In the spring of 2023, a novel form of tourism emerged among college students, characterized by its brevity, tight itineraries, numerous destinations, and high intensity. This phenomenon has been dubbed“special forces-style tourism.”To examine the core attributes of this trend, this study analyzed online comments on social media platforms, leveraging a vast array of relevant textual data. First, a virtual ethnography approach was adopted to explore the origin and evolution of “special forces-style tourism,”followed by the application of text analysis methods to synthesize its fundamental features and emotional inclinations of“special forces-style tourists”toward it. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with active users who consistently provided high-quality, recently posted content, contributing significantly to the overall high frequency of posts in the history of the platform. Through thematic analysis, the study examined the nuanced characteristics, underlying causes, and repercussions of“special forces-style tourism.” The research findings indicate that “special forces-style tourism” possesses distinctive temporal, spatial, economic, and sightseeing features, setting it apart from traditional tourism models; its emergence is primarily attributed to peer influence, rapidly spreading among the younger demographic, particularly college students, via the Internet; it has both individual and collective impacts; and its features, causes, and effects can be conceptualized using a three-stage model. The contributions of this study are, first, clarifying the distinctions between “special forces-style tourism” and other forms like check-in tourism and budget travel, enhancing explanatory power from a peer-to-peer perspective; second, providing strategic insights for tourist destinations and attractions to cater to and attract“special forces-style tourists”; and third, offering guidance for young demographics emphasizing cultural immersion, self-identification, and self-image formation through tourism activities.

Based on the virtual tourism community context, this study adopts the S-O-R theory, social exchange theory and service scenario theory to construct a theoretical model of “customer-to-customer interactions—customer engagement—value co-creation interactive behavior” from the perspective of C2C interaction. An empirical study was conducted using 495 valid questionnaires collected by online and offline methods, and the data were processed and hypotheses were tested using SPSS26.0 and AMOS28.0 software. The study found that direct and indirect interactions between customers have significant positive effects on the cognitive, emotional, and intentional dimensions of customer engagement. However, differences exist in the effects of the sub-dimensions. Emotional and intentional dimensions of customer engagement have significant positive effects on users’value co-creation interactive behaviors, and mediate the effects of direct and indirect interactions on value co-creation interactive behaviors, respectively. Contrarily, cognitive engagement does not have a direct effect on value co-creation interactive behavior. This study provides a new perspective on value co-creation in virtual tourism communities, which will promote its sustainable development.

Promoting the high-quality development of rural tourism is a crucial path to fully realizing the rural revitalization strategy. Based on New Endogenous Development Theory, this paper constructs a theoretical model for the multidimensional high-quality development of rural tourism from the perspective of multi-actor collaboration and internal-external linkages. A quantitative empirical study is conducted based on survey data from 16 villages in 8 cities in Zhejiang Province (N=1,126). Using structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 4.0 software, the study finds: (1) The operation of tourism enterprises, local community involvement, and government policy support all have a significant positive impact on the economic, social, ecological, and cultural dimensions of high-quality rural tourism development. (2) Rural operational mechanisms drive local community participation, jointly promoting the high-quality development of rural tourism. (3) Government policy support effectively promotes internal community involvement and the operational engagement of tourism companies in rural areas. This paper provides a theoretical basis and practical reference for the policy design and innovative practices of high-quality rural tourism development.

With the increasing diversification of tourist needs in the rural B&B sector, enhancing tourist experiences and understanding the factors influencing and the interaction mechanisms of behavioural intentions are of great significance for the development of the B&B industry. Based on this context, this study applies the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) Theory to construct and empirically test a theoretical model exploring the impacts of nostalgic emotions, perceived value, and memorable tourism experiences on tourists’ behavioural intentions. The findings are as follows: (1) Nostalgic emotions significantly and positively affect perceived value and memorable tourism experiences. (2) Nostalgic emotions do not have a significant direct effect on behavioural intentions. (3) Perceived value positively influences memorable tourism experiences and behavioural intentions. (4) Memorable tourism experiences positively affect behavioural intentions. (5) Perceived value and memorable tourism experiences mediate the relationship between nostalgic emotions and behavioural intentions. This research provides theoretical support and empirical evidence for rural B&B operators to enhance tourist experiences and optimize development strategies.

With the rapid development of tourism, tourists have prioritized their internal emotional experiences. The relationship between tourism involvement and place attachment has become an important issue in the development of local tourism as it is an important indicator for analyzing and predicting tourists’needs. Therefore, it has been widely studied by the tourism industry and academia. This study takes Changsha City as an example and introduces tourists’perceived value as an intermediary variable based on the city’s tourism situation and relevant achievements. Additionally, it discusses the relationship between tourism involvement and place attachment. Studying the mechanism of tourist attachment and its promotion strategy is of great significance for sustainable destination development. The results show that: (1) The three dimensions of involvement significantly affect perceived value and place dependence, self-expression/centrality significantly affects place identity, and perceived value significantly affects place dependence and place identity. (2) Perceived value plays an important mediating role in the formation of tourists’place attachment. Perceived value partially mediates the relationship between attraction/self-presentation/centrality, place dependence and place identity. It is also a complete mediator between attraction and place identity. (3) Tourism involvement and perceived value are important drivers of place attachment.

The digital economy has increasingly become an important driving force of high-quality development, and understanding the internal laws that empower high-quality development in the tourism industry is of great significance. Based on the empowerment theory of the digital economy, this study constructed a dynamic analytical framework for the relationship between digital economy and high-quality tourism development and established a PSTR model using provincial panel data to explore the enabling effect and mechanism of the digital economy on the high-quality development of tourism. The results show that (1) the empowering effect of the digital economy on high-quality tourism development has dynamic nonlinear characteristics and has passed the robustness test of various methods. (2) The digital economy has the transmission effect of empowering high-quality tourism development through the efficiency and structure of the tourism industry. (3) The enabling effect of the digital economy on high-quality tourism development is regionally heterogeneous, and the empowerment effect is weaker in regions with higher economic development levels. This study enriches the theory of digital economy empowerment, providing policy suggestions for high-quality tourism development in the digital era.

