Can replicating "Altay" become a long-term business for long videos?

This article explores the topic of how long video platforms can promote the development of local culture and tourism by creating cultural and tourism dramas, analyzes the factors behind the success of "My Altay", and looks forward to the development prospects of cultural and tourism dramas, guiding readers to have an in-depth understanding of the potential impact of cultural and tourism dramas on the local economy. I hope it will be helpful to you.

In the new wave of cultural tourism, long video platforms are gradually becoming a new stage for showcasing local culture and tourism characteristics.

Last year, the TV series "Where the Wind Goes" inadvertently made Dali a popular tourist destination again; and the eight-episode limited short series "My Altay", which was recently broadcast on iQiyi, was directly defined as a cultural and tourism drama. Its simple and plain story and affectionate depiction of the natural scenery of the Altay region in northern Xinjiang won wide acclaim from the audience. Its Douban score has further risen to 8.7 points, making it a dark horse among the TV series aired this year.

Douban screenshot

This series not only provides a visual feast for the audience, but its greater staying power lies in the fact that it cleverly combines the natural beauty of Altay with human stories, allowing the audience to develop a strong interest in this land while following the series.
The reason why "My Altay" received high scores is largely due to its in-depth exploration of the story and local characteristics. More importantly, the drama directly made Altay's scenery popular. After the premiere of the drama, the Altay region in Xinjiang, where the filming took place, attracted attention and heated discussions. On social media, voices such as "My Altay is so healing, I must set foot in this snowy city this year" and "I opened the ticket booking software while watching it" continued to appear.

The high-scoring performance of "My Altay" and the social media reputation it generated have made it a cultural and tourism drama. So, from a deeper level, if long-form video platforms want to replicate this model, what are the core elements that need to be solved most?

Stills from My Altay

This requires continuous technical innovation in long videos, such as true high-definition picture quality and stereo sound effects, to continuously improve the viewing experience of the series so as to achieve the so-called frame-by-frame wallpaper effect. On the other hand, the real challenge of this type of cultural tourism lies in how to perfectly integrate technology and content to create stories that are both local and touching.

Creators need to have a deep understanding and respect for local culture, and also need to have a precise grasp and use of technical means. Only when technology and art are combined can we truly create high-quality dramas that can resonate and promote the development of cultural tourism.

In the production of cultural tourism dramas on long video platforms, technology is certainly important, but it is only a means of achieving artistic expression. The real challenge lies in how to use technology to enhance the appeal of the story, and how to allow the audience to deeply feel the charm of local culture while enjoying the audio-visual feast . Behind this, creators and platforms are further required to have keen cultural insight and the ability to deal with local governments. Ultimately, when technology, stories, and local cooperation work together, cultural tourism dramas can truly become a powerful driving force for promoting local tourism and cultural heritage.

1. Is it really possible for a drama to make a place popular?

Altay, a region known as "Gold Mountain and Silver Water", has long been a tourist hotspot for its vast natural scenery and rich cultural and tourism resources. However, with the popularity of the TV series "My Altay", its peak tourist season has arrived earlier.

This drama not only sparked widespread discussion on social media, but also aroused the public's strong interest in Altay. Related tweets on Altay's official WeChat account, such as "After the release of "My Altay", these routes will definitely be popular" and "Follow Li Juan's footsteps and find your Altay!", further stimulated the public's imagination of Altay.

WeChat screenshot

Many travel agencies quickly seized this opportunity and launched travel routes closely related to the series, covering major filming locations such as Baihaba and Kanas, preparing for the early arrival of the tourism boom.

According to the Xinjiang Daily, Wang Xinhui, deputy director of the Altay Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau, revealed that the authorities plan to leverage the traffic and opportunities brought by the series to further promote the development of the cultural and tourism industry by increasing publicity and launching related tourism route products.

This is not the first time that a long video series has triggered a cultural tourism boom, but in past cases, cultural tourism dramas were not so directly called out from the moment the work was born.

After the broadcast of "Where the Wind Runs" starring Liu Yifei in January last year, it added fuel to the popularity of Dali, Yunnan, making it one of the most watched and discussed areas at the beginning of the year. The display of Dali's beautiful scenery such as Shaxi Ancient Town and Xizhou Ancient Town in the drama, as well as the presentation of intangible cultural heritage elements such as embroidery, wood carving, and tie-dyeing, also created a new trend in Dali's cultural tourism industry.

According to official statistics from the Fliggy platform in January last year, one week after the series premiered, searches for "Dali" surged, and searches for Fengyang County increased by more than 50 times. At the end of last year, the Dali Prefecture Culture and Tourism Bureau also provided a 2 million yuan subsidy for the series in a special event, and actively carried out publicity and marketing activities with the series as the theme, aiming to convert "traffic" into real tourism income, while improving and perfecting the filming locations and developing new attractions to provide tourists with a tourism experience with Dali characteristics.

Weibo screenshot

These phenomena indicate that the combination of film and television works created by long videos and local cultural and tourism resources can indeed enhance the local visibility nationwide, promote the development of the local cultural and tourism industry, and bring tourists a richer and more unique travel experience.

In fact, in recent years, many popular long-form video series have been focusing on the effect of "falling in love with a city because of a drama". Popular dramas on platforms such as "Crazy Storm", "Secretly Can't Hide" and "Fanghua" have all used the promotion of cultural tourism as a prominent achievement to promote external affairs. Of course, most of them obviously did not have the intention of promoting cultural tourism in the filming locations in advance. A typical example is "Go Where There is Wind". The ex post rewards given by the local government based on the results also show that the two parties did not have a "premeditated" plan in advance, but more of a collateral effect caused by the continuous content influence derived from the drama after it went viral.

