At present, smart tourism, digital creativity, digital entertainment, digital art display, immersive experience and other new tourism models and new forms of development in China are booming, personalized, customized and quality digital tourism products emerge in an endless stream, bringing new opportunities to the development of tourism destinations. The “circle” of Henan Cultural Tourism, Hangzhou launched the “Ten sights of digital Economy Tourism”, and the emergence of “network red” cities such as Xi ‘an, Changsha and Chongqing have extensively applied digital technologies such as VR, Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Under the guidance of the national strategy of “Digital China”, the digital economy is deeply penetrating and promoting the high-quality development of tourism. The integration of digital resources, upgrading of products and services, the way of information interaction between destinations and tourists, the construction of destination image and the management of destinations will undergo fundamental changes, and the digital economy will also become a new engine for the future development, transformation and upgrading of tourist destinations, as well as a new driving force for improving the quality and efficiency of tourist destination economies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to clarify the main paths for tourism destinations to develop in the context of the digital economy. This paper reviews the research progress of tourism destination digitization, and puts forward the important research topics of tourism destination development under the digital economy.

Review of relevant research on tourism destination development under digital economy

The development of digital economy has put forward a new proposition for tourism destination research. The existing research has made a lot of progress from the aspects of destination digital marketing, digital service experience, digital scene consumption, digital ecosystem and destination digital governance.

In terms of destination digital marketing, tourism destination marketing strategy has moved from mass marketing to data-driven marketing, which means destination marketing has moved from offline to online, and user data has become an important marketing asset. At the same time, the media between tourist destination image projection and tourist perception is gradually digitized, and digital platforms have become marketing information dissemination tools. Fresh audio-visual content stimulates users’ destination image perception and affects their destination choice intentions (1). Research on the measurement of the gap between image projection and perception based on platform big data is attracting attention

In terms of tourism service experience, many studies believe that the digital economy has subverted the service methods of destinations and enterprises
The interaction between tourists and destinations is relying on technology and equipment to jointly create service experience under human-computer interaction. Tourist behavior data accumulated by digital applications become a key element of destination experience customization, and intelligent algorithms can accurately match tourism providers and tourists, among which information, interactivity and personalization are key factors affecting tourist experience, satisfaction and willingness to return.

In terms of digital scene consumption, digital technology can integrate destination scenes with products or services to achieve value creation and transmission of tourists. Destination scenarios are enabled by digital technologies such as smart devices, social platforms, big data, sensors and instant positioning, and its elements include space and environment, real-time status of consumers, consumers’ life inertia and social atmosphere. However, how digital consumption scenarios affect the psychology and behavior of tourism consumption remains to be further studied.

In terms of digital ecosystem, the interaction between visitors and digital applications forms an open ecosystem and opens up a new social structure in the destination. Cimbaljevi et al. (4) put forward the destination intelligent ecosystem, believing that it can attract multi-stakeholder interaction, sharing and active participation at the emotional, cognitive, physical and social levels, and realize the effective allocation of tourism elements such as attractions, transportation, comforts, additional services and activities. However, the research on the new law of value creation in the digital ecosystem is insufficient.

In terms of destination digital governance, the digital economy has promoted the reform of destination management organization and public service supply mechanism, and the destination governance subjects have tended to be diversified, giving birth to the governance model of diversified co-governance. Tourism public service is shifting from the single supply of government or enterprise to the public service supply mode of multi-subject value co-creation.

At present, the digital economy has brought a profound impact on the development of destination, but the systematization of relevant research and the discussion on the updating and boundary reconstruction of traditional theories are still insufficient.

The prospect of important research topics in the development path of tourism destinations under the digital economy

In the era of digital economy, the economic system of tourist destination is no longer dominated by the single-dimension supply-demand relationship, but by the relationship of diversified co-construction and sharing. The characteristics of service and product innovation are no longer phased innovation driven by management or process reengineering, but real-time iterative innovation driven by digitalization. The management of the destination is no longer a single government-led or regional management, but a network and linkage management under the multiple co-governance model. These new characteristics of the development of tourism destinations suggest that the future research themes and contents need to be further explored and clarified. The author considers the following five research topics worthy of attention.