Cultural resilience provides a new concept for the high-quality development of tourism destinations and their cultures, and a strong connection exists between them. Academics have also focused on the importance of the cultural resilience of tourism destinations. However, its research lineage remains unclear. This study uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method to comprehensively analyze the literature related to the cultural resilience of tourism destinations. It aims to clarify the existing research progress in terms of conceptual connotation, theoretical foundation, methodological application, and research focus, thereby providing future research directions. The results show that, first, the concept of the cultural resilience of tourism destinations is unclear, and its basic theoretical analysis needs to be strengthened; second, its research methods are mainly qualitative and need to be further explored based on mixed research methods; third, the applicability of the evaluation index system is limited, and an independent measurement system can be developed; fourth, the influencing factors of the cultural resilience of tourism destinations are weakly examined, and its antecedents and evolutionary process should be thoroughly analyzed; and fifth, the systemic nature of countermeasures to enhance the cultural resilience of tourism destinations is weak, and multiple paths need to be further explored. This study can fill the gap in the literature vis-à-vis the cultural resilience of tourism destinations and promote its theoretical understanding. Moreover, it lays the foundation for expanding and enriching the theoretical system of the cultural resilience of tourism destinations. It also helps highlight the research direction for enhancing cultural resilience.

Destinations generally face the important practical task of image construction and image renewal in their transformation and development, but the academic community lacks in-depth knowledge of the dynamic evolution law of their image dynamic evolution. In this context, this study takes Emeishan City as an example, based on web texts from 2011 to 2021, by diachronic dynamic analysis and multi-dimensional comparative analysis are made on the lexical expression and internal structure of the projected and perceived images, the dynamic evolution characteristics of tourist destination images are deeply discussed. This study found that: the differences in the ‘projected-perceived’ image of tourist destinations objectively exist, but converge over time; the core image of tourist destinations is highly stable, while the peripheral image is unstable; and the dynamic evolution of the image of tourist destinations is driven by a complex bidirectional role of official government and tourists. This study extends and deepens research on the dynamic evolution of the image of tourist destinations, and can provide methodological guidance for the construction and renewal of the image of tourist destinations.

Food festivals are important components and manifestation of festival and food tourism. However, compared with the booming food festival industry, theoretical research on food festivals is relatively scattered and lacks a cohesive system. To address this gap, this study analyzed 112 research articles on food festivals indexed in the WoS database from 1997 to 2023, and used bibliometric and content analysis methods to systematically review relevant domestic and foreign research results. The findings indicate that research on food festivals can be divided into three clusters: motivations and types of food festival participants, satisfaction of food festival participants, and the roles and impacts of food festivals. The results also present a development trajectory of different time periods. Using a framework-based systematic review, an innovative integration of research results on food festivals was conducted. Based on the theories, contexts, and methods framework, as well as the antecedents, decisions, and outcomes framework, existing research results were explained, and a structured view was outlined.

As the first national standard for the hotel industry in China, the hotel star rating standards have played a pivotal role in promoting standardized operations and effective supervision. However, in recent years, the guiding influence of these standards has been progressively diluted and even questioned, a phenomenon that academia has yet to fully explore. This research employs qualitative methods to compare and analyze the hotel star rating standards of China with those of international markets. By identifying key differences, it investigates the root causes behind the weakened impact of these standards. Key findings: (1) Discrepancies in Standards: Significant differences exist between Chinese and international hotel star rating standards in terms of regulations, content, structure, and evaluation processes. Compared to international standards, Chinese standards have become outdated, diminishing their effectiveness in guiding hotel operations. (2) The“de-star”Phenomenon: The trend of Chinese star-rated hotels abandoning their stars is influenced by governance methods, market dynamics, issues with the star rating system itself, and changing consumer demands. This trend has intensified with the entry of international hotel brands, evolving into a common challenge across the industry. This study is the first to compare Chinese and international hotel star ratings in depth, correlating these findings with real-world hotel operations to unearth the deeper reasons for the declining role of star ratings. It aims to offer valuable insights for the transformation and upgrading of the hotel industry.

Solo travel is becoming a trend in travel and is attracting considerable attention from domestic and international travel markets. The suitability of destinations for solo travel is important to travelers; however, current research lacks a focus on solo travelers’ destination preferences and their underlying mechanisms. This study adopts a qualitative research approach, based on the “means-ends” model, to explore the destination preferences of solo travelers and their underlying mechanisms at the destination and value levels. The results showed that: (1) Several key destination attributes, including features, landscape imagery, cultural imagery, local people, and local daily life affect destination preference. (2) Solo travelers’ value seeking includes freedom, escape, fun and enjoyment, self-reflection and self-growth. However, the value of “freedom” does not appear in the chain of destination perception and value seeking. (3) The attribute-outcome-value chain reflects the mechanisms inherent in the formation of destination preferences by solo travelers. This chain provides a clearer understanding of solo travelers’destination preferences, such as concrete attributes and abstract values. The findings of the study will help advance the study of solo travelers’destination preferences and the underlying mechanisms, and provide inspiration for the marketing and management in solo travel markets.

