On August 6, Yunnan Engineering Research Center of Smart Tourism (hereinafter referred to as "the Center") is inaugurated simultaneously at Yunnan Tengyun Information Co., Ltd. and Yunnan University. At the inaugural ceremony, the Center releases its research achievements such as block chain-based digital identity cards for tourism commodities, and issues letters of appointment to its directors and expert committee members. Seen as another innovative measure to apply cutting-edge technology to Yunnan's tourism, the Center is a platform for the integration of industry-university-research institute and a sustainable source of intellectual support to facilitate Yunnan's "Smart Tourism" drive and the integrated development of local tourism. 

The Center is committed to building a modern technology-guided think tank brand that supports the integrated development of cultural tourism. Based on the combination of front-line technologies and smart tourism scenes, the Center will conduct innovative technology research and promotes the commercialization and application of research achievements by using pioneering technologies such as big data, Internet of Things and blockchain to help the development of "Digital Yunnan." Meanwhile, the Center will shape itself into a first-class think tank platform and a magnet of top scientists, and international exchange and cooperation. With the Center as the core, Yunnan endeavors to build a smart tourism training base for talent cultivation, and develop a smart tourism industrial park.

The Center consists of six internal institutions, including the Comprehensive Management and External Liaison Office, the Basic Research and Development Center, the Technology Transfer Center, the Industrial Research Center, the Industrial Service Center and the Brand Publicity Center, which will produce four major types of results in the realms of research, application, education and production. It's said that Tengyun and the School of Information Science and Engineering of Yunnan University will also set up "industry-education-research" bases that operate under the Center.

"Research" stands for the research achievements represented by authoritative research reports and works related to smart tourism; "application" means the transformation and application of technological achievements to the smart tourism scenes; "education" refers to the establishment of practice bases, smart tourism-related disciplines in colleges and universities, and talent training platforms; "production" means industrial expansion of the Center to build a smart tourism industrial park.

The establishment of the Center will catalyze the development of tourism, digital economy and new infrastructure in Yunnan Province and even China.