Historic cities are unique attractions for the tourists to get special experience and education. But how do tourism development shape historic cities? How do the diverse stakeholder groups successfully conduct the positioning and marketing? How do the historic cities demonstrate their distinctiveness, target the right audiences and maintain advantage over other destinations in their competitive set? How to catch the trends, especially in the online space, to promote the historic cities? 

This course examines the uniqueness of the historic cities in China as tourism destinations. Through the analysis of the emerging of cities, we will discuss the relationship of city & culture in the history of human beings. On the basis of a comprehensive understanding toward the contribution of cities to the culture development, we conduct some case studies on different types of historic cities in China. The knowledge of the historic cities helps us to understand how to develop the historic cities experiences and marketing strategies. And how to support the sustainable development of destinations.