In recent years, an increasing number of hotels have introduced anthropomorphic robots to enhance customer service. However, service failures inevitably occur. Despite this, limited research has examined the impact of robot anthropomorphism on customer responses in the context of service failures within hotels. This study, grounded in mind perception theory and the Task-Technology Fit Theory, develops a theoretical model exploring the relationship between robot anthropomorphism and customer tolerance for service failures. Results reveal that customer tolerance for robot service failures decreases as the level of robot anthropomorphism increases. Anthropomorphism heightens customers’performance expectations (or empathy), which in turn reduces (or increases) tolerance for service failures. Furthermore, task type moderates the relationships between robot anthropomorphism and customer tolerance for service failures, performance expectations, and empathy. Specifically, when high-anthropomorphism robots fail at performing social-emotional tasks (or low-anthropomorphism robots fail at mechanical tasks), customers exhibit lower tolerance and empathy and have higher performance expectations. This research uncovers two novel mediation paths (performance expectations and empathy) by which robot anthropomorphism affects customer tolerance for service failures, expanding the applications of mind perception theory and task-technology fit theory.

As a core element of the tourism industry chain, research on tourism attractions holds significant academic and practical value. This study employs CiteSpace visualization software to analyze journal articles related to tourism attractions in the CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) database, generating a knowledge map of this research field. The findings reveal the following: (1) Author-level Analysis: High-output author groups have not yet formed; research topics exhibit diversification, but collaboration among authors remains limited, with a shortage of core research teams. (2) Institutional Perspective: Research institutions are predominantly concentrated in East and North China, with geographical and academic lineage factors playing significant roles. Institutional research capacities vary widely. (3) Development Phases: The evolution of research on tourism attractions can be categorized into four stages: initiation, activity, expansion, and adjustment. (4) Thematic Focus: Research themes primarily revolve around resources and development, economics and management, and technology and strategy. Finally, the study offers forward-looking perspectives on the future directions of tourism attraction research, emphasizing three dimensions: research methods, collaborative networks, and content development.

With the rapid development and widespread adoption of the internet, online communication between leaders and employees has become commonplace in hotel operations. However, there is scant academic focus on the effects of such communication on employees. This paper, grounded in cognitive appraisal theory, explores through four experimental groups how the use of emojis in online communications between hotel leaders and employees impacts employees’ perceived workplace enjoyment and the underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate: (1) The use of emojis in online communications by leaders affects employees’ perception of workplace enjoyment. (2) In positive contexts, emotional intensity mediates the relationship between leaders’ emoji use and employees’ perceived workplace enjoyment. (3) In positive (negative) contexts, employees’ empathy capability positively (negatively) moderates the relationship between leaders’ emoji use and employees’ emotional intensity. (4) In positive (negative) contexts, the leader-member exchange relationship positively (negatively) moderates the relationship between employees’ emotional intensity and their perceived workplace enjoyment. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms by which emoji usage in online communications influences employees’ perception of workplace enjoyment, offering practical guidance for hotel management in optimizing online communication strategies and enhancing communication effectiveness.

In tourism research, memorable tourism experience represents a popular perspective for evaluating tourism experiences. Kim, Ritchie, and McCormick (2012) developed a related scale applicable across various tourism contexts, though some controversies remain. This paper employs systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis methods to deeply explore international research progress on MTE, including its definition, differentiation, context, measurement, dimensions, antecedents, and consequences, and constructs a comprehensive research framework based on these findings. Key findings: (1) Memorable tourism experience can be defined as a post-travel experience sufficiently significant to be retained in long-term memory, with substantial influence on tourists’future behavioral decisions. (2) Research development can be divided into four stages: “germination period”, “formation period”, “development period”and“critical development period”. (3) MTE measurement currently relies on four main methods, for which this study provides in-depth analysis of applicable conditions. Regarding the seven-dimensional scale developed by Kim, Ritchie, and McCormick (2012) and its application in empirical studies, this paper finds that hedonism, involvement, novelty, and meaningfulness are the most prevalent dimensions for predicting tourist behavior. It also identifies potential new dimensions, including social interaction, perceived serendipity, negative feelings, and pleasure. (4) Based on CiteSpace literature clustering analysis, five major research themes are identified:“MTE frontiers”, “MTE modeling”, “cultural heritage tourism and experience co-creation”, “destination attributes and experience management” and “MTE and well-being”. Focusing on empirical research, the study systematically summarizes the driving factors, effects, and mechanisms of MTE. (5) For future research, six directions are proposed: conducting specific memory structure research across diverse populations, strengthening focus on negative MTE; promoting application of memory characteristic scales; expanding studies on MTE effects; constructing theoretical frameworks for memory management; promoting the integrated development of service-dominant logic.

In the era of “traffic is king,” place-making through social media has become a key approach for constructing destination images and widely disseminating the significance of places. They also influence tourists’ embodied practices and emotional experiences. To explore tourists’ emotional experiences in the context of social media place-making, this study considered the popular city of Zibo as a typical case. Using the grounded theory methodology, this study reveals the mechanism behind the generation of tourists’ emotional experiences in the context of social media place-making. These findings indicate that social media place-making is the process of constructing a distinctive place identity using social media platforms. The media catalyzes tourists’ emotional experiences through the process of “media gaze-media pilgrimage-emotional response.” Through “media gaze,” tourists receive place images shaped by other stakeholders and engage in discussions on social media, which guides their imagination and expectations of the destination, thereby stimulating their motivation for media pilgrimage. Onsite, tourists perceive the physical and humanistic spaces of a destination based on media-constructed symbols and their own experiences, reinforcing the interpretation of local meanings and strengthening their connections with the destination. Through this interactive process, tourists enhance their engagement and understanding of a place, thereby elevating their physical and emotional connections with the destination. This study highlights the significant role of social media in place-making, providing a typical case for constructing and inheriting local meanings in popular social media-driven tourist destinations. This study also deepens the theoretical exploration of tourist experiences at popular destinations shaped by social media.

