Tianfu Cultural and Tourism's shareholder change aims to strategize in film and tourism integration?

Ask AI · After the change of shareholders, how can Tianfu Culture and Tourism leverage its new controlling shareholder to break the deadlock?

China Jing News reporter Li Zhu, Zhang Jingchao, Chengdu report

Recently, Tianfu Culture and Tourism (000558.SZ) released an announcement. Its controlling shareholder, Chengdu Sports Industry Investment Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Chengdu Toup Group”), plans to transfer, at no cost, the company’s 385 million shares it holds (accounting for 29.9% of the company’s total share capital) to Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group”).

According to publicly available information such as Tianyancha, the transferor, Chengdu Toup Group, was established in 2018 and its primary business focuses on the sports industry. Backed by Chengdu Toup Group, Tianfu Culture and Tourism previously had some involvement in real estate and sports businesses. The Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group it invested in was established in 2007 and is the core operating platform for Chengdu’s culture and tourism industry. At the end of last year, Tianfu Culture and Tourism stated in its announcement that, to promote diversified development through the integration of film and tourism, it had already reached similar cooperation with 21 prefecture-level cities and counties in Sichuan Province, initially building an all-Sichuan film-and-tourism cooperation network. Regarding cooperation progress, as of the time of publication, Tianfu Culture and Tourism had not updated further information.

Buxiting, chair of the In-Depth Culture and Tourism Industry Professional Committee of the China Cultural Industry Association, told reporters from The China Business Journal, “The phenomenon of ‘one play lights up a whole city’ has shifted from being accidental to becoming commonplace, but the ‘firework effect’ where the curtain falls and people disperse remains a widespread pain point.” He believes that the traditional “film and television + culture and tourism” model is often one-way, passive, and short-term traffic arbitrage. If the goal is to move from “borrowing momentum to draw traffic” to a deeper symbiotic mechanism of “co-creating IP and enabling both directions,” film and television IP and city brands should not be a simple “use and be used” relationship. Instead, they need to be mutually embedded from the planning stage, growing together. IP provides cities with emotional storytelling and differentiated symbolic meaning, while cities inject real cultural texture and sustainable operational scenarios into IP, forming a closed-loop ecosystem of “content—scenarios—consumption—re-creation.”

The transition has not been successful yet

Looking back at Tianfu Culture and Tourism’s development, it has undergone multiple strategic transformations, yet its profitability situation still faces challenges.

Tianfu Culture and Tourism’s predecessor was “Laiyin Sports.” In February last year, this listed company changed from “Laiyinada Sports Development Co., Ltd.” to “Chengdu Xintianfu Culture and Tourism Development Co., Ltd.,” and its stock abbreviation was changed to “Tianfu Culture and Tourism.” Before the change to “Tianfu Culture and Tourism,” it had not chosen to deeply develop any single industry. Instead, it went through multiple transformations and successively engaged in different industries such as energy, real estate, and sports.

Although Tianfu Culture and Tourism tried renaming the company so that its name would match its industrial layout and help the company speed up its transformation, the results were not encouraging. Judging from performance, the transformation toward integrated development of “all-round culture and tourism + sports” also did not succeed. According to the financial reports released by Laiyin Sports, it suffered consecutive losses from 2020 to 2022, briefly returned to profitability in 2023, and suffered losses again in 2024. For many consecutive years, the non-recurring net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company has been negative, and the business face pressure.

The 2025 interim report shows that Tianfu Culture and Tourism’s main business covers ice and snow tourism, integration of film and tourism, meetings and exhibitions, sports business, and a small amount of existing real estate rental and sale businesses.

The reporter also noted that after this no-cost transfer is completed, Chengdu Toup Group will no longer hold shares in Tianfu Culture and Tourism. The latter’s controlling shareholder will change to Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group. However, the transfer still needs to be processed with the registration and transfer procedures of the securities registration and settlement institution. Tianfu Culture and Tourism also specifically stated in the announcement that the commitments made by Chengdu Toup Group regarding avoiding related competition and regulating related-party transactions will be assumed by Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group.

