND TOURISM

DEVELOPMENT IN

QUANZHOU CITY.

4.1 Create New Forms of Cultural

Tourism, and Strengthen Network

Marketing Times Add Heat

Transforming and upgrading from traditional tourism

to a combination of both culture and tourism,

developing cultural and tourism resorts, taking

advantage of geographical advantages, and

developing tourism products combining culture and

vacation. Visitors can not only enjoy the beautiful

scenery but also experience the traditional culture. It

also unites different fields such as animation, film and

television, museums and games to open up the

visibility of Quanzhou's tourism with the help of the

Internet, tell cultural stories, cause cultural resonance

among netizens, and attract tourists to Quanzhou.

Tourists are also encouraged to post their travel

diaries online to bring the Quanzhou Cultural and

Tourism tag to increase Quanzhou's exposure.

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4.2 Promote the Experience of Cultural

Tourism Products, Personal

Experience plus Good Feeling

Creating an immersive tourism model and setting up

cultural experience halls to add interactivity. Take

hairpins as an example, and add cultural experiences

such as Nanyin Music art, Dehua ceramic firing, and

puppet shows. Further development of ancient village

tourism areas, such as Wudian City, and Wulin

ancient villages these ancient residential scenic spots

intuitively show the characteristics of the red brick

architecture of the ancient houses of Southern Fujian.

The folk activities of southern Fujian will be

presented in the form of performances, such as the

God Pageant Ceremony, chest slapping dance, and

fire-dining male and female. It also sets up interactive

experiences during traditional Quanzhou festivals so

that visitors can experience the festive atmosphere

together. Culture as the warp, creativity as the weft,

digging deep into Quanzhou's unique Southern Fujian

culture, Southern sound, puppet shows and other

historical culture into the cultural and creative

industry, the non-heritage as the most valuable and

unique resources, transformed into cultural and

creative products in the living force, cultural and

creative products to convey the cultural value is the

correct and effective way of thinking, the use of the

provision of personalized cultural and creative

production experience, to enhance the sense of

participation of tourists in the local culture, and

deepen the tourists to the characteristic cultural

feelings (Yang, 2018).

4.3 Relying on Modern Technology

Times Promote Cultural and

Tourism Integration, Digital

Technology Times Increase

Experience

In the digital age, cultural and tourism products can

be digitally presented, on which a very influential

industrial cluster surrounding a certain cultural space

and tourism landscape can be created, Presenting

cultural stories in three dimensions to achieve a more

vivid and interesting effect, and the ideal market

reputation and positive consumer feedback can be

obtained, For example, VR/AR technology is utilized

to display the scenery of the ancient city of

Quanzhou, tell historical and cultural stories, and

reproduce scenes of Quanzhou folk activities (Zhao

et al., 2023). It can also make use of smart digital

platforms, such as applets and applications, to

showcase cultural activities such as Nanyin Music,

puppetry, and Shaolin Kung Fu, online. There are

multiple languages to choose from for audio

presentations, and different types of cultural

experiences to customize a personalized tour itinerary

based on visitors' interests and preferences.

4.4 Synergize the Common

Development of Both Culture and

Tourism and Use Talents times

Realize the Integration of

Resources

Efforts can be made to promote culture–tourism

integration in terms of resource integration, human

resource co-education and market sharing, this is a

good way to optimize resource allocation, improve

resource utilization efficiency and promote the

sustainable development of the industry (Song et al.,

2024). The Quanzhou municipal government

cultivates new cultural and tourism talents,

coordinates cultural and tourism planning, develops

thematic cultural scenic spots, digs deep into cultural

connotations, utilizes resource integration to develop

tourism while promoting and inheriting culture, and

pulls the tourism industry while pursuing cultural

significance.