Collecting relevant data in 2019 to construct inbound tourism flow circulation analysis indexes, using natural breakpoints, social network analysis, and the quadratic assignment procedure analysis method, while revealing the spatial distribution characteristics of China’s inbound tourism flow circulation and its influencing factors, the results show that, first, there are 117 inter-provincial, 25 inter-economic zone, and 7 intra-economic zone inbound tourism flow circulations, involving 26 provinces and regions; second, the spatial distribution of inbound tourism circulation intensity is “high in the east and low in the west,” and the matching degree of flow scale is “high dispersion and low agglomeration,” while the matching degree of flow preference of high, medium, and low levels are concentrated in the central-eastern region; third, there are some differences in the number and spatial distribution characteristics of inter-provincial, inter-regional, and intra-regional inbound tourism flow circulation types. Most of the inbound tourism flow circulation intensity, flow scale matching, and flow preference matching are not high, indicating that the quality of inbound tourism flow circulation in China is not high and needs to be improved; fourth, the inbound tourism circulation network shows a spatial distribution of “dense in the east and sparse in the west,” and the overall network density is low; fifth, the convenience of transportation, foreign economic trade, tourism resource endowment, economic development level, and tourism reception capacity are all important factors affecting inbound tourism flow circulation, and each factor has different effects on the intensity of inbound tourism flow circulation, flow scale matching degree, and flow preference matching degree.

In the context of a rapidly changing external environment and increasingly fierce competition, open innovation facilitates hotels in acquiring innovative resources, knowledge, and market opportunities through collaboration with external partners, thereby enhancing their innovation capabilities and competitive advantage. This study integrates open innovation theory with Population Ecology, employing a longitudinal single-case study of a typical hotel enterprise to dissect the formation, dynamic evolution, and driving mechanisms of the open innovation ecosystem in hotels. Analysis of theory combined with case studies indicates: (1) Phased Evolution. The open innovation process in hotels shows distinct phase changes, evolving with the different stages of hotel development, ultimately forming an open innovation system. (2) Dynamic Interaction. Within the evolving open innovation system, interactions between different populations, within populations, and among individuals within these populations are continuously dynamic. (3) Driving Mechanisms. The evolution of the hotel’s open innovation ecosystem is driven by a synergy of external environmental changes and internal corporate reforms. The different sources between driving force and their interactions at various stages propel the evolution of the open innovation ecosystem.

This research constructs a theoretical framework for the dynamic evolution of the hotel’s open innovation ecosystem, revealing the patterns and trends of its evolution across different stages of hotel development. It provides in-depth analysis of the sources of driving force and mechanisms driving this evolution, thereby broadening the study of open innovation ecosystems in the context of the hospitality industry and offering insights for promoting open innovation and achieving high-quality development in hotels.

In recent years, the concept of tourism-embodied experiences has become a prominent area in the field of tourism research. However, there is a paucity of investigations into the phenomenon of tourism-embodied experiences in the context of sporting events. Tourism experiences associated with sports events exhibit comprehensive attributes of both sports and event tourism. However, the specific characteristics and composition of this experience remain unclear. This study approaches the Guangzhou Marathon as a case study to investigate the tourism experience of participants in participatory sports events from an embodied perspective. It employs a combination of textual materials, including interviews, online social media data, diaries, and other textual materials, to adopt thematic analysis coding and combine it with IPA analysis. This approach was used to explore the characteristics and internal factors of embodied experiences during participatory sporting events. The findings revealed that the tourism-embodied experience in participatory sports events adheres to the mechanism framework of “participants’ body-event context-atmosphere interaction”. The degree of embodied participation in the event exhibited a trajectory from low to high and subsequently declined. Embodied experiences, emotional experiences, urban space cognition, and event feedback constitute tourists’ embodied experiences. In the actual perception process of tourists, event perception and positive emotions were rated highly, whereas negative problems arising from the embodied experience highlighted areas for future improvement. This study contributes to the expansion of the tourism experience. Sports event organizers should create a favorable event context for participants, develop attractive and competitive events, and promote the active participation of tourists.

The rapid development of rural homestays in China’s post-modernization economic and social transformation has become an important starting point for promoting rural revitalization and urban-rural integration. Its development prospects are broad, but there are problems such as investment generalization and over-commercialization at this stage, and scientific guidance is urgently required to achieve high-quality development. By clarifying the supply and demand characteristics of rural homestays in China, this study explores the main path to guide rural homestays to achieve high-quality development from two perspectives of “single homestay production and operation-destination response after homestay gathering.” It is suggested that rural homestays should adhere to the suitability choice of production scale, the multi-dimensional “rural” choice of characteristic production, the life choice of management service, the “standardization”choice of “non-standard” production, and the sharing choice of community element after the development of industrial agglomeration. Simultaneously, it is necessary to explore the construction of a “four-level and five-dimension” social effect evaluation system for the high-quality development of rural homestays, including the improvement of human capital quality, the resilience of the social ecosystem, the realization of community common prosperity, the construction of new social cooperation networks, and the stimulation of community belonging, to expand and refine the “human-land-industry-governance” logical framework. This study has guiding value for realizing multiple social benefits, such as harmonious coexistence and coordinated development of the homestay industry and rural tourism community.

