In 2024, total spending on night tourism in China reached 1.91 trillion yuan, a Year-on-year (YoY) increase of 21.7%,County-level night tours have become a new market highlight—leveraging ecological resources to create a "night market + folk performances + intangible cultural heritage crafts" model, driving a 25% increase in tourism revenue.

In 2025, the county-level tourism market continues to deepen, with growth rates in some counties surpassing those of large and medium-sized cities.In this context, to promote the high-quality development of the county-level night tour economy, hosted by the Jiangsu Lighting Society and the Jiangsu Tourism Society, organized by Ming Ketang and the Jiangsu Lighting Design Institute, and supported by Jiangsu Qingdong Technology Co., Ltd., the【2025Cultural Tourism and Night Economy Development Forum—County-Level Night Cultural Tourism: Innovation in Lighting Products and Scenes Amidst the Boom】was successfully held during the 2025 Zouqu International Lighting Expo.

Breaking Boundaries and Fusion · Beyond Lighting

Mr. Wang Haibo, Chairman of the Jiangsu Lighting Society, stated in his address that county-level cultural tourism night tours are undergoing a qualitative transformation from "lighting projects" to "light and shadow ecosystems"—with innovative forms such as light shows and immersive performances continuously emerging. In 2024, revenue from county-level night tours accounted for over 35% of total cultural tourism revenue.

He emphasized that lighting is not only infrastructure but also a new language for telling local stories, requiring the breaking of industry barriers to build an integrated ecosystem of "technology + culture + operation." Technologies such as smart interaction, AR virtual lighting overlay, and cultural digital twins will enrich night tour products. This forum aims to upgrade lighting from a tool to a language, making every beam of light a carrier for telling China's stories and illuminating a new future for the development of county-level cultural tourism.

Wang Haibo, Chairman of the Jiangsu Lighting Society

Policy Support · Creativity Driven

Mr. Zhou Yongbo, President of the Youth Branch of the Jiangsu Tourism Society, pointed out in his speech report titled "Scenario-based Thinking, Strategy, and Path for the Development of the Night-time Economy" that the night-time economy is becoming an important engine for promoting high-quality urban development. By integrating lighting, culture, technology, and scenario-based innovation, it reshapes the space and time of consumption.

Zhou Yongbo stated that various regions rely on local resources, such as the Suzhou Flower Market and Pingwu, Sichuan night markets, to create a county-level nighttime economy model characterized by "experience upgrade, business format integration, and emotional connection". Meanwhile, the revitalization of intangible cultural heritage, industrial heritage renovation, and IP planning enhance cultural appeal, while policy support, prudent regulation, and financial guarantees provide support for its development. He pointed out that practices in Chongqing, [[16. 产业集群与地区]]Shanghai / Beijing[[16. 产业集群与地区]], and other places have proven that combining technology empowerment with storytelling can deepen the nighttime experience.

Zhou Yongbo emphasized that the nighttime economy must avoid homogenization, focus on shared benefits for hosts and guests, [17. 产业与经济常用词]supply chain[17. 产业与经济常用词] integration, and sustainable operations, aiding city brand building, talent attraction, and activation of internal circulation.

Zhou Yongbo, President of the Youth Branch of the Jiangsu Tourism Society

情绪价值·爆款关键

Mr. Qian Zongming, Secretary-General of the Jiangsu Lighting Society, pointed out in his speech "Incubation Logic for Hit Products in County-Level Night Tourism" at that county-level night culture and tourism is a form of nighttime tourism developed based on natural and cultural resources, characterized by strong cultural uniqueness, rich resources, and diverse customer groups. The incubation of hit products needs to follow the logic chain of "resource endowment → market positioning → emotional value → IP branding → scene construction".

Qian Zongming stated that the key to creating blockbuster county-level night tourism products lies in breaking the limitations of traditional geographic positioning, and redefining the market with time cost and emotional needs as the core. Contemporary consumers value emotional value more highly; it is necessary to accurately capture social emotions such as "lying flat," "anxiety," and "Guochao" (China Chic), and integrate functional value with emotional experience through FABE (Features, Advantages, Benefits, Evidence) sales techniques.

Finally, Qian Zongming emphasized through relevant successful case studies that county-level night tourism should focus on the "Technology + Culture + Operations" trinity model, developing differentially from resource-concentrated and rural-driven types to cultural theme types, building a light and shadow ecosystem of "tangible resources + intangible culture + digital technology", allowing every beam of light to tell a unique local story, achieving a qualitative change from "lighting projects" to "cultural carriers".

Qian Zongming, Secretary-General of the Jiangsu Lighting Society

Light and Shadow Empowering New Cultural Tourism Experiences

深圳光峰科技股份华东区技术总监刘菲先生发表《投影艺术的价值演绎》主题演讲。他指出，当下数字艺术浪潮兴起，夜间经济蓬勃，文旅部推 “科技+文化” 战略，为投影艺术提供土壤。光峰科技作为全球领先的激光显示企业，其原创 ALPD半导体激光光源技术具高光效、高亮度、广色域、高对比度等优势，打破海外壁垒，成为国际行业主流架构。

Finally, Liu Fei, through the Fujian Pingtan Senhai Borderless Theater, Xinjiang Hotan's Yotkan Ancient City , the "Encounter Dunhuang · Light and Shadow Art Exhibition", Datong's "Dreamlike Datong" immersive traveling performance, and Shandong Qufu's Luyuan Wonderful Night, shared case studies of cultural tourism projects to illustrate the application of customized solutions for its projection products, aiming to set a benchmark for immersive experiences and support the innovative development of cultural tourism.