4.5 Seize the Opportunities of the

Cultural Tourism Policy and Take

the Initiative times Integrate into

the Development of the “Belt and

Road”

For a long time, policy support has been an important

external driving force to prompt Cultural and Tourism

Integration. Under the environment of the 14th Five-

Year Plan for Cultural and Tourism, Quanzhou City

should seize the policy winds to vigorously

implement the development of Cultural and Tourism

Integration, and utilize the macro policy advantages

to promote the development of the local economic

and social society and improve the infrastructure

construction (Huang, 2021). Meanwhile, in 2013, the

important concept of “One Belt, One Road”

construction was put forward, “One Belt, One Road”

refers to the development of the “Silk Road Economic

Belt” and the “Belt and Road” refers to the

development of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and

the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” as a driving

force to form a new model of internationalized

regional cooperation, so as to contribute to the in-

depth development of economic globalization and

Analyzing the New Path of Cultural and Tourism Integration Development in Quanzhou

191

Chinese wisdom (Liu, 2015). As the starting point of

the Maritime Silk Road, Quanzhou should take the

initiative to integrate into the overall situation. the

port maritime infrastructure is strengthened,

increasing the throughput of foreign imports and

exports, using its advantage of overseas Chinese

hometowns, foreign publicity of the excellent history

and culture of Quanzhou, tapping into the

comprehensive effect of Quanzhou as a world

heritage site and the starting point of the Maritime

Silk Road, and vigorously develop Cultural and

Tourism Integration. Quanzhou should promote the

city IP of “Song-yuan China – maritime Quanzhou”,

improve the city's international influence, and attract

tourists at home and abroad. Moreover, international

cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation are

improved to contribute to the construction of the

“Belt and Road” pioneer zone.

5 CONCLUSION

Cultural and Tourism Integration is the mainstream

trend of the times. The policy responds to the national

“14th Five-Year Plan” to promote the in-depth

integration of culture and tourism to help social

progress and economic development and to help local

governments better integrate resources and promote

the coordinated development of culture and tourism.

The policy promotes industrial transformation and

upgrading, traditional cultural and tourism industries

are facing transformation pressure, and Cultural and

Tourism Integration provides a new direction for

industrial upgrading. It also helps to realize cultural

inheritance and dissemination, and the use of cultural

resources for tourism can enhance their vitality, and

cultural forms such as non-heritage can be revitalized

through tourism.

The development of cultural tourism in Quanzhou

has deficiencies such as imperfect tourism supporting

elements, shortage of talents, insufficient excavation

of cultural and tourism resources, and the risk of

imbalance in resource development. Quanzhou

cultural tourism should make full use of the

advantages of Quanzhou's regional location, human

history and natural resources to make up for the

disadvantages of development, relying on policy

support, using digital empowerment to create a new

cultural tourism industry, promoting cultural tourism

product experience, synergistic cultural tourism co-

development, and do a good job of the “One Belt, One

Road” pioneering zone.

The development of Cultural and Tourism

Integration in Quanzhou has obvious cultural

advantages and regional characteristics. The

combination of culture and tourism in Quanzhou City

has promoted cultural innovation and inheritance,

“revitalized” cultural heritage, integrated traditional

cultural elements into modern forms of tourism, and

revitalized its vitality; promoted local economic

development and social progress, optimized

industrial development, transformed and upgraded

from the traditional tourism industry to the

combination of culture and tourism, increased

employment opportunities, and improved

Infrastructure construction; using digital technology

to improve the quality of urban tourism services,

enriching the city's brand and attractiveness,

improving the city's image, enhancing the

competitiveness of culture and tourism, attracting

domestic and foreign tourists, and expanding the

international influence of Quanzhou City; serves the

national “One Belt, One Road” strategy and tourism

development planning, and to a certain extent can

provide a national reference case, not only for

Quanzhou City, but also for the development of the

city's tourism industry. It serves the national “Belt and

Road” strategy and tourism development planning,

and to a certain extent, it can provide a national

reference case, not only providing a unique

development path for Quanzhou but also a reference

for the combination of culture and tourism in other

famous historical and cultural cities in China. At the

same time, it also enhances the cultural self-

confidence and sense of identity of the public, so that

the cultural story of Quanzhou is more deeply rooted

in people's hearts so that Southern Fujian culture can

be everlasting and everlasting.

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