An industry insider in the film and television sector, Yang Yang, pointed out that with Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group taking over, cooperation between Tianfu Culture and Tourism and Chengdu’s culture and tourism resources will become even tighter. However, the culture and tourism track it has bet on faces intense homogenized competition.

Tianfu Culture and Tourism’s performance forecast for 2025 shows that the company is still stuck in loss. Specifically, it is expected to have a year-attributable net profit loss of RMB 15 million to RMB 30 million in 2025.

As of the time of publication, regarding whether Tianfu Culture and Tourism has found a new profit model for its long-standing losses, the company has not responded to the reporter.

Targeting the film-and-tourism track

However, this adjustment may help Tianfu Culture and Tourism focus more on the film-and-tourism track. In its performance forecast, Tianfu Culture and Tourism said that the reason its operating revenue changed significantly compared with the same period last year is that in this year, revenue from film and television drama production business increased. Its full-year film and television business revenue is about RMB 328 million, up RMB 111 million from the same period last year. In terms of overall revenue mix, its film and television business already accounts for nearly 60%.

The reporter learned that currently, film-and-tourism tracks are being laid out “with great urgency” across various regions. According to information released by the National Film Administration in February this year, according to incomplete statistics, in 2025 the total output value of China’s film industry chain will be RMB 817.259 billion, and the box-office stimulation coefficient will be about 1∶15.77, ranking among the top in the world. Among them, the output value driven by and spilling over (including box-office-driven spending on catering, transportation, and retail, film IP derivatives, film bases and filming locations, theme parks tourism, film festival exhibitions and event economy, and other output values) is RMB 339.095 billion.

Tianfu Culture and Tourism is also developing film-and-tourism cooperation covering all of Sichuan. In November last year, Tianfu Culture and Tourism issued an announcement saying that it planned to jointly participate with Aba Jiuzhai Tourism Group Co., Ltd. in the operation project of the Bipinggou Scenic Area in Lixian County. It planned to make a cash acquisition of part of the equity interest in Lixian Bipinggou Tourism Development Co., Ltd.; and in the announcement it stated that this move aims to strengthen the strategic layout for ice and snow tourism, build a matrix of leisure and vacation destinations, optimize the asset structure, and improve operating efficiency. A week later, the participating parties officially signed the “Equity Transaction Letter of Intent.” Tianfu Culture and Tourism stated that it will, according to the agreement, pay an intent deposit of RMB 8 million and actively advance all work related to this transaction.

At the end of last year, Tianfu Culture and Tourism also released an announcement. To promote diversified development through the integration of film and tourism, it signed “A Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Integrated Development of Film, Television, and Culture & Tourism” with the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau of Gaoping District, Nanchong City; the Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau of Mianzhou City; and Meishan Suo Lao Family Culture and Tourism Investment Co., Ltd., respectively. The announcement mentioned that these agreements are intended to fully leverage each party’s advantages, tap market opportunities, integrate city IP with film and television IP, and build a new highland for an integrated film-and-tourism industry.

However, it is worth noting that the cooperation among the 21 prefecture-level cities and states is mostly framework agreements, and project implementation still takes time. Tianfu Culture and Tourism also has not responded to questions from reporters about whether this cooperation will bring any new changes in the face of technological upgrades.

Buxiting believes that technologies such as VR/AR, AIGC, and virtual filming should aim to break the “fourth wall,” enabling a leap from “watching” to “entering,” so that abstract narratives can be transformed into immersive environments that are perceivable and interactive. He gave examples: “For instance, ‘My Altay’ uses high-spec ‘true 4K + native HDR’ filming, achieving an extreme restoration of a healing sense of nature. Henan made ‘Tang Palace Banquet’ earn China’s first virtual reality film Dragon Label honor, allowing audiences to ‘step into’ the Tang Palace Banquet through VR headsets.”

