The Chinese tourism industry is undergoing a profound reconstruction of its value logic. Tourists are increasingly shifting their pursuit from objective functions to subjective meaning, and their decision-making focus is moving beyond facility evaluation toward deeper interaction and value co-creation. In the face of this transformation, however, tourism resource development remains frequently trapped in a cycle marked by resource similarity, product homogenization, and mediocre experience. This stagnation stems largely from the traditional development paradigm, which overlooks the active role of tourists and fails to recognize tourism as a meaning-generating process. Accordingly, this study begins by systematically reviewing the dialectical evolution of tourism resource development paradigms from resource-oriented and product-oriented to experience-oriented, and argues that the industry must now advance toward a new paradigm centered on "scenario co-creation". Furthermore, it contends that this shift represents not merely a methodological innovation, but a new ontology of tourism resources, manifested across three key dimensions: in value logic, from functional supply to the activation of emotional value and place spirit; in subject relations, from tourists as passive recipients to active co-creators; and in experience mode, from standardized product consumption to an open-ended process of meaning co-creation. Finally, from the perspectives of concept, pathway, and evaluation system, this article demonstrates that such a paradigm shift offers a critical pathway for promoting high-quality development in tourism and enhancing public well-being, while contributing theoretical insights and a practical framework for effectively communicating China's story through tourism in a global context.
Jiao-jiao SUN (Thu,) studied this question.