Professor Huang Xiaoting is a professor in the Department of Culture and Tourism, School of Management, Shandong University. Her main research areas include basic theories of tourism, spatial and temporal behavior of tourists, spatial planning of tourism activities, and health and educational value of tourism. She is in charge of the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s Youth Program “Research on Tourism Time Planning Methods Based on the Laws of Spatio-Temporal Behavior of Tourists” and the General Program “Research on the Production and Construction of Tourism Activity Space Based on the Laws of Spatio-Temporal Behavior of Tourists”, and she has published many papers in SSCI journals such as Tourism Management, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, Tourism Geographies, and CSSCI journals such as Tourism Tribune, Tourism Science, Human Geography, Resources Science, and China Population, Resources and Environment.
According to Meituan data, the “Zibo” train ticket search increase ranked first in the country on April 14 and 15, and it only took 1 minute that the “Beijingnan- Zibo” train tickets for the first day of the “May Day” holiday were sold out. Recently, Zibo has become popular with many tourists, and the famous Zibo Barbecue has promoted the local city brand and the development of the cultural tourism industry. Huang Xiaoting, Vice Dean of the School of Management and Director of the Department of Culture and Tourism, shared her views in an exclusive interview with a CCTV reporter.
Some netizens said that the last time Zibo became so lively was during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. Many netizens said they did not expect a small city like Zibo (to be so popular)... For these views, Professor Huang pointed out that in fact, Linzi in Zibo City is the capital of the ancient State of Qi, the national historical and cultural city, and the birthplace of the Qi culture, and the modest gentleman’s style is inherited to now. According to the national standard of city size division, Zibo is a type II big city, and at the end of 2021, the city had a resident population of 4,708,800 people. In 2022, Zibo’s GDP was 440.26 billion yuan, ranking 7th in Shandong Province and 64th in the country. “Zibo is a typical landscape combined with the cluster city pattern, and the built-up area is scattered in various clusters, so it feels small in scale from the urban landscape. Besides, the city was not so popular before, so it seems to be a bit surprising for it to become popular.” Professor Huang believes that the situation that Zibo Barbecue became widely known and quickly formed an influential city brand is not purely accidental, but has rich historical and urban strength as support.
Professor Huang believes that the direct reason why Zibo became famous is that there is love, justice, and stories in Zibo. The beginning is on March 8, college students groups went to Zibo for a barbecue on high-speed rail, which was on the Douyin City Hot Search with a search volume of up to 5,253,000 times, setting off the first wave of Zibo Barbecue. During last year’s epidemic, Shandong University had 12,000 students partially housed in Zibo due to the need for isolation, and teachers and students have been properly housed and cared for in Zibo. What the students ate before leaving Zibo was “Zibo Barbecue” and they agreed to return to Zibo after the epidemic. This spring, the students did as they promised. The interaction reflects the inheritance of the “Qi” gentleman’s style, the kindness and warmth of “ Friendly Shandong”, and the students to the appointment of gratitude and righteousness.
A city can only be welcomed by tourists with the efforts of local people. All Zibo people are proud and cherish the popularity brought by “Zibo Barbecue”. A barbecue stall owner said he is no longer to make money but for the honor of Zibo. Cab drivers and ordinary citizens are proud of Zibo’s city image and brand and cherish the city IP very much. A netizen even said, “What people eat is not only barbecue but also the enthusiasm of Zibo people”.
How to turn “popular on the internet” into “popular for a long time”? Professor Huang suggested that the first need is to find the “new hot spot”. The network heat of the boom and bust is always a cycle, and if people want to keep the hot spot in Zibo, they cannot rely only on the “barbecue”. There is a need to launch new “popular food” and culture and tourism products before the barbecue heat subsides. In the medium and long term, it is more important that the supporting infrastructure of the entire city be expanded and upgraded, including lodging, transportation, entertainment, and shopping facilities, all of which need to take into account the scale and quality of tourists from other cities to continue to improve the requirements.
“Zibo government’s quick action is worthy of learning for those who strive to build the city brand and pull the cultural tourism industry.” Professor Huang told reporters that the Zibo government has the ability of comprehension and action to seize the opportunity, and it has taken all-round measures to speed up the network communication, expand the scale of dissemination and influence, and amply the IP of “Zibo Barbecue”. It is the Zibo government’s rapid follow-up action that makes “Zibo Barbecue” become a phenomenal city brand.
The article is reprinted from CCTV (Reporter Cheng Lilong, Li Shun), and please click for more information: https://www.cnr.cn/sd/gd/20230421/t20230421_526226797.shtml