The key to the development of new quality productivity and sustainable competitive advantage is to drive the strategic action of corporate social responsibility (CSR) step by step, consistently align with marketing techniques, and build an ecological alliance of responsible green supply chains. However, the CSR industry practice of tourism supply chain attracts less academic attention, and it also shows the phenomenon called“technique”and“strategy”division. Based on the realistic situation that service providers take offline strategic CSR actions and OTA exerts the advantages of online digital intelligence resources to proceed fit marketing, this study examines the game optimization strategy and channel coordination mechanism of tourism enterprises cooperating to create an online-to-offline supply chain under the transformation of digital intelligence. This study not only compares the optimal equilibrium strategies and performance differences among centralized decision-making, the Stackelberg leader-follower game, and the vertical Nash game but also designs a cooperative advertising-CSR cost-sharing strategy coordination contract based on the analysis of the cascading effect of CSR and the impact of the online commission ratio on supply chain marketing cooperation, CSR strategic decision-making, channel operation efficiency, and market value benefits. The study also verifies the coordination performance and sensitivity of the key parameters through simulation experiments. The results show that the CSR effect and commission ratio affect supply chain operational decision, market revenue, and the coordination effect of cooperative advertising. Stackelberg master-slave marketing cooperation is better than the Nash game equilibrium without advertising cooperation. The simple master-slave marketing cooperation, however, falls short of achieving the channel efficiency level of centralized decision-making and tends to deviate toward a Nash non-cooperative game during the dynamic evolution of commission ratio negotiation ability. The strategic cooperative contract that meets certain constraints is the Pareto optimal scheme in line with the current market situation and avoids the channel conflict caused by an increase in the commission ratio. This study extends research on tourism CSR theory of strategic segmentation to the strategic coordination management level of the supply chain and provides a decision analysis path for the strategic coordination optimization of CSR fulfillment (strategy), channel conflict coordination, and marketing cooperation mechanism. Based on the modern operational scenario of tourism enterprises, this paper propounds the Sinicized management theory thought of “From Tactic Strategy Separation to Technic Strategy Synergia” to promote the knowledge spillover of tourism disciplines and the construction of Chinese management discourse.

Culture-tourism integration policies are crucial for promoting the prosperity and development of China’s culture-tourism industry. By quantitatively evaluating such policies, this study offers valuable references for formulating future culture-tourism integration policies. This research selects 87 culture-tourism integration policy texts issued by various levels of government in China, and constructs a two-dimensional analytical framework: policy tools (X) and policy objectives (Y). Using NVivo 11 software, the study conducts a systematic quantitative evaluation and analysis of the textual content of these policies. The findings show that from the policy tools dimension, there is clear imbalance in the government’s use of policy tools. Learning tools, capacity tools, and incentive tools are used more frequently, while symbolic and hortatory tools and authority tools are used relatively less frequently. From the policy objectives dimension, the goals set for promoting culture-tourism integration are relatively balanced. However, some regional policies lack sufficient targeting and local characteristics. To address this, local culture-tourism departments should optimize policy supply by adjusting the allocation of policy tools, enhancing policy matching, coordination, and targeting. They should also emphasize the exploration and promotion of local culture, highlight regional uniqueness, and develop more targeted and distinctive policy measures.

Standardization serves as a crucial instrument for enhancing total factor productivity and driving high-quality development. Using the staggered implementation of tourism standardization pilot programs as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs the DEA-Malmquist index to measure tourism total factor productivity across 240 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019. A multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model is then applied to assess the impact of these standardization initiatives on tourism total factor productivity. The results demonstrate that tourism standardization significantly improves total factor productivity within the tourism sector, primarily through technological advancements. The robustness of these findings is validated using propensity score matching DID (PSM-DID), synthetic DID, and placebo tests. Further analysis reveals an inverted U-shaped moderating effect of entrepreneurial activity on the relationship between tourism standardization and total factor productivity. Moreover, the positive effects of standardization are amplified in cities with underdeveloped economies, limited tourism resources, and weak market credit. This study provides novel empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of tourism standardization in enhancing both quality and efficiency within the tourism industry.

New quality productive forces, as a novel driving force for the high-quality development of the tourism industry, essentially represents the result of collaborative innovation among“Technology-Factor of production-Industry” driving the tourism industry from pursuing quantity growth to focusing on value enhancement. This paper systematically examines the evolutionary logic of new quality productive forces that empower the tourism industry’s upgrading process. Based on Schumpeter’s innovation theory framework, it elucidates the connotative characteristics and collaborative innovation mechanisms of high-quality tourism development, and conducts a case study using the Impression·Sanjie LIU live performance as a typical example to deconstruct the“Technology-Factor of production-Industry”collaborative innovation ecosystem of new quality productive forces driving high-quality tourism development. The research findings reveal the following: technological innovation achieves Pareto improvement of factors of production through digital empowerment, effectively reducing marginal costs and expanding economies of scale, thereby generating factor rents as a new value form; the optimization and allocation of factors of production trigger structural transformations in industrial organization, creating structural dividend effects and releasing industrial upgrading potential; industrial innovation forms Schumpeterian innovation effects through vertical value chain extension and horizontal format integration, breaking traditional market equilibrium and path dependence, to construct new patterns of monopolistic competition in industrial development. This ultimately forms a closed-loop system of“Technology-Factor of production-Industry”collaborative innovation for high-quality tourism development.

High-quality development is crucial for achieving Common Prosperity for all individuals. In this study, first, the level of high-quality development of tourism and level of Common Prosperity are evaluated based on the modified entropy method. Second, the threshold effect of high-quality tourism development on Common Prosperity is investigated via the threshold regression model. The results show that: (1) There is a double threshold effect of tourism quality development on Common Prosperity with a consistently positive influence when the urban development level is used as the threshold variable. However, the influence in eastern China is always negative and exhibits an inverted N-type change trend. Moreover, the central and western regions did not pass the threshold effect test. (2) A single threshold value of tourism quality development on Common Prosperity when the level of tourism development is used as the threshold variable in the entire country as well as in the eastern region. (3) When the level of economic development is used as the threshold variable, the influence of high-quality tourism development on Common Prosperity exhibits a U-shaped trend. In the central and eastern regions, high-quality tourism development has a positive effect on Common Prosperity, whereas the western regions show a significant negative effect.

