On June 30, 2026, the 22nd China Advertising Forum · Urban Cultural and Tourism Brand Forum was successfully held in Luohu, Shenzhen. Industry representatives discussed the new opportunities for the cultural and tourism industry under technological changes, focusing on the theme of "Digital Intelligence Helps Promote High Quality Advertising Development, Science and Technology Empower Cultural and Tourism Ecological Improvement". Chen Xin, General Manager of Fenghuang.com Brand Center, delivered a speech titled "Bringing City Stories to the World" in the afternoon, sharing new trends and methods in cultural and tourism brand communication from a media perspective.

In 2025, the cultural and tourism industry will show a strong growth trend, with a year-on-year advertising growth rate of 37% in the hotel industry, 22% in tourist attractions, and 16% in urban promotion. At the same time, inbound tourism is gradually recovering, and foreign tourists are not only interested in Chinese attractions, but also pay attention to Chinese culture and lifestyle.

There are four trends that need to be paid attention to around the changes in the cultural and tourism market.

Firstly, building infrastructure, from "intelligence" to "quality".In the past, various regions promoted digital exhibition halls, metaverse experiences, and digital guided tours. Nowadays, tourist travel decision-making standards have changed, and museums, intangible cultural heritage experiences, and characteristic homestays have become important choices for travel. Offline real-life activities such as village supermarkets and large-scale concerts continue to drive cultural and tourism consumption. The development of cultural and tourism should not only emphasize intelligence, but also return to a sense of quality, authenticity, and vitality.

Secondly, one's personal style, from "observing the scenery" to "immersing oneself in the scenery".The tourism demand of tourists has upgraded from simple sightseeing check-in to immersive integration into local life. Scenic area feature dressing up and real NPC interaction have become mainstream gameplay, and vivid and lively real-life interactions are more likely to impress users. Pure landscape display is difficult to form long-term user memories.

Thirdly, do dissemination, from single point voice to global breaking.In recent years, cultural and tourism communication cases have shown that what can truly penetrate people's hearts is often not the most beautiful shots, but the most storytelling, emotional, and humorous expressions. For example, "Slippers First in Quanzhou" uses a pair of slippers to depict the relaxed, life oriented, and slow down urban temperament of Quanzhou; The film 'Coming to Guilin to Do Party A's Kiss' insists on real shooting, presenting a more human like Guilin with real scenes, and has won 14 hot searches. Chen Xin said that these cases illustrate that today's cultural and tourism communication has become a systematic integrated communication project.

Fourth, go overseas and spread from local to international expression.The truly effective international communication is' expression ', not' translation '. As an internationally leading Chinese language new media platform, Phoenix Net helps China's cultural and tourism industry to "go global". For example, during the World City Brand Conference, Phoenix Net built a cultural and tourism promotion scene for Mount Lu, attracting representatives from various chambers of commerce in Macau to appreciate the mountains, waters, culture, and urban temperament of Mount Lu, and helping Mount Lu connect with Hong Kong, Macao, and the broader international cultural and tourism market.In May this year, Fenghuang.com also introduced Guizhou Renhuai at the Hong Kong International Cultural Expo. In the window of the intersection of Chinese and Western cultures, it is not only to show a Baijiu producing area, but also to bring liquor tourism integration, regional culture and city brands to Hong Kong and the world.

On the other hand, it helps global cultural tourism to "enter" and helps Oman create the travel impression that Chinese tourists aspire to; Report on the Abu Dhabi World Masters Sports Open as a globally exclusive Chinese strategic partner media, making the content trending; Launching the "Global Cultural and Tourism New Year Celebration" and collaborating with cultural and tourism representatives from multiple countries, it has received 135 hot searches, inspiring Chinese tourists' desire for outbound travel.

At the end of the speech, Chen Xin introduced the "Cultural and Tourism Good Brand" annual case collection activity jointly initiated by Phoenix Tourism and the Regional Brand and Communication Research Institute of Communication University of China. The collection activity for 2026 has been fully launched, with the addition of the "Annual Cultural and Tourism AI Communication and Technology Scene" track, hoping to accumulate more benchmark gameplay for the industry to refer to. We hope to work together with all parties to promote the international dissemination of Chinese cities, let the world know and understand Chinese cities, and ultimately achieve the goal of making the world fall in love with Chinese cities.

The following is a conversation between Modern Advertising and Chen Xin, General Manager of Phoenix Brand Center:

Q: How can urban areas like Luohu in Shenzhen, which have ports, commercial areas, neighborhoods, and diverse cultural resources, turn "urban resources" into more recognizable "city stories"?

A: The logic of cultural and tourism communication is the same as brand marketing, which requires establishing a clear positioning first. When ordinary users think of Luohu, their first reaction is the port, but the second one is not clear. Therefore, the key is to address what position Luohu hopes to be remembered by the outside world. Is it a cutting-edge window for the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, an urban area where commercial civilization and everyday life intertwine, or a city living room with a sense of openness and lifestyle? Only by clearly defining the city's positioning can there be direction for subsequent content planning, scene creation, and dissemination. Cultural and tourism communication should not only talk about "what do I have", but also answer "why do others remember me" in order to tell "urban resources" into more recognizable "urban stories".

Q: What suggestions do you have for Chinese cities that want to expand their overseas presence?

A: Overseas markets have a strong interest in Chinese cities, but a common misconception in international communication of cities is that simply translating Chinese content and then publishing it through overseas accounts is considered to have completed international communication. In fact, due to differences in expression habits and cultural backgrounds between China and foreign countries, directly applying domestic narrative methods often makes it difficult for overseas audiences to understand and accept.

Therefore, the international communication of cities needs to find expressions that are suitable for overseas contexts, transforming urban resources into stories that local audiences can understand, are interested in, and are willing to continue learning about.

As the largest overseas all media Chinese cultural and media group, Phoenix TV Group has 6 major TV channels, 63 overseas journalist stations, and a global audience of over 500 million. With a long-term focus on international communication, it can deeply understand the cultural backgrounds, customs, and communication methods of different countries and regions. We not only 'send out' the content, but also help Chinese cities communicate effectively with overseas users. Urban international communication is not a one-time exposure, but a long-term construction process from clear positioning, accurate expression, to continuous communication.