A study on the competitiveness of tourism destinations driven by numbers. Traditional destination competitiveness evaluation mainly includes tourism attractions, infrastructure and resources, destination management and marketing, development policies and so on. In the era of digital economy, the source of competitiveness of destinations will change fundamentally. The degree of development of “new infrastructure” such as 5G, big data center and artificial intelligence will determine its ability to integrate digital resources, innovate digital tourism content, upgrade tourism formats and build digital marketing and promotion platforms, which will constitute the underlying logic of destination competitiveness. Destination attractions are more diverse, and virtual scenes, IP and online attractions will increase significantly. How will future destination competitiveness evaluation adapt to the digital economy and make adjustments? The following important issues need to be paid attention to: the integration of all kinds of tourism big data and its impact on the digital competitiveness of destinations, the path of digital technology application driving the development of new tourism products and the cultivation of new formats, the shaping law of digital image of destinations and the marketing function of virtual IP, and the research on the pulling effect of digital tourism economy on the development of destination tourism.

Research on digital service experience of tourism destinations. Tourism destinations rely on the unique landscape, environment and culture to create an experience economy of unusual environment. Digital technology provides new “tools” for the design of tourism experience, and destinations should not only create the “cool” experience of digital tourism, but also take into account the “double-edged sword” effect of digital experience. On the one hand, it is necessary to pay attention to the positive effects of digital technology on tourism experience, including how different digital applications can enhance personalized service experience, sensory experience and digital well-being, what are the differences in the experience of digital customization among different tourist groups, and how to enhance the value of digital experience. On the other hand, we should also explore the possible negative effects of digital applications. For example, the high cost of use or the imbalance of rights may cause the emotional exhaustion of tourists and the contradiction between the host and the guest, resulting in the mutual destruction of the value between multiple subjects. The role of behaviors and psychological states such as digital disconnection, mindfulness, and flow experiences in alleviating negative emotions among visitors should be explored, and what strategies can be used to enhance the well-being of digital experiences.

Study on consumption pattern of destination digital scene. Scene is the basic form of consumption, and digital application has built a rich digital consumption space of destination such as virtual tourism, online community, live broadcast, animation and online games, breaking the time and space limit of tourist consumption, extending and expanding the boundary of destination tourism market. The symbolic meaning, atmosphere value, emotional rendering and narrative mode carried by the scene transform the way of value creation and transmission, and also raise new research questions. What are the forms, characteristics and advantages of digital consumption scenarios in destinations? What is the impact of the new space and time view of the destination on the tourism economy? How do destination digital consumption scenarios and physical consumption scenarios connect and interact? These issues need to be explored in depth from the perspectives of digital consumption scenario construction, influencing factors and dynamic mechanisms. In addition, in the digital consumption scenario, how tourism destinations achieve digital economy increment by building private traffic and network communities is also worthy of attention.

Study on “host-guest” interaction and value co-creation in destination digital ecosystem. The system formed by digital technology can receive environmental data and execute commands, and rely on digital applications to store, process, combine and communicate in real time, thus forming a digital ecosystem. The digital ecosystem of tourism destination reconstructs the information exchange environment of residents and tourists, and the traditional interaction form and content of “host and guest” have changed. First of all, we need to study the role of different digital infrastructures in linking multi-entities of tourism destinations. How to realize the efficient and friendly interconnection of person-person, person-thing, person-thing, and amplify the network effect. Secondly, what is the internal interaction mechanism of multiple agents in the digital ecosystem? Identify how emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, environmental intelligence, 5G, and machine learning enable human-computer interaction. Finally, the study opens the “host and customer” value co-creation “black box” in the digital ecology. The digital connection between destination residents and tourists has more possibilities to create value through cooperation. In the future, inclusive theory and matching theory can be used to better explain the influencing factors, process and results of value co-creation in the digital ecosystem of tourism destinations.