Tourism is booming with rapid economic development and the continuous pursuit of spiritual fulfillment. All-for-one tourism is currently a popular research topic in the tourism industry and is the core driving force of local economic development. This study used the CiteSpace software to visualize the number of publications, research authors, research institutions, journal sources, and research hotspots of China’s all-for-one tourism research from 2011 to 2024 to predict the future trends of China’s all-for-one tourism research. The results show that: ① Over the past 14 years, China’s research on all-for-one tourism has experienced three stages: slow germination, initial exploration, and vigorous growth, with increasing attention in recent years; ② China’s all-for-one tourism research hotspots are concentrated on the connotation of the analysis, the impact and effect of the development of countermeasures, etc. Although some academic progress has been achieved, the theoretical core and system still need improvement; ③ In the future, China’s all-for-one tourism research will mainly focus on rural tourism, cultural and tourism integration, and propose countermeasures for the development of all-for-one tourism from these perspectives to provide certain references and support for China’s rural revitalization and high-quality tourism development.

Digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is of great significance for driving the growth of a modern industrial system, accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, and achieving high-quality economic development. Considering the conceptual connotation and essential characteristics of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry, in this article, the internal logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is analyzed. It clarifies that the essential characteristics of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry are reflected in the innovative development of cultural and tourism resources driven by data elements, the immersive innovation of digital technologies embedded in cultural and tourism products, and the intelligent construction of cultural and tourism formats supported by digital platforms. The historical logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is outlined in the evolution from the nascent to development to the acceleration stages. Based on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) theoretical framework of “digital technologies as the foundation, industrial organization as the main body, and development environment as the guarantee,” the theoretical logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is clarified. Further, the comprehensive promotion of the Chinese path to modernization highlights the advantages of digital economy development, and the growing need for a better life demonstrates the practical logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry. Finally, through theoretical thinking and path references, the article proposes directions for accelerating digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry through enhancing the fundamental role of digital technologies, strengthening the main role of industrial organizations, and optimizing the guarantee role of the development environment.

Post-rurality is a core feature of rural tourism, and a correct understanding of the transformation of rural character in a post-modern context depends on whether rural tourism can realize high-quality development. Based on the concepts of rurality and post-rurality, this study constructs a post-rurality evaluation index system (post-rurality index). It considers Shuangquan Village, Huanghuagou Village, and Yulin Village as case studies. The entropy weighting method was used to calculate the weights of the dimensions and indicators to validate the post-rurality index. The study found that: (1) The index system of post rurality includes 6 dimensions, such as “new immigrants” and “re-localization” of villages, as well as 19 indexes, including floating population, tourism employment, tourists’ satisfaction, etc. (2) The calculation results show that each dimension has a different degree of influence on the post-rurality index, among which the “re-localization” of villages has the greatest influence on the post-rurality index of rural tourism, followed by the three dimensions of residence to habitat, community participation to community creation, and cultural urbanization; the latter has the least influence on the index. (3) From the calculation results of the post-rurality index of the three case sites, Shuangquan Village has the strongest post-rurality, followed by Huanghuagou Village; Yulin Village has the weakest. The construction of a post-ruralism index is of great theoretical and practical significance for measuring the degree of rural tourism development.

Tourism area life cycle theory plays an important role in promoting high-quality development of tourist destinations of different types and in different stages of development. This study focused on the research results of the life cycle theory of tourism destinations at home and abroad. Using CiteSpace software, 699 relevant Chinese and English articles were retrieved, collected, and screened from CNKI and Web of Science databases for visual analysis, and the existing research results were systematically reviewed. The analysis revealed the following: (1) A large difference was observed in the number of papers published in Chinese and English. Unlike the general trend of a decrease in China, international research on the life cycle theory of tourist destinations has been peaking since the beginning of the 21st century, with an unprecedented high attained in 2022. Internationally, scholars from China, Spain, and Italy have published the maximum number of articles in English. (2) Huge differences were found in terms of research hotspots at home and abroad. Domestic research focuses on concept clarification, influencing factors, stage determination, tourism development, and operation strategy exploration, while international studies pay more attention to the regeneration and transformation of tourism destinations, sustainable development with ecological protection as the core, and new tourism business formats. (3) International studies are relatively diversified in terms of subjects, research methods, and disciplinary perspectives. Finally, combining classical views and the characteristics of current tourism research, future research directions of tourism destination life cycle theory are proposed.

Innovation is the core driving force of social progress and the key new productive force for the deep integration of culture and tourism. Based on the dual logic of form and content, this paper systematically reviews the evolution of China’s culture and tourism innovation over more than forty years, in the context of integration, from the perspective of innovation theory. The research shows that, jointly driven by the social environment, technological progress, and market demand, China’s culture and tourism innovation practices have achieved iterative upgrading, from root innovation, to domain innovation and then to dimensional innovation demonstrating dual integration characteristics of form and content innovation. Specifically, culture and tourism innovation has evolved from an early-stage unity of form and content, to mid-term dominance of content innovation, to later-stage form innovation dominance, and finally to a current reemergence of content innovation dominance. Using industrial value chain analysis tools, this paper conducts an in-depth analysis of culture and tourism content production and innovation processes. It reveals that content innovation at the dimensional level is the dominant model of current culture and tourism innovation, with the “creativity-leadership+technology-enpowerment” dual-track collaborative mechanism serving as the key pathway for driving deep integration of culture and tourism.

