Chapter 470: Western Cultural Tourism Development

Chapter 470: Western Cultural Tourism Development

Chapter 470: Western Cultural Tourism Development

"Director Wang, the wind and sand are too strong today. The equipment may be affected." Photographer Liu Yin said with some concern.

The climate in the Northwest is indeed very harsh. Not only is the air dry, but there is a big temperature difference between day and night, and sandstorms are frequent, which often brings many challenges to the crew's filming work.

Wang Hao nodded when he heard this, frowning slightly, but still comforted him and said:
“I know, the environment is like this, it is like this.

This is already very good. I have asked the locals, and they said that the shelterbelt project has been progressing steadily over the years and the sandstorm situation has improved a lot.

If it were in the past, the sandstorm would have buried people.

Keep overcoming it, come more often, at least the shooting progress is still within the plan, and we can still finish the location shooting here before the Spring Festival."

Just as Wang Hao said, although the wind and sand have a certain impact on the crew, with the help of experienced personnel at Dunhuang Film and Television City, the "Ball Lightning" crew is still steadily advancing the filming task.

Soon, all the location shooting work here was completed and the crew prepared to move to other scenic spots.

They will start from Dunhuang, drive westward along the G3011 Liuge Expressway, enter QH Province, and go to the Qarhan Salt Lake, stay there for three or four days, then drive more than 200 kilometers to Heidu Mountain, then turn to Zhangye Danxia, ​​and finally arrive at Jinta Populus euphratica forest to complete the exterior shooting, and then fly back to Beijing from Jiayuguan Airport in Jiuquan.

The entire route is about 1600 kilometers and is expected to take about fifteen days. After the filming, we will be able to return to Beijing in time to celebrate the Spring Festival.

Just when Wang Hao and his crew of "Ball Lightning" were about to leave Dunhuang, the local government leaders hosted them again on the pretext of seeing them off.

However, this time was different from the last time. The local leaders focused on entertaining Wang Hao, and they were alone in a small box.

And at the banquet, these local leaders who were able to remain calm finally put forward their demands before Wang Hao left.

The local government of Dunhuang City hopes to develop the local cultural and tourism industry together with Wang Hao and the Galaxy Group behind him, and jointly create a comprehensive project integrating culture, tourism, and film and television.

"Director Wang, we have all heard of the Galaxy Park project that your Galaxy Group developed in Shangjing. It can replace Universal Studios. You are the one."

The second-in-command of Dunhuang City gave Wang Hao a thumbs up.

He would definitely come to discuss this kind of thing with Wang Hao. If the discussion goes well, the top leader would then meet with Wang Hao to finalize the formal cooperation.

It doesn't matter if the talk doesn't go well. The boss won't lose face and it's like trying your best.

Wang Hao had actually anticipated the proposal from the Dunhuang city leaders and had considered this issue before, but in this regard, he still put down his wine glass, as if he was thinking and hesitating.

The local leaders who were sitting with him were not in a hurry to urge him, but waited patiently to consider it. After about a cup of tea, Wang Hao finally spoke.

He scanned the box, and finally stopped at the face of the second-in-command of Dunhuang City. He said with some embarrassment:
"Leader, to be honest, Dunhuang's cultural and natural resources are indeed unique. The unique topography of the Northwest is indeed of great help to film and television production, especially science fiction films like ours. I am also very optimistic about the potential of the cultural tourism industry here.

but……"

Wang Hao paused, the key point is on this "but".

“You should also know that our Galaxy Group’s main focus is currently on the Galaxy Paradise project in Shangjing, and both funds and manpower are relatively tight.

Moreover, the company has many film and television projects, which also occupy a large amount of cash flow. If it launches a new project, Galaxy Group may not be able to take care of it.

If something unexpected happens during the process, it will have a negative impact on you and the local government.”

Dunhuang City's second-in-command nodded upon hearing this. Hearing the sincerity in Wang Hao's words, he knew that he was not trying to shirk responsibility, but was being realistic. Therefore, there was some understanding in his tone:

"Director Wang, you are right. We also know that Galaxy Park is a big project. Your company must have spent a lot of energy and effort on it.

However, you must have seen the situation here during your few days in Dunhuang. Although Dunhuang is a big city with many tourism resources, its annual cultural industry income is actually not very strong. Restricted by its geographical location, the number of tourists visiting has always had an invisible upper limit. Compared with the popular tourist cities in the southeast coast, it is still far behind.