In Zhang Zheng’s view, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University and deputy dean of the Institute for Cultural and Creative Development of Tsinghua University, the successful “a play brings a city” phenomenon essentially lies in film and television dramas playing the role of a “super advertisement video” for a city image or a tourist destination. They integrate local scenery, human relationships, and daily life details into the story, resonating with and inspiring audiences’ yearning. Whether local governments and their local enterprises can convert traffic obtained from film and television into lasting tourism appeal hinges mainly on whether there are high-quality tourism products and quality services to carry it through.

How city IP and film/TV IP connect and interact

Film and television works that become content hits often draw a lot of attention for filming locations. But if the destination tourists go to is only a passive “backdrop,” they will lack the systematic ability to transform online emotional resonance into offline deep experiences and long-term brand assets. Therefore, experts say cities should be ready to provide supporting services for visitors. Whether the content presented in the film and television drama can be productized and fixed is the key to turning film-and-tourism linkage from viral fame to lasting popularity—so that IP can truly be formed.

Tianfu Culture and Tourism said it hopes, through film-and-tourism linkage, to integrate culture-and-tourism operation experience, tourism scenario resources, and a service business network covering all of Sichuan, and to develop and create new tourism products and routes. It will secure high-quality culture and tourism resources and scenarios, and deploy businesses such as operating film-and-television filming bases, film-and-television study trips, film-and-television training, and IP incubation. By continuously expanding the development space of film-and-television business, it will promote the integrated development of film and tourism businesses.

Regarding how to connect city IP with film/TV IP, Buxiting believes that local governments should shift from being “providers of venues” to “strategic co-builders.” First, they should proactively move forward: incorporate culture-and-tourism development needs into the planning of film and television projects. He pointed out, “The ‘film-and-tourism integration 3.0’ model promoted by Sichuan Province and Chengdu City has the core of driving from the culture-and-tourism side—integrating local resources, proactively attracting and serving film teams, and even customizing film and television content for cities. The goal is to ‘revitalize an area’s economy, and then empower all industries through cultural and creative products.’” For this purpose, Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group also established what it claims is the first film-and-tourism integration service provider in China. It upgraded tourism elements—“eat, stay, transport, travel, purchase, entertainment”—to “eat, stay, service, road, costumes and props” for serving film teams, achieving a shift from passive filming-location selection to active construction and development.

How to embed the “long-term operations” gene during the planning phase and avoid “a one-off splash,” Buxiting believes, should involve building a closed-loop ecosystem of “content—scenarios—consumption,” rather than a single attraction. He believes that from the beginning of planning, one must go beyond the thinking of “just one check-in point,” and plan how the IP will integrate into the city’s entire chain of “eat, stay, transport, travel, shopping, and entertainment,” as well as into study tours and wellness and healthcare across the whole life cycle.

“Also, it’s necessary to establish a dynamic growth and iteration mechanism for IP content. City IP is not a static logo—it is a living story. When planning, interfaces for content updates should be reserved. For example, Shaoxing Culture and Tourism has built around the ‘Lu Xun IP.’ It not only creates an on-site entertainment park, but also continues to carry out youth-oriented upgrades. It hosts a series of lectures, develops ‘Xungeer’ clothing-related cultural and creative products, and opens a themed café, letting the classic IP continue to generate fresh topics. The ‘Sunlight Valley’ project in Miyun, Beijing, has an annual content update rate as high as 30%. By continuously introducing new natural education and aesthetic activities, it maintains its appeal.”

Zhang Zheng said that if a locality already has a strongly attractive IP, there is no need to forcefully add film-and-television IP. He explained: “If a locality already has tourism IPs with strong appeal, such as pandas, Wuhou Temple, and Kuanzhai Alley, you can layer it on the existing IP by a stroke of opportunity. Many times, the success probability of creating entirely new film-and-television IP is limited, and its appeal is hard to surpass existing iconic resources.”

(Editor: Zhang Jingchao Review: Li Zhenghao Proofread: Wan Ling)