The digital economy has played a pivotal role in driving China’s industrial transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development. Adopting both supply- and demand-side perspectives, this study employs innovation capability and market demand as mediating variables and utilizes panel data from 31 Chinese provinces and municipalities to empirically analyze the impact and mechanisms through which the digital economy influences the integrated development of cultural and tourism industries. The findings indicate the following: (1) The digital economy significantly promotes the integrated development of cultural and tourism industries. (2) Regional variations exist in the digital economy’s promotional effect on cultural and tourism integration. The Western region demonstrated the most significant promotional effect, followed by the Eastern region, whereas the effects in the Central and Northeastern regions remained statistically insignificant. (3) A mediating transmission pathway exists: digital economy → innovation capability or market demand → integrated development of cultural and tourism industries. Based on these findings, this study proposes the following policy recommendations: (a) Strengthen the construction and application of digital infrastructure within the cultural and tourism sectors. (b) Emphasize the role of digital marketing in stimulating consumer demand. (c) Encourage and support digital innovation to facilitate the development of innovative cultural and tourism products. (d) Accounting for regional variations in the digital economy’s impact on cultural and tourism integration. This study elucidates the role and mechanisms through which the digital economy promotes the integrated development of the cultural and tourism industries, thereby contributing to a fuller realization of digital economy dividends in this sector.

With the rise in nostalgia-oriented consumption, rural homestays have become typical venues for experiencing rural life-emotional spaces where visitors retreat from urban bustle and seek psychological comfort. Against this backdrop, this study takes nostalgia-themed rural homestays as the research context and rigorously follows standardized procedures of scale development to construct and validate a measurement instrument for tourists’ nostalgic emotions. Study 1, grounded in a literature review and in-depth interviews, inductively and deductively clarified the connotation of nostalgic emotions and developed an initial pool of measurement items. Study 2 empirically explored and verified the scale’s dimensional structure through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Study 3 incorporated perceived authenticity and behavioral intention variables into a structural equation model, providing evidence of the scale’s satisfactory criterion-related validity. Through these three sequential studies, a four-dimensional, sixteen-item nostalgia emotion scale-comprising interpersonal nostalgia, personal nostalgia, imagery nostalgia, and historical nostalgia-was developed and validated empirically. This study contributes an objective and standardized tool for assessing nostalgic emotions among rural homestay tourists and offers practical implications for the development and marketing of nostalgia-themed rural accommodations.

Enhancing tourism destination residents’ well-being is an important objective of tourism development and has become a significant topic in domestic and international tourism research in recent years. Building upon a conceptual analysis distinguishing happiness, quality of life, and well-being, this study employed the CiteSpace software to conduct a visualization analysis of 197 relevant articles on tourism destination resident well-being retrieved and screened from the CNKI and Web of Science Core Collection databases. The findings reveal that: (1) Tourism destination resident well-being, approached from both subjective and objective perspectives, has at its core two key variables-happiness and quality of life-and, through constructing a theoretical framework that encompasses both the individual domain and the social system, comprehensively measures people’s living conditions, thereby facilitating the realization of people’s aspirations for a better life; (2) The research trajectory of tourism destination resident well-being can be divided into three phases: initial emergence, progressive development, and rapid growth; (3) Existing research themes primarily focus on four aspects: measurement and evaluation indicator construction for tourism destination resident well-being, influencing factors of tourism destination resident well-being, the relationship between tourism development and resident well-being, and heterogeneity studies of tourism destination resident well-being. Currently, the research focus in this field has gradually shifted from the unidirectional relationships between tourism development and resident well-being to exploring their bidirectional interactive relationships. Future research should deepen research approaches by combining qualitative and quantitative methods, incorporate dynamic analysis, emphasize the multiple interactions between human and non-human factors in resident well-being, expand and refine research scenarios in the Chinese context, and elaborate research content, thereby providing support for further refinement of the theoretical framework for tourism destination resident well-being research.

The integration of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and tourism is the main driving force for high-quality tourism development. In view of the problems of unreasonable benefit distribution and low participation of ICH inheritors in the benefit maximization of ICH tourism, which restrict the integrated development and value co-creation, this study constructs an evolutionary game model of value co-creation between tourism enterprises and ICH inheritors and discusses the factors influencing value co-creation behavior. The study introduces cost-sharing and reward-and-punishment mechanisms to coordinate the value co-creation behavior of the two parties, which has important guiding significance for promoting high-quality tourism development in China. This study found that (1) value co-creation of ICH tourism integration is influenced by synergistic benefits, and the proportionate distribution, integration and development costs, spillover benefits, etc.; (2) when the integration cost, synergistic benefit, and spillover benefit of both parties meet certain conditions, the introduction of a cost-sharing mechanism can significantly improve the realization probability of value co-creation; (3) the introduction of a reward-and-punishment mechanism on the basis of cost-sharing can effectively promote the coordination of value co-creation between the two parties in the game. Both government subsidies and fines have a positive impact on the integrated development behavior of the two parties. When the synergistic benefits are greater than the sum of the spillover benefits of tourism enterprises and inheritors, liquidated damages can effectively promote the integrated value co-creation of ICH tourism.

Rural tourism is an important way to realize rural revitalization. University students starting businesses in rural tourism promote industry development and rural revitalization. Based on the theory of entrepreneurial resource endowment, parents’socio-economic status is considered a moderator and entrepreneurial self-efficacy toward rural tourism is considered a mediator in this study to construct a relationship model between university students’resource endowment and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism. A questionnaire survey on university students provided 321 valid responses for data analysis. Structural equation modeling revealed that family support and psychological capital for entrepreneurship in rural tourism are positively related to entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy of rural tourism was found to mediate the relationship between (a) family support for entrepreneurship in rural tourism and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism, and (b) psychological capital for entrepreneurship in rural tourism and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism. Parents’ socio-economic status was found to modulate the mediation of entrepreneurial self-efficacy of rural tourism on the relationship between family support and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism and psychological capital and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism.