Study on governance mechanism of digital economy in tourism destinations. Under the digital economy, destinations face governance challenges brought by digitalization such as platform management, antitrust, algorithm matching, private data, and consumer protection. What kind of digital governance structure and governance mechanism are needed in the future? Research on innovation of tourism destination digital economy governance system can be carried out based on institutional perspective. Under the condition of considering the complexity of regulatory objects, channels and platforms of tourism destinations, the governance participation mode and decentralized digital governance mechanism of tourism enterprises, governments and multiple stakeholders are explored.

According to the survey, travel will be a part of life for respondents from 33 countries and regions in 2024. Nearly nine in 10 (88 percent) Chinese travelers say they feel more energized than ever while on vacation, and 75 percent of them believe they bring out the best in themselves while traveling.

One of the seven types of travel favored by people in the New Year is to meet another true self and be the protagonist of life. Seventy-five percent of surveyed Chinese travelers believe they bring out the best in themselves while on vacation, being able to shed their inhibitions and embrace their new personality, 81 percent feel “protagonist energy” – the power to “become the protagonist of your life” while traveling, and 80 percent want to return to their daily lives to be more like themselves on vacation.

The second category is the trip to unlock summer tricks and get close to nature. 76% of Chinese travellers believe that climate change will affect the way they plan their holidays in 2024. As temperatures soar near where they live, 79 percent will use the holiday to escape the heat. Demand for water yoga, water baths and ice and snow meditation is expected to soar, along with a boom in ice therapy refinements, underwater hotels and merman culture.

Embracing the unknown and regaining the courage to walk away has also become a favorite travel method for up to 77% of Chinese travelers. According to the survey, 63 percent of Chinese travelers do not want to make a fixed plan before a trip, but rather go along with the trip. In addition, the explosive growth of AI is becoming a mainstream trend, with 73% of travelers trusting AI to plan their trip for them.

Becoming a food detective and awakening the memory of taste buds is an experience most travelers crave. More than four in five (83%) Chinese travellers are more interested than ever in learning about the origins of a destination’s “must eat” food and want to try local specialties in 2024, with traditional flavours getting a lot of attention.

In a world of global instability and increasing busyness, when life hits difficulties or setbacks, travelers will choose themed journeys that focus on self-improvement and return themselves once again to the life they truly desire. Therefore, the revival of life and the search for spiritual healing have also become one of the favored ways of travel. Of the 27,000 parents surveyed, 85 percent plan to travel alone in 2024, prioritizing their own physical and mental health.

In addition, smart travel, the harvest of personalized light luxury enjoyment and the practice of sustainable new fashion will also occupy a place in the New Year’s travel. In a trend of downsizing, travelers in 2024 will use savings techniques to cut costs, but enhance the vacation experience with “choice on demand.” Such as traveling to a destination where the cost of living is lower than where you live, paying a single fee to use five-star hotel facilities rather than actually staying at the hotel, etc.

With such travel trends, what kind of recovery will the travel market show in 2024? In this regard, Lu Weifeng, general manager of the market support department of Bingke China, gave a “cautiously optimistic” evaluation. Lu Weifeng said that the reason for optimism is that after the full liberalization of China’s entry-exit market this year, the proportion of Chinese tourists outbound tourism has increased rapidly, and the demand for visas for inbound tourists is also very large, and the recent launch of a series of simplified visa materials and visa-free policies have played a significant role in promoting it. All these situations show that both entry-exit and short-distance travel are irrepressible needs. On the other hand, the increase in travel costs caused by inflation in many destinations around the world, the recovery of international flights is not as expected, and travelers’ concerns about destination security issues will still have a certain impact on the speed of recovery of the travel market in 2024.