In this environment where culture and tourism are used to achieve economic results, local governments are actually happy to see it happen. For example, in the recent hit drama "Spring in Your Heart", Quanzhou Culture and Tourism has also tried its best to jointly carry out a series of city marketing with Tencent and the production company, including the promotion of celebrity-themed routes, check-in devices at filming locations, and the "Spring in Your Heart" Walk in Quanzhou, which maximizes the promotional value of this drama to Quanzhou.

Springtime for Lovers: Nanping Town (filmed in Quanzhou)

Is there any effect? ​​Yes, there is. According to the statistics of Quanzhou Culture and Tourism, during the May Day holiday, Quanzhou received 5.5821 million tourists, an increase of 82.51% year-on-year, and the total tourism expenditure of tourists was 5.06 billion yuan, an increase of 146.83% year-on-year. The total number of tourists received, the growth rate and the growth rate of tourism expenditure hit a new high.

However, the development of cultural tourism driven by the above works is somewhat accidental. Based on the scheduling, operation and final popularity of the series, local cultural tourism needs to respond and invest in a timely manner to trigger a chain effect.

For long videos, the cultural tourism effect can be "sold" in the top dramas with popular actors, IPs, and creators to ensure the ultimate success rate. However, for cultural tourism dramas with stronger customized attributes that really require in-depth cooperation and communication with local cultural tourism in the early stage, if long videos want to really do well and build them into a model with sustainable and developable value, they actually need more "technical power" investment.

2. The success of cultural tourism dramas also tests the technical strength of the platform

In the process of producing cultural tourism dramas on long video platforms, strong technical capabilities are crucial to ensure that cultural tourism dramas have an ultimate audio-visual experience beyond general content . The application of 4K high-definition imaging technology can capture every detail , whether it is the snow-capped peaks and grasslands of Altay, or the local ethnic costumes and traditional activities, can be presented to the audience in a clear and vivid way. At the same time, the precise use of color management makes the colors of each frame full and real, enhancing the visual impact, so that the audience can seem to touch the colorful natural landscapes and cultural elements . The application of stereo and surround sound technology provides an immersive auditory experience for the audience. When watching the series, the audience can hear the sound of the wind passing through the grassland, feel the gurgling sound of the river, and even identify the unique timbre of different ethnic instruments. The three-dimensional sense of this sound greatly enhances the audience's sense of substitution, allowing them to feel the natural beauty and cultural charm of Altay more deeply.

Stills from My Altay

At the same time, for these natural landscapes, the application of HDR technology is particularly important when shooting high-contrast scenes. It ensures that every detail in the picture can be properly processed, whether it is a sunny day or a starry night, thus maintaining the rich layers and depth of the image.

Only by capturing truly shocking images can you gain an advantage in subsequent social media dissemination. After all, now whenever you see content about "My Altay", posting a few stills is enough to be convincing.

In terms of multi-platform adaptation, the production of the series needs to take into account the viewing effects of different devices, and optimize the encoding and playback settings to ensure that the audience can get a consistent high-quality viewing experience whether on a large-screen TV or a portable mobile phone . In addition, cultural sensitivity and respect are the soft power that the production team must possess. Only by deeply understanding and respecting local culture and customs can we produce cultural tourism series that can truly touch people's hearts and convey local characteristics.

In short, when producing cultural and tourism dramas, long video platforms need to comprehensively use technical capabilities such as high-definition imaging, color management, stereo sound effects, dynamic range control, image stabilization, post-production, streaming media transmission optimization, and multi-platform adaptation, while maintaining a high degree of sensitivity and respect for local culture.

Stills from My Altay

Only through the long-term accumulation of these technologies and the ability to combine content with local culture can it be possible to create cultural and tourism dramas that are both visually impactful and full of cultural charm, providing audiences with an unforgettable viewing experience while promoting the development of local culture and tourism.

Of course, these technical competitions have long been a compulsory course for long videos. From 4K to HDR, each company has come up with different ideas.

At the same time, another aspect of cultural tourism dramas actually covers the technical capabilities of long video platforms in putting the right content in the right place , especially from the content preparation stage, whether they can directly cooperate with local governments to obtain relevant subsidies in the early stage to reduce the risk of content creation. This is actually an indispensable part of the "technical strength of cultural tourism dramas". For example, "My Altay" is a typical example of the support and participation of local governments in the early stage.

As "My Altay" has formed a demonstration effect in promoting local tourism, it is obvious that more cities or popular tourist areas will be eager to try it out. How to find suitable stories to showcase the style of a city, what kind of cooperation method to choose - whether to embed the platform's top drama, or to display pure cultural and tourism dramas, and how to integrate local culture into content creation, can be said to be both an opportunity and a challenge for the platform.

Stills from Where the Winds Rise

If a creative genre wants to continue to be successful and replicable, it always depends on its ability to truly summarize the experience and continue to polish the genre. Cultural and tourism dramas may be a demand generated by current economic development, but judging from the results, the audience is indeed willing to pay for the beautiful scenery and culture. If a win-win situation can be achieved for content creation and cultural tourism, there is obviously no reason not to continue doing it.

Author: Big Entertainment Expert; WeChat public account: Yiyuguancha (ID: lanhaiyingxiao)