It can be said that our government is also anxious, but has never found a way out. We have finally got Mr. Wang here, so we must ask you for advice and help.

You said that Galaxy Park is the focus, but I heard that the project has phases one, two and three, and the first phase alone will take four or five years. If you really have to wait for the Galaxy Park project to be completed before developing our side, I can wait, but the people of the city and those related practitioners in the cultural field can't wait any longer.

Of course, I am not forcing or morally blackmailing Director Wang. I just hope that you can give us more reference and planning for the sake of our sincere hearts.

The Dunhuang Municipal Government is very sincere about cooperating with Galaxy Group. We are willing to provide policy benefits, land resources and financial support. "

The second-in-command's words were heartfelt, and he is worthy of being a high-ranking official who would seize the opportunity and not let it go.

Wang Hao seemed to be moved by his words. He pursed his lips and held the other person's hand.

“Leaders, Dunhuang is extremely lucky to have leaders like you who care about the people wholeheartedly.

I can see your sincerity, and I believe that Dunhuang's cultural and tourism industry does have potential.

Let me put it this way. Although I haven't been in Dunhuang for a long time, I have been to these surrounding attractions and I have experience in developing theme parks in Shangjing. I will just tell you my opinion. If you think it's appropriate, adopt it. If it's not appropriate, don't take it to heart."

"Director Wang, please speak."

The second in command and a group of local officials immediately pretended to listen attentively and looked at him with burning eyes.

He is not afraid of you speaking, but is afraid of you not speaking. Being able to make suggestions more or less proves that he has ideas. If he learns to speak in official language and speak politely like the people within the government, then there is really no hope for him to get Wang Hao to invest in Dunhuang.

“Let’s first talk about the problems Dunhuang is facing in terms of cultural tourism today.”

Wang Hao took a sip of wine to moisten his throat.

"During the time I have been here, I have visited many nearby scenic spots and have seen the efforts of the Dunhuang government in the local cultural and tourism industry, and the concern and attention that local leaders pay to related fields.

The tourism infrastructure in the urban area is still very complete, and the transportation, accommodation, catering and other aspects are quite large and sufficient to accommodate most tourists.

The tourist source market is also constantly expanding. During the filming process, I also saw many overseas tour groups.

In addition, I see that you are constantly enriching your tourism products, and by cooperating with neighboring sister cities, you have a variety of tourist routes.

These are all good aspects.”

He paused, his tone gradually becoming serious: “However, beneath these advantages, there are actually still many problems.

First, the main body of tourism development is relatively single, mostly government management departments. Although this model can ensure a certain degree of stability, it also limits the space for innovation and market-oriented operations. The utilization rate and efficiency of funds are low, and it is difficult for the market to become active. "

When the second-in-command heard this, his brows frowned slightly, obviously surprised by Wang Hao's frankness, but more of a consensus.

He nodded and motioned Wang Hao to continue.

Wang Hao continued:

"The second problem is poor management. Objectively speaking, there are multiple management and regional management, lack of integration and coordination, and mutual constraints.

For example, the Mogao Grottoes scenic area is independently managed by the Dunhuang Academy, the Mingsha Mountain is under the Tourism Bureau, and the Yadan Geopark is under the natural resources department. They are independent in their management and lack unified planning and coordination.

In this way, the tourists’ experience will be greatly reduced, and there may even be a situation where ‘one scenic spot has multiple standards’.”

The second-in-command couldn't help but sigh when he heard this: "Director Wang, you are right. We have also noticed this problem, but we have not been able to find an effective solution."

Wang Hao smiled slightly.

“That’s because the business volume of the cultural tourism industry is not large enough to form a major trend. There is no rush for this matter and we will talk about it later.

Let me talk about another thing. Dunhuang is located in the inland after all. From my experience in the past few days, there is still a certain gap between the local ideological awareness and that of Beijing and Shanghai. There is insufficient awareness of the advantages of its own tourism resources, and the pattern of "big tourism" and "big opening" has not yet been formed.

At present, your development of tourism resources is still at a relatively traditional stage, lacking innovation and in-depth experience.

