THE INTERNAL LOGIC AND PRACTICAL PATHS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERING THE HIGH-QUALITY DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA'S TOURISM ECONOMY

Abstract

Tourism is a people's livelihood and well-being industry with strong comprehensiveness and driving force, and a key lever for expanding domestic demand, boosting consumption, and stabilizing employment. In 2025, China's tourism economy got off to a strong start and continued to rise: domestic tourist trips reached 6.522 billion and total tourism spending reached 6.30 trillion yuan, up 16.2% and 9.5% year on year respectively, both setting new historical records; inbound visits by foreign nationals reached 82.035 million, up 26.4% year on year, and the tourism economy as a whole entered a new cycle of prosperity. Against the backdrop of "tourism power" being written into the 15th Five-Year Plan for the first time, digital technology is shifting from an auxiliary tool to a core engine, profoundly reshaping the supply, demand, experience, and governance structures of the tourism industry. Based on the latest developments in the tourism economy since 2025, this paper elaborates the internal logic of digital technology empowering the high-quality development of the tourism economy, and proposes practical paths in terms of digital infrastructure, cultivation of new business forms, cultural and tourism integration, governance and security, and policy support, with a view to providing reference for building a tourism power.