On the evening of November 7, Mr. Chang Tao, co-founder of Zhejiang Listening Stream Culture and Tourism Group, was invited to the University of Waikato Joint Institute at Hangzhou City University (NZUWI) to give a lecture on the topic of “Exploring ‘Convention and Exhibition’ in the Countryside-Marketing Strategies for Countryside Tourism in the Age of New Media”.

Introduction to Speaker

Chang Tao is the executive director of the Zhejiang Province Tourism and Bed and Breakfast (B&B) Industry Association, vice president of the Zhejiang Province Leisure and Sightseeing Agriculture Association, and co-founder and CEO of Zhejiang Listening Stream Culture and Tourism Group.

Before the beginning of the lecture, the institute granted a license for the industry-teaching integration practice base to Zhejiang Listening Stream Culture and Tourism Group and appointed Chang Tao as the institute's industry instructor.

Introduction to Industry-Education Integration Practice Bases

Zhejiang Listening Stream Culture and Tourism Group focuses on the development of revitalization of rural culture and tourism industry. Now, its main business is domestic high-end resort bed and breakfast chain brand “Listen to the stream”, the countryside luxury resort hotel brand “Paloma Plminn”, the first domestic, civilian-run B&B housekeeper vocational skills training institution, the “Daxiang” B&B Housekeeper Vocational Skills Training School, as well as a whole industrial chain service platform for rural revitalization, established jointly with Hangzhou Garden, including four major business segments, the “Field Home” cultural and tourism service serving as one example. Thus far, its business has expanded to more than 20 cities across seven provinces in China.

Part 1: The Purpose and Significance of “Convention and Exhibition” in the Countryside

At the beginning of the lecture, Chang Tao mentioned that China is currently advancing the strategy of rural revitalization, which brings development opportunities for various areas.

As some rural areas are facing low visibility and limited marketing channels, “Convention and Exhibition”, as a platform for centralized display, communication, and promotion, can effectively integrate rural tourism resources, and let more people understand the charm of the countryside by displaying natural scenery, folk customs and special agricultural products, so as to enhance the brand image and market competitiveness of rural tourism.

Chang Tao asked the students to think about how to grasp the new opportunities of the growth of new media in this context, apply this to the development of culture and tourism industry, and help people revitalize the countryside. In addition, he addressed how to do marketing for the rural tourism, bringing new life and vitality to countryside tourism.

Part 2: The Role of New Media in Rural Tourism Marketing

Chang Tao mentioned that the biggest gap among people in the countryside is the information gap, and a significant role of new media is to bridge/reduce this information gap. In the era of new media, the speed and scope of information dissemination have been greatly improved, and the combination of “Convention and Exhibition” and new media can quickly implement promotional efforts, generate new traffic, and extend the long-tail effect of the traffic in order to attract more tourists to rural tourism destinations.

At the same time, the new media is also characterized by strong interactivity, and tourists can communicate and interact with rural tourism operators through using such media to make comments, share ideas, and provide valuable suggestions for the development of rural tourism.

Part 3: Combination of “Convention and Exhibition” with the Countryside and New Media

Bringing the combination of “Convention and Exhibition” and new media to the countryside is a brand-new idea and method, which can maximize the organizational efficiency of exhibitions and bring a new platform for the marketing of countryside tourism.

Chang Tao introduced in detail how to effectively utilize new media to empower the exhibition, from the preparation stage through to the post-exhibition period.

In addition, Chang Tao introduced the successful cases of “Field Home” project in Sanxi, Zhangping, Meizhu Ancient Town, etc., which used the combination of exhibition and new media to innovate within the local cultural tourism industry. Zhejiang Listening Stream have cooperated with universities to carry out the cluster creation and exhibition of local art installations, known as “Art Empowers the Countryside” in Shanchuan Town, Anji City. This project utilized the tourism resources of Jiu Mu Village in autumn. The initiative also brought significant economic benefits to the mountainous area attractions, presenting a new type of conference and exhibition format.

At the end of the lecture, Chang Tao also mentioned that the integration of “Convention and Exhibition” through new media within the countryside is the future development direction, and he hoped that students would devote themselves to innovative rural tourism marketing, bringing new vitality to its development.

How to further strengthen the integration of “Convention and Exhibition” with new media, and constantly innovate the concepts and methods of rural tourism marketing are the issues worth thinking about by the convention and exhibition majors, and also represents great opportunities bestowed by the times!