Illustration: Xia Qing/GT
South China’s Guangdong Province on Monday unveiled a new plan to promote tourism, which includes an eye-catching component - technological industry tours. The initiative aims to design high-quality travel routes that connect the region’s leading universities, research institutes, technology parks, and major infrastructure projects, offering visitors hands-on experiences with frontier innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), drones, and autonomous driving.
Once off-limits to outsiders and defined by the hum of heavy machinery, factory floors in China are now attracting a growing number of curious visitors. Industrial heritage sites, high-tech assembly lines, and interactive learning spaces have transformed manufacturing zones into unexpected tourist destinations. What was once a symbol of industrial work and production is being reimagined as a space for education, innovation, and leisure - reflecting how technology and tourism are beginning to converge in today’s China.
According to Economic Information Daily, high-tech and heavy-industry study tours emerged as an unexpected highlight during this year’s National Day holiday, with interest in aerospace and automotive experiences accounting for more than 20 percent of bookings. An executive of a Chinese-based educational travel agency noted that some foreign teenagers are also fascinated by China’s frontier technologies, particularly AI applications in autonomous driving.
Turning the focus back to Guangdong, the province plans to promote 51 curated industrial tourism routes and aims to expand its industrial tourism offerings to about 300 sites by the end of 2025, while also developing new industrial tourism destinations. The developments in the province illustrate the wider forces behind the growth of technological industry tours, highlighting trends that go beyond traditional tourism.
First, Guangdong’s rapid technological development provides a solid basis for these tours. From AI research laboratories to modern manufacturing clusters, the province’s innovation ecosystem offers a range of accessible, hands-on experiences for both domestic and international visitors. The concentration and quality of these technological hubs make Guangdong well-positioned to develop industrial tourism that integrates education and technological exposure.
Second, interest in Guangdong’s technological industry tours is steadily increasing, reflecting more than casual curiosity. The trend points to a wider engagement with science and innovation among the general public. Parents, in particular, are showing growing interest in these tours as educational opportunities, aiming to foster technological awareness and curiosity in their children. The development of such tours indicates that China’s technological growth is increasingly intersecting with everyday cultural and educational activities.
While Guangdong provides a useful glimpse into the rise of technological industry tours, the trend is spreading rapidly across China. As the country’s science and industrial sectors advance, technology- and industry-themed tourism is emerging as a new growth area, offering diverse experiences and substantial potential. From observing robotic arms executing precise tasks on smart production lines to engaging directly with local manufacturing techniques, an increasing number of factories in Chinese cities are becoming destinations for young travelers and tech enthusiasts seeking immersive industrial experiences.
For instance, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town) has attracted growing groups of tourists with diverse industrial tourism attractions, including humanoid robots, unmanned vehicles, aerospace exploration bases, automobile factories, and robot industrial parks showcasing cutting-edge robotics and technology experiences.
Tech- and industrial-focused tourism projects have become an increasingly popular segment of holiday travel, stimulating related sectors such as dining, cultural industries, and education, while injecting new vitality into local economies. More cities across China are now launching technology-themed tourism initiatives, helping to drive travel consumption. For instance, the Science and Technology Daily reported that during a recent national holiday, ticket revenue at the Xi’an Science and Technology Museum rose by more than 600 percent.
From a global perspective, China’s industrial tourism sector remains relatively young, with significant room for growth. Compared with countries such as Germany, where industrial tourism is more established, China is still developing both market scale and infrastructure. According to a report cited by Science and Technology Daily, China had more than 1,200 industrial tourism enterprises as of early 2024, and the market is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) by 2030.
All in all, technological industry tours are gaining traction across China and represent a sector with considerable growth potential. Beyond serving as leisure destinations, these tours offer a lens through which to observe how advances in science and technology are shaping consumer engagement and generating new economic momentum.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/1104/c90000-20385975.html