On December 14, 2025, the 2025 Academic Annual Conference of the Youth Branch of the Jiangsu Tourism Society and the Fourth Frontier Forum on Youth Tourism Research were successfully held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Co-hosted by the School of Humanities at Southeast University and the School of Geographical Sciences at Nanjing Normal University, the conference focused on new consumption trends in cultural tourism and high-quality development. It aimed to promote academic exchange and collaboration while establishing a high-level dialogue platform for young scholars and industry professionals. The event featured keynote speeches, face-to-face sessions with journal editors-in-chief, roundtable forums, and parallel sessions. Over 100 experts, scholars, and young students from more than ten universities, research institutions, and industry organizations across China attended the conference.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Gu Qiushí, Associate Professor at the School of Humanities, Southeast University, and Vice President of the Youth Branch of the Jiangsu Tourism Society. Gao Jun, Party Secretary of the School of Humanities, Southeast University, and Huang Zhènfāng, President of the Jiangsu Tourism Society, delivered speeches respectively. They emphasized the vital role of young scholars in advancing tourism theory and practical exploration, and urged tourism research to keep pace with the times and serve society.

The keynote session was chaired by Professor Hou Guolin from Nanjing Normal University and Associate Professor Xuan Guofu from Southeast University. Professor Wang Ning and Professor Du Yunzhou from Southeast University, Professor Zhou Yongbo from Soochow University, Associate Professor Tao Hui from Minzu University of China, Associate Professor Wei Mingqiu from Southeast University, and Associate Professor Li Tao from Nanjing Normal University shared their latest research findings. Their presentations covered dimensions including creative tourism, philosophy of science, perception of comfort objects in subways, rural revitalization and cultural subjectivity, public services for cultural tourism, and rural tourism investment.

The afternoon session featured a face-to-face session with journal editors and a roundtable forum, establishing an efficient dialogue platform between authors and editors, as well as academia and industry.

Moderated by Associate Researcher Jin Haipeng from Southeast University, the session featured: Professor Miao Li, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (University of Macau); Professor Xiao Honggen, Associate Editor of Journal of Destination Marketing & Management (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University); Professor Chen Ganghua, Associate Editor of Tourism Review (Sun Yat-sen University); Associate Professor Lin Shanshan, Associate Editor of Annals of Tourism Research (Zhejiang University); Associate Editor Huang Dan from Sichuan University (Tourism Management Perspectives), and Associate Editor Wen Jun from Macao University of Science and Technology (Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management) engaged in face-to-face discussions with attending scholars.

A Q&A session followed, where young scholars and multiple journal editors held in-depth dialogues on topics including foundational academic competencies, paper optimization strategies, disciplinary theory development, and research methodologies.

The roundtable forum was moderated by Associate Professor Zhang Zi'ang from Nanjing Normal University. Participants included Wan Xucai, Dean of the School of Business Administration at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics; Yu Fenglong, Assistant Dean of the School of Tourism and Culinary Arts and Head of the Tourism Management Department at Yangzhou University; Gu Zhixin, Director of the Planning and Development Office at Nanjing Tourism Vocational College; Liu Qing, General Manager of Xiangtang Company, Pukou Culture and Tourism Group, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area; and Gao Zhiqin, Assistant General Manager and Party Committee Member of China International Travel Service (CITS) Jiangsu Company. Participants discussed youth talent cultivation and disciplinary innovation amid industrial transformation. Drawing on industry insights, they emphasized maintaining professional confidence, proactively transforming tourism management, and advancing tourism education to align with the times, empower individuals, and lead the future. The forum effectively bridged barriers between industry, academia, and research, charting practical pathways for the innovative development of tourism disciplines.

Additionally, this conference featured two parallel sub-forums. Sub-Forum I focused on “Digital Empowerment and Sustainable Cultural Tourism,” exploring academic frontiers and practical pathways for green transformation through topics such as spatial replacement in rural tourism communities, study-travel practices, and the coupling of virtual and real tourism flows. Sub-Forum II, themed “Deep Integration of Digital Culture and Tourism for High-Quality Development,” examined the role of the digital economy in tourism, innovations in cultural tourism project investment management, and the logic of consumption upgrades. Both forums brought together presenters from universities, research institutions, and the industry. Through thematic presentations and expert commentary, they deepened understanding of the transformation of the cultural and tourism industry driven by digital technology, providing valuable insights for theoretical innovation and industry practice.

During the closing ceremony of the conference, Associate Professor Yao Kai, founder of Credamo Jianshu from the Central University of Finance and Economics, delivered a presentation titled “Enhancing Tourism Management Research Efficiency in the AI Era.” He introduced the core advantages of Credamo Jianshu's one-stop research platform. He also addressed challenges in AI-era research, such as copyright issues and data authenticity, alongside opportunities presented by open science. Yao stated that Credamo will empower tourism management research through open science resources like the OPENS million-scale traceable sample repository, collaborations with multiple top-tier universities, and future integration plans for oTree experiments.

Finally, Professor Zhou Yongbo from Soochow University, President of the Youth Branch of the Jiangsu Tourism Society, delivered the closing remarks, summarizing the conference and expressing gratitude to the organizers and distinguished guests.

This conference focused on cutting-edge topics in new cultural tourism consumption and high-quality development, successfully establishing a high-level dialogue platform between young scholars and industry practitioners. Through diverse formats including keynote presentations, face-to-face sessions with journal editors, roundtable forums, and parallel sessions, the conference not only deepened theoretical exploration in areas such as digital empowerment and sustainable cultural tourism but also effectively fostered deeper integration among academia, the journal publishing sector, and industry. It provided valuable insights for cultivating young talent, charting new directions in disciplinary innovation, and advancing collaborative development among industry, academia, and research. The conference holds significant implications for promoting theoretical innovation and practical application in tourism studies.