For example, a visit to the Mogao Grottoes takes only one to two hours from entry to exit, with basically no participatory activities; in the newly developed Yadan National Geopark, tourists have to trek more than 200 kilometers, take a tour and then return.

Such an experience is unlikely to resonate deeply with tourists, and naturally cannot effectively retain tourists, resulting in low tourism consumption. "

When the second-in-command heard this, he showed some helplessness on his face: "Director Wang, you are absolutely right. We are also trying to improve the tourists' experience, but we have not found a suitable breakthrough."

"We'll leave this for later solutions."

Wang Hao still waved his hand and continued:
"In addition, when it comes to tourism consumption and Dunhuang's cultural tourism, it is not enough to rely solely on the government's efforts. The awareness of the tourism industry must be improved in all sectors of society.

The government needs to carry out strong publicity and guidance in this regard. At the very least, the service attitude should be good, without forcing sales, shortchanging customers, and the attitude should be warm and polite, without deceiving tourists.

We cannot think of doing one-time tourist business. Today is different from the past. The Internet and media are becoming more and more developed, and public word of mouth is more influential.

No matter how fun your place is or how beautiful the scenery is, if it has a bad reputation, people will have an established negative perception of the place and will most likely exclude you from the selection process.

For example, in some places, if there is negative news about tourists being overcharged or tour groups forcing consumption, and it becomes known nationwide, the government's three to five years of hard work may be wasted.

Even if we try to make up for it later, it will be of no avail. The government must strictly manage and supervise this aspect!"

Wang Hao, who came from later generations, had a clear understanding of how important a place’s service attitude is to the tourism industry.

Let’s not talk about anything else, let’s just talk about Zibo, which became famous all over the country just because of its barbecue?
How is that possible? There is no place without delicious barbecue.

The reason why Zibo is so popular is not the word-of-mouth effect brought about by the traffic era, but the good feeling given to tourists by the improved service awareness.

We are all smart people, and no one wants to spend money to suffer a loss. Merchants in some tourist cities seem to be making a small profit, but in fact they are wasting future long-term interests.

In fact, the leaders of Dunhuang City do not have such a deep understanding of this point. People in the mainland do not have a clear concept of how much impact the upcoming traffic era will have on the cultural and tourism industry.

However, this did not affect the second-in-command's expression, which became serious after hearing Wang Hao's words.

Some things, some words, when spoken by different people, have completely different effects.

If these words were spoken by an ordinary tourist, not even a sound would be heard. But if they were spoken by a great director and entrepreneur like Wang Hao, then they would carry a lot of weight.

"Director Wang, you are absolutely right. Thank you so much for your advice. Come, let me toast you again!
Don't worry, our government will definitely strengthen supervision to ensure the healthy development of the Dunhuang tourism market."

Everyone sat down and toasted in turn, and then Wang Hao talked about the solution.

Now that the question has been raised, it cannot just be a question. The local government leaders know the current situation of Dunhuang's tourism industry no better than you do, and they don't need you, an outsider, to interfere.

Do they want you to point out the problem? They want you to help solve the problem!

If he doesn't propose a solution, Wang Hao will offend the local leaders.

So Wang Hao said directly: "Our Galaxy Group will still have a lot of demand for location shooting in the northwest in the future."

His words were more effective than anything else and immediately made the unhappiness in the hearts of some people present disappear.

“According to our company’s future plans for the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe], there are many follow-up projects.

For example, our current web drama "Ghost Blows Out the Light" has eight parts shot in a row. After we finish shooting the interior scenes in the studio in Shangjing, we will come to the northwest to shoot.

In addition, "The Martian" needs to shoot the Martian terrain, "The Three-Body Problem 2" involves the lunar terrain, and "Game of Thrones 1" has the Devil City, all of which need to be shot in the northwest region.

It is undoubtedly a great thing to have a more complete film and television base in Dunhuang that can meet our requirements.

And since we want to shoot these movies and use these scenes, then correspondingly, some related IP development naturally also requires space.

After all, the space of Galaxy Park in Shangjing is limited. We can also create scenery in the theme park, but artificial scenery is not as shocking as natural scenery.

Therefore, we at Galaxy Group are not opposed to cooperating with the Dunhuang Municipal Government to develop cultural tourism projects here.”

Hearing Wang Hao's words, the second-in-command beside him immediately showed a satisfied smile.

(End of this chapter)