Although the“data-driven”paradigm, anchored in big data and machine learning, has significantly expanded the empirical horizons of tourism research, its inherent methodological limitations are becoming increasingly evident. Concurrently, the emergence of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) marks a transition from“analytical”to“generative”intelligence, catalyzing a methodological revolution in the social sciences. This paper argues that tourism research is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift: from a“data-driven”approach focused on historical correlations to an “intelligence-generated” paradigm characterized by deep semantic understanding, interactive reasoning, and multi-agent simulation. First, this paper critiques the epistemological bottlenecks of the data-driven paradigm with regard to causal inference and theory building. It then elucidates how the core capabilities of LLMs—contextual awareness, controllable generation, and generative agents—serve as technological cornerstones of the new paradigm. Crucially, this study demonstrates how this shift systematically reconstructs the research lifecycle: inquiry evolves from explaining“facts”to exploring“possibilities”; analysis shifts from mining“correlations”to generating“reasoning”; and theory building transforms from static induction to dynamic“computational experiments.”This transition necessitates a redefinition of the researcher’s role from a data “interpreter” to a “designer”of thought experiments. The study concludes by proposing a forward-looking agenda for navigating the opportunities and ethical challenges of the generative era.

With accelerating digital transformation, innovation has emerged as the core driver sustaining the development of exhibition enterprises. However, existing research predominantly focuses on traditional innovation mechanisms, with insufficient attention paid to the impact of the organizational innovation climate on ambidextrous innovation amid the digitalization of the exhibition industry. Therefore, grounded in the theory of ambidextrous innovation, in this study, an analytical model is constructed, incorporating digital empowerment, and the effects of organizational innovation climate on ambidextrous innovation and innovation performance are empirically examined. The findings reveal that organizational innovation climate (1) exerts a significantly positive impact on corporate innovation performance; (2) influences innovation performance through the mediating role of ambidextrous innovation; and (3) its relationship with ambidextrous innovation is positively moderated by digital empowerment. Specifically, (a) analytical capability strengthens the positive effect of organizational support on exploitative innovation; (b) connectivity capability significantly moderates the relationship between team collaboration and exploitative innovation; but (c) intelligent capability does not demonstrate a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between autonomous work and exploratory innovation, as well as autonomous work and exploitative innovation. This study extends the application of ambidextrous innovation in the digital context and provides theoretical support and practical insights for enterprises in the exhibition industry and other relevant sectors to foster an innovation climate, enhance digital capabilities, and boost innovation performance.

In the era of the digital economy, information infrastructure, as an important part of the new infrastructure, has a profound impact on tourism economy. Based on panel data from 2006 to 2019 of 59 key tourism cities in China, this study considers the “Broadband China” pilot cities as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the difference-in-difference model to evaluate the impact of information infrastructure on the development of tourism economy in these cities. Information infrastructure was found to promote the development of tourism economy, a finding that remained valid after a robustness test. The mediating effect analysis showed that information infrastructure promotes the development of tourism economy by enhancing urban innovation ability and upgrading industrial structure. The heterogeneity test showed that the promotion effect of information infrastructure on tourism economy varies by geographical location and city status, as highlighted in the eastern cities and non-provincial capital cities. Additionally, information infrastructure has a significant positive spatial spillover effect on the development of tourism economy in neighboring cities. These findings provide direction for policymakers to ensure optimal use of information infrastructure to promote the development of tourism economy.

Rural tourism clusters are the concentrated embodiment and inevitable result of the scaling, expansion, and standardized development of rural tourism in the new period. However, there are few research results on the development process and analysis of its logical mechanisms. To explore the logical progression and influencing factors of the development process of rural tourism clusters, this study adopts the case study method to deeply analyze the development history of two typical rural tourism cluster villages in Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province, combined with the qualitative research method of grounded theory, and attempts to identify the growth stages and internal mechanisms of rural tourism clusters. The study finds that: (1) Based on the research framework of “process identification-drivers-mechanism analysis”, the development process of rural tourism clusters is divided into four major stages: the origin stage, the growth stage, the consolidation stage, and the demonstration stage. Important drivers of rural tourism cluster development, such as government drive, resource endowment, economic efficiency, human factors, and contingent factors, are identified; (2) It proposes a “spontaneous-guided-regulated” mechanism for the growth of rural tourism clusters, streamlining two typical formation mechanisms of rural tourism clusters: “market spontaneity-government guidance-market regulation”and “imitation effect-innovation diffusion-iterative renewal”; (3) It proposes paths and countermeasures for the development of rural tourism agglomerations toward Chinese modernization. The conclusions expand the theoretical basis of rural tourism clusters and provide theoretical support and practical references for the integrated planning and innovative development of rural tourism clusters.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, many hotels have introduced robots to cooperate with employees during service operations. The purpose of human-robot co-production is to free employees from simple and repetitive transactional work so that they have more time to engage in creative and emotional work. However, theoretical research on whether this goal can be achieved is lacking. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this paper explores the process through which human-robot co-production affects employee innovation performance. Through a questionnaire survey of 382 frontline hotel employees and a regression analysis of the data, it is found that human-robot co-production has a positive impact on innovation performance, and challenge appraisal and work engagement play a chain-mediating role in this process. Developmental human resource practices positively moderate the relationship between human-robot co-production and challenge appraisal, and between human-robot co-production and work engagement. The research conclusions enrich the literature on human-robot interaction and employee management in theory and have practical implications for hotel managers seeking to make better use of robot technology and employees’human capital to improve innovation performance.