Liu Fei, Technical Director of East China Region at Appotronics Corporation

Breaking Boundaries with Light and Shadow, Rebirth through Immersion

Ms. Ni Yan, General Manager of Changzhou Dinosaur Park Culture Technology Co., Ltd. stated in her speech titled "Light as a Medium, Crossing Virtual and Real: Breaking Boundaries and Rebirth in Immersive Cultural Tourism Lighting", that lighting is the key carrier connecting technology and experience as we move from "viewing scenery" to "entering scenery". Facing the challenge of aging facilities at China Dinosaur Park , the company promoted innovation based on "technology as the foundation, experience as the soul", transforming from a single theme park into a benchmark for immersive cultural tourism integrating light-shadow technology and IP creativity.

Ni Yan introduced that the company uses cutting-edge technologies such as VR, MR, and XR to create immersive scenes blending virtual and real elements, such as the Dinosaur Rainforest and Night Tour Fantasy, achieving a combination of five-sense interaction and popular science entertainment, which is particularly attractive to families with children.

Ni Yan stated that China Dinosaur Park empowers county-level tourism through small yet exquisite immersive products, enhancing visitor experience and cultural identity. The MR project, which achieved million-level sales even before promotion, demonstrates significant market potential. In the future, we will continue to expand technical applications and scenic area collaborations, leading the innovative development of immersive cultural tourism lighting in China.

Immersive Light and Shadow: Reshaping Night Tourism

Mr. Liao Xin, Domestic Marketing General Manager of Guangdong Night Sun Technology Group Co., Ltd. delivered a keynote speech titled "Breaking Boundaries, Empowering, Symbiosis — Innovative Practices of Stage Lighting in Night Cultural Tourism," structured around three parts: "Breaking Boundaries," "Empowering," and "Symbiosis." 《Breaking Boundaries.Empowering.Symbiosis — Innovative Practices of Stage Lighting in Night Cultural Tourism》

Aspect of Breaking Boundaries: National policies support technology-enabled cultural tourism. Facing the limitations of traditional static lighting displays and monotonous forms, the company promotes industry transformation through a trinity of "Art + Thought + Technology," utilizing technologies such as 3D projection and AR/VR to create immersive experiences.

Empowerment Level: Through the dual-wheel drive of "products empowering scenarios, scenarios feeding back into products," we achieve a transformation from stage lighting to customized cultural tourism scenarios, building multi-modal experiences such as night tours in scenic areas, cultural revitalization, and rural cultural tourism, driving surrounding consumption growth by over 200%.

Symbiosis Level: Focus on building the 23,000 square meter ILC International Light and Shadow Center, constructing a cultural tourism ecosystem with "three keys" (Key of Tradition, Key of Characteristics, Key of Platform), linking 500+ supply chain partners, aiming to become a global designer exchange center and an audio-visual-light industry ecosystem, redefining the commercial value of cultural tourism night tours.

Liao Xin, General Manager of Domestic Marketing at Guangdong Night Sun Technology Group Co., Ltd.

Immersive Light and Shadow, Reshaping Night Tours

Mr. Sun Fengfeng, Chairman of Toushi Intelligent System Co., Ltd., introduced numerous successful and excellent cases in his speech titled "AI Reconstructing the Cultural Tourism Industry: Traditional Culture Translation Techniques in the Context of Artificial Intelligence", detailing the company's iterative upgrades from 3D modeling to AI technology to achieve innovative expressions of traditional culture.

Typical cases include the 18-meter human-AI co-created "Prosperous Suzhou," which significantly reduced creation costs and won the 2025 French Design Award; the "Forbidden City Trilogy" AI Art Exhibition, where the project trained a dedicated oil painting model to generate over 80,000 high-quality works, solving copyright issues and forming a closed loop for exhibition, study, and commerce.

Sun Fengfeng stated that AI empowerment not only reduces the production cost of cultural tourism content but also builds an innovative ecosystem of "Technology + Culture" through diverse applications such as education and scenic spot interactions, injecting new vitality into traditional culture in the digital age and opening up new paths for the high-quality development of the cultural tourism Industry.

In the final Forum exchange session, lively discussions unfolded around topics such as "AI technology is easily deified; what are the most pragmatic AI application scenarios currently?", "What is the key turning point for county-level night tours from project planning to market recognition?", and "What universal scenario formulas can allow small and medium-sized counties to quickly replicate successful experiences?" Guests expressed their views and suggestions.

This Forum clearly outlined the key turning point in Industry development: lighting has leapfrogged from basic functional products to become the core narrative language of cultural tourism experiences; in the future, the lighting Industry will not only be a provider of light environments but also an incubator of cultural IPs and a creator of consumption scenarios.

For lighting enterprises, the opportunities of the night economy lie not only in the scale dividends of a trillion-yuan market, but also in the ability to translate urban cultural genes through light and shadow and provide customized services for vertical scenarios, which will be key to winning the night tourism market. The industry urgently needs to establish full-chain service capabilities from "lighting up" to "bringing to life" and then to "igniting popularity", making every beam of light a true innovative carrier for telling China's story and activating the rural economy.

In the future, only by deeply integrating technological innovation, cultural expression, and operational thinking can one take the initiative in the upgrade of nighttime consumption.

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