China News Service, Ningbo, October 4 (Linbo) Wearing AI glasses and walking on Wuling West Road, Xikou Town, Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, real-life monuments superimposed with historical stories appear in front of tourists; with just a question, AI can quickly recommend check-in seats and plan tour routes...
At present, AI is no longer an exclusive technological symbol for big cities. It is entering Zhejiang's county scenic spots, ancient villages and islands, activating landscape and human resources with multiple applications, and opening up a differentiated breakthrough track for county cultural tourism.
During the National Day holiday, tourists took photos with "Feng Xiaotao" in Fenghua, Zhejiang. (Photo courtesy of Fenghua Cultural Tourism Group)
"The biggest fear when traveling with children is that they will take the wrong path. It is like carrying a guide with you. It is not only light but also very smart." Chen Xin, a tourist from Shanghai, put on the AI glasses he just rented, and the best tour route popped up, and the explanation was automatically triggered when he walked to the point.
The diverse AI immersive experience in Fenghua Xikou is a vivid epitome of the digital transformation of cultural tourism in Zhejiang counties.
For a long time, many county-level cultural tourism companies have faced problems such as homogeneous resources, single explanation formats, and traditional traffic diversion methods. Although the traditional method of scanning QR codes to listen to explanations has become the "standard" in the industry, the implementation of artificial intelligence has accelerated the transformation of cultural tourism interaction from one-way listening to two-way dialogue, and the potential energy of science and technology has gradually been transformed into real development momentum for county cultural tourism.
In Xikou, in addition to AI glasses that can plan routes in real time and automatically trigger explanations of historical sites, the local AI intelligent "Feng Xiaotao" is the most popular among young tourists.
"Feng Xiaotao, take me to the best camera position!" Xu Xinran, a college student in Hangzhou, shouted at the screen. After a few seconds, the route and recommended points popped up immediately. “It’s like chatting with an old friend, and you’ll get the answer as soon as you ask.”
During the National Day holiday, tourists are shopping for "Fengxiaotao", a technological specialty. (Photo courtesy of Fenghua Cultural Tourism Group)
"Feng Xiaotao" is an accompanying AI tour guide based on smart dolls. It covers the entire journey before, during and after the tour. It provides one-stop companion services such as itinerary planning, point explanations, route navigation, food, drink and entertainment recommendations, and cultural science popularization. During the National Day, it became the most popular "new specialty" in Xikou Scenic Area.
In Zhejiang, counties with different mountains and seas have developed unique AI cultural tourism paths based on their own endowments.
The scattered islands and complicated ferry schedules were once pain points in the tourism development of Shengsi County, Zhoushan City. The local government relies on Alibaba Qianwen's large-scale model to build an "AI Ferry Ticket" intelligent agent, connects the passenger transport applet and the AutoNavi smart travel platform, accesses all real-time data on ferries and buses, and launches the AI escort image "Shengzai" to provide 24/7 online consultation.
Complex island travel problems have been simplified by AI, and tourists' travel experience has been greatly improved, opening up transportation service congestion points for island county cultural tourism.
Behind these county practices is Zhejiang’s systematic layout.
Zhejiang has rich cultural heritage such as Shangshan, Liangzhu, and the Grand Canal, and is rich in cultural tourism resources among the county’s mountains and rivers. Based on the advantages of the digital economy, Zhejiang has embedded artificial intelligence into the entire cultural tourism chain to promote the revitalization of traditional culture, expand new cultural tourism consumption scenarios, and reshape the county cultural tourism supply.
For example, the Keyan Scenic Area in Shaoxing has launched an AR smart navigation system. It relies on AI and AR technology to create digital guide dramas, virtual scene reconstructions and interactive games around the IPs of Keyan, Jianhu and Luzhen, creating an immersive experience that blends reality and reality.
The boundaries of AI empowerment are also extending to new cross-border cultural and tourism formats. In Jiande, Zhijiang Village of Xiaya Town has built a "low-altitude + AI farming" service center, relying on drones and three-dimensional airspace AI technology to integrate agricultural monitoring, plant protection and cultural tourism experience to explore a new model of rural cultural tourism that integrates land and air.
Tonglu, on the other hand, has embedded AI into the entire process of film and television production, and scripts, images, and dubbing can all be generated intelligently, giving rise to a lightweight "one-person company" creative model; Yueqing Yandang Mountain has renovated its visitor center to create an OPC business community, gathering AI entrepreneurial teams, and using lightweight digital creation to continue to attract traffic to the scenic spot.
From a pair of AI glasses in the ancient town of Xikou, to an AI boat ticket on Shengsi Island, to an AI drone in the fields of Jiande - the "intelligent change" of cultural tourism in Zhejiang counties is not a simple stacking of technologies, but to truly embed AI into the scene texture of the county, respond to specific needs, and activate dormant resources. When technological potential is accurately aligned with county needs, differentiated breakthrough paths will naturally emerge. (over)
