To deepen digital cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, accelerate the integration and innovation of AI with cultural tourism, drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional cultural tourism industries through AI empowerment, attract and gather AI technologies, enterprises, and talent, and facilitate the construction of a smart cultural tourism ecosystem with ASEAN nations, Beihai City is hosting the "China-ASEAN AI + Cultural Tourism Innovation Application Competition" under the theme "Gathering Wisdom in Beihai · Sailing with ASEAN to Build a New Highland for Cultural Tourism."
Co-organized by the Beihai Municipal People’s Government, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Big Data Development Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Guangxi International Expo Affairs Bureau, the competition brings together top academic institutions like the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University, as well as industry giants such as WAIC Circle. Together, they aim to create a high-caliber, prestigious industry event. As the organizers, Xin Yi Holdings Co., Ltd. and Enowa Network Technology Co., Ltd. leverage their deep expertise and innovative practices in digital technology and cultural tourism to propel this competition, providing a stage for outstanding global teams and enterprises to showcase their ingenuity and realize their dreams, collectively exploring the boundless possibilities of AI integration in cultural tourism.
For participating teams, this competition is not only a platform to demonstrate capabilities but also an opportunity to gain substantial rewards and broad development prospects. With a prize pool exceeding CNY 1 million, attractive awards are set for both the Enterprise and University categories. Beyond monetary prizes, projects earning special honors will receive priority investment opportunities from the autonomous regional industrial fund, signed certificates, and pilot project opportunities in Guangxi (Beihai) cultural tourism scenarios.
Competition Timeline
Registration: Open until July 31, 2025, via the official website: https://caaic.enowa.cn/ (free entry).
Preliminary Review: July 2025
Regional Rounds:
Shanghai: July 23–24, 2025 (Shanghai)
Beijing: July 30–31, 2025 (Beijing)
ASEAN: August 13, 2025 (Vietnam)
Grand Final: September 2025 (Guangxi). Further informationwill be updated on the official website.
Competition Structure
The competition adopts a three-dimensional framework with three distinctive tracks:
Technology Innovation: Focuses on breakthroughs in model innovation, interaction & intelligent agents, perception & immersive tech, and wearable devices (e.g., vertical large models, multimodal emotion recognition, AR/VR hardware).
Application Innovation: Covers tourist-side (pre-travel demand prediction, in-trip immersive interaction, post-trip experience analysis), business-side (smart marketing, cost optimization), and regulatory-side (data sharing & collaboration) solutions to enhance efficiency across the cultural tourism value chain.
ASEAN Special Track: Targets cross-border cultural tourism scenarios, emphasizing multilingual smart guides, cross-border data sharing, and ASEAN-China cultural fusion products to promote intelligent collaborative development.
Participant Categories
University Group: Teams of students/teachers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and ASEAN countries.
Enterprise Group: Legally registered enterprises (excluding sole proprietorships) from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and ASEAN.
ASEAN Group: Combines university and enterprise teams from ASEAN nations.
Judging Criteria
Awards
Grand Prize:
Final Special Award: CNY 1,000,000 (1 winner across groups)
Enterprise Group:
Technology Innovation Track:
1st Prize: CNY 200,000 (1 winner)
2nd Prize: CNY 100,000 (2 winners)
3rd Prize: CNY 50,000 (3 winners)
Application Innovation Track:
1st Prize: CNY 200,000 (1 winner)
2nd Prize: CNY 100,000 (3 winners)
3rd Prize: CNY 50,000 (6 winners)
ASEAN Special Awards:
ASEAN Special Prize: CNY 200,000 (2 winners)
Special Honors:
ASEAN Cultural Fusion Star (1 winner)
ASEAN Market Pioneer (2 winners)
Guangxi Industrial Empowerment Rising Star (2 winners)
Includes priority investment, certificates, and pilot opportunities
University Group:
Main Track:
1st Prize: CNY 100,000 (1 winner)
2nd Prize: CNY 50,000 (2 winners)
3rd Prize: CNY 30,000 (3 winners)
ASEAN Special Awards:
ASEAN Special Prize: CNY 200,000 (1 winner)
Special Honors:
ASEAN Cultural Fusion Star (1 winner)
ASEAN Innovation Collaboration Star (2 winners)
Includes priority investment, certificates, and pilot opportunities
Eligibility
Enterprise Group: Legally registered non-individual enterprises in China with fixed premises; no safety incidents or major violations in the last 3 years. Project leads must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, possess relevant experience, and understand industry/international standards.
University Group: Full-time/part-time students or faculty from universities/research institutes; teams ≥2 members with product development capabilities.
ASEAN Group: Legally registered entities in ASEAN with business licenses and fixed premises; no safety incidents or major violations in the last 3 years. Project leads should hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, with relevant experience and knowledge of industry/international standards.
Submission Requirements
Projects must not undermine national dignity or ethnic unity and shall exclude content prohibited by law (e.g., reactionary, superstitious material).
Projects must demonstrate innovation, novelty, practicality, operability, and market potential.
Projects must be lawful and non-infringing. Clear intellectual property (IP) rights or ownership must be verified. For third-party IP, submit legally binding authorization or patents during registration. Plagiarism, fraud, or violations will result in disqualification and legal liability.
Competition Terms
Team composition must remain consistent with registration details.
Projects must comply with Chinese law and not infringe third-party IP rights. Participants bear full legal responsibility for violations; organizers assume no liability.
Organizers reserve the right to verify participant information and request supplementary materials.
Participants retain IP rights but grant organizers perpetual, royalty-free rights to use project summaries for promotion (e.g., websites, publications).
Submitted materials will not be returned.
Participation implies full acceptance of all terms.
China-ASEAN AI + Cultural Tourism Innovation Application Competition
July 2, 2025