The rise of industrial tourism in China

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September 16, 2026 e-Paper

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September 16, 2026 e-Paper

Published – September 16, 2026 07:30 am IST

In May this year, a joint document issued by seven departments called for expanding the supply of industrial tourism products, promoting factory tours, and turning more manufacturing facilities into tourist destinations.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

China’s factory floors have turned out to be sought after destinations during summer vacation this year. There has been a visible rise in tours to hi-tech manufacturing facilities like electric vehicles, electronics, and high-speed trains, with shipyards and breweries also in the mix. According to a popular Chinese online travel booking platform, Tongcheng, bookings for factory tours rose more than 36 per cent year-on-year during this summer season, with families accounting for 68 per cent of bookings.

These factory-technology tours are part of the growing phenomenon of industrial tourism (gongye luyou) – a policy initiative actively promoted by the ruling Communist Party-state. Rather than make these tours from a sightseeing perspective, The state seeks to make them niche tourism an instrument for showcasing industrial capability, strengthening industrial brands, and educating young people about technology. According to Beijing city’s municipal bureau, in 2024, the city had 15 million industrial tourists and generated 1.7 billion yuan ($248 million) in revenue.

The origins of China’s industrial tourism dates back to the 1990s when industrial enterprises like breweries, dairy farms and petrochemicals sought to use tourism for building better consumer relationships. The central government built on the local experiments to standardise locations, and in 2004, officially designated 306 sites across China under the national industrial and agricultural tourism rubric. It marked the formalisation of the phenomenon of industrial tourism. In addition, the Communist Party of China has also emphasised on preserving industrial heritage sites, especially in the revolutionary base areas during their conflict with Japanese forces as well as the Kuomintang in the civil war before the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949. This convergence of revolutionary and industrial heritage provides the foundation for the promotion of industrial tourism in advanced technology sectors over the last decade. Presently, China has 264 designated national industrial heritage sites.

In May this year, a joint document issued by seven departments including the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Education, explicitly called for expanding the supply of industrial tourism products, promoting more factory tours, activating industrial museums, and turning more manufacturing facilities into tourist destinations. This cross-departmental policy makes promotion of industrial tourism systematic and widens the scope into areas such as aerospace, robotics, e-commerce, and logistics, where China has been expanding its capabilities. The policy integrates industrial heritage, cultural tourism, innovation, education and consumption. Local governments too have joined in, crafting policies suited to their jurisdictions. For instance, the city of Beijing has made plans to integrate its tech hubs into tourism routes to open up robotics factories and autonomous vehicle labs for public viewing.

While the main intention of these tours is to showcase innovation and manufacturing prowess to instil national pride, attention has also been given to the future. The tours are platforms to spark interest in STEM as a sustainable career option among the youth and facilitate the creation of a future generations of engineers and technology professionals. The growing participation of urban middle-class families in these tours attests to this point. Universities across China have been expanding the number of programmes and enrolments in Artificial Intelligence, robotics, semiconductors and other related engineering fields, which has also been underlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan.

By combining tours with research and consumption, companies are able to promote their brands while creating new revenue streams. For example, the tours of Xiaomi’s facilities are in high demand, with slots highly priced and allotted through lottery. In an intensively competitive domestic market, the factory tours help companies connect better with consumers. From testing new products to visiting a showroom, and having meals in company’s cafeteria, the immersive experience builds stronger emotional connection with the brands. Apart from the domestic footfalls, foreign investors, executives and technology professionals are participating in such tours, to observe China’s economic and industrial transformation.

India may not be at the same scale as China in terms of industrial manufacturing and advanced facilities. However, there is space to experiment and diversify the country’s tourism experience to include firms in both public and private sectors. While industrial visits and internships for students are part of technical, engineering curricula, it would be worthwhile to make large-scale factories and production facilities open to public visits.

While the Indian government prioritises the ‘Make in India’ initiative to boost the country’s manufacturing ambitions, it could select some industrial hubs for tourism and promote them under ‘Learn in India’. Building industrial tourism circuits in States with higher number of manufacturing zones – like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat – is another idea worth experimenting. All of this require Inter-ministerial coordination and joint initiatives.

The major takeaway from the Chinese experience is the need for holistic integration of state, industry, and higher education to achieve development objectives.

(Anand P. Krishnan is a Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi NCR)

Published – September 16, 2026 07:30 am IST

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Fonte: The Hindu – International