Nankai University has been committed to promoting the exploration of basic tourism theories rooted in the practice and supporting the construction of Chinese-style modernization through the discipline of tourism management since the establishment of the College of Tourism and Service Management. Professor Ma Xiaolong, who was selected for the One Hundred Young Disciplinary Leaders Program of Nankai University, together with his research team, is dedicated to advancing theoretical and practical research on the social impact of tourism. Professor Ma Xiaolong graduated from Sun Yat-sen University, where he was a student of the well-known scholar, Professor Bao Jigang. He has been selected as an outstanding expert by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, and he also holds positions such as a member of the Standardization Committee of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, the Secretary-General of the China Geographical Society's Tourism Geography Professional Committee, an expert committee member of the China Association for the Preservation of Historical Sites, a member of the Tourism Management editorial board.

Professor Ma Xiaolong has been committed to research on tourism and social development. He was the leader of three programs funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, two sub-projects of major programs funded by the National Social Science Foundation, and two projects of the National Tourism Administration's Youth Expert Training Program, as well as more than ten other research projects at the provincial and ministerial levels. He has published over 70 high-quality research papers in important domestic and international journals in the field of tourism and related disciplines, such as Tourism Management, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Journal of Tourism & Cultural Change, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Tourism Tribune, Economic Geography, Human Geography, Geographical Research, Scientia Geographica Sinica, and Journal of Natural Resources. He has also independently authored five books, translated one book, and received three awards at the provincial and ministerial levels. As a youth expert of the National Tourism Administration, Professor Ma Xiaolong participated in drafting a series of documents such as the "Tourism Law," the "12th Five-Year Plan for National Tourism Industry," the "National Tourism and Leisure Outline," as well as the State Council's documents No. 41 and No. 31. He organized, undertook, and participated in the research, formulation, and demonstration of various national and local tourism standards, tourism regulations, and other related work. He has been involved in more than 100 projects, including the preparation of overall plans for tourism development, controlling plans for tourism scenic spots, construction plans for tourism sites, and special plans for tourism development in provinces, cities, and counties across the country. Professor Ma and his team have been focusing on research related to tourism and rural social development in the context of rural revitalization strategy. Specifically, their research focuses on the livelihood and employment behaviors of residents in rural destinations, the sense of happiness, the relationship between different stakeholders, and governance models. The specific research work includes:

1. Research on rural residents' livelihoods and employment in rural destinations.

Based on the relationship between culture and traditional agricultural society and the value of cultural factors, a sustainable livelihood framework for rural society under the intervention of cultural factors has been constructed, and the applicability and practicality of the framework have been theoretically validated based on China's rural practice. The research results show that traditional culture has had a significant impact on rural residents' behavior and is an indispensable livelihood asset for families. Rooted in representative cultural elements of rural society – the concepts of geographic proximity and kinship – continue to be extended and consolidated in rural communities, playing an important role in expanding social capital and promoting sustainable livelihoods among rural households in China's rural tourism destinations. The research also indicates that the number, scale, and behavior of residents engaged in tourism employment experience dynamic changes during different stages of development, with a sequence of transitions from "few participants - majority participation - exit." These changes can be viewed as a combination of adaptive occupational choices made by rural residents based on their integrated considerations of benefit claims and environmental constraints. The unstable and dynamic nature of tourism stimulates residents' speculative psychology, leading to differentiated tourism employment behavior and changes in rural residents' livelihoods. Based on these research findings, effective pathways for improving residents' livelihoods and enhancing household income have been proposed from the perspectives of government institutional design, regulation of residents' employment expectations, information analysis, and program selection processes.

2. Research on the well-being of rural residents.

To address the issues of "leakage" in rural economic development and low sense of achievement and happiness among rural residents, a measurement scale for the well-being of rural residents based on three dimensions was developed. The results show that the improvement of material living standards, the increase in emotional connections, and the realization of personal self-development are three important aspects that determine the well-being of rural residents. The impact of material well-being and personal development on overall life satisfaction is more important than that of emotional well-being. Residents who participate more in employment are not only more satisfied with their material and emotional lives, but also have a stronger perception of improvement in material standards of living and personal achievements. They also tend to have a higher sense of personal accomplishment, believing that their value and opportunities for personal development have been effectively realized, leading to a stronger sense of happiness and accomplishment in their lives. Managers should improve the awareness of rural residents' ownership and regard them as the core stakeholders of industry development, while moderately empowering instead of overly emphasizing their decision-making and management power in the community. Properly introducing external forces is more conducive to the sustainable growth of rural residents' sense of gain in the process of rural industrial development. Based on the findings above, the applicant summarized, from the perspective of “moderate” empowerment, the realization path of improving the overall happiness of rural residents ' lives by respecting their sense of happiness and their opinions and views on local socio-economic development through enriching participation content.

3. Research on governance models for rural destinations.

The Central Rural Work Conference has put forward specific requirements for strengthening and improving rural governance and maintaining rural social harmony and stability. Studies have shown that although local governments have obvious hierarchical and legal-rational authority in China's rural social governance, there also exists an implicit operational aspect of relationships. Unlike legal principles, rural residents can use their social networks to maintain and maximize their interests. Whether or not rural residents' rights and interests, including their participation capacity, are realized in a non-market-oriented manner can directly lead to various conflicts and contradictions in the development of rural society, and even repeatedly trigger vicious incidents with significant social impact. The study also found that the relationships between stakeholders are not simple, but rather complex and intertwined cooperations or confrontations. As the rural industry develops, it presents a process of evolution, often led by growth alliances composed of local governments and developers, which jointly lead the land acquisition process. In this process, the potential vulnerability of rural residents in the formation of alliances is fully exposed, and their ability to participate in employment is completely suppressed and restricted. Based on these findings, the study proposes a practice model for rural social governance, which constructs a growth alliance system with constraint and farmer-centricity in the industrial development process, safeguarding rural residents' participation ability, reducing rural social conflicts, and enhancing the level of rural social governance from the perspectives of organizational models of rights and division of labor of social organizations.

4. Research on the influence of social network relationships and capital on rural tourism development.

Unlike highly atomized and mobile urban areas, many economic activities are embedded in social network relationships under the influence of traditional farming culture and informal customs in rural communities. Highly compact social capital has become a powerful weapon for rural residents to cope with deprivation. Real problems in the process of rural tourism development, such as how relationships affect the distribution of benefits in the process of housing demolition in tourism destinations, and how residents use clan and social networks to adopt adaptive resistance strategies, were discussed based on a deep understanding of concepts such as social capital, economic capital, and cultural capital. The study not only identified the relationship structure formed by various stakeholders in the process of tourism revenue distribution in rural tourism destinations, and deconstructed the mechanisms by which different stakeholders seek compensation benefits, but also deeply analyzed the underlying logic behind the behavior strategy choices of rural tourism residents in the process of tourism revenue distribution, effectively revealing the internal mechanism of decision-making behaviors of various stakeholders in the process of rural tourism benefit distribution in China. The study provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the interactive processes and essence of the relationships among different stakeholders in the development of rural tourism. This not only helps to alleviate conflicts and contradictions among different stakeholders in the process of rural tourism development but also promotes the smooth progress and long-term sustainable development of rural tourism development. Furthermore, it has important practical significance for maintaining rural social stability.

Here are some recent representative achievements:

[1] Xiaolong Ma, L. Zhang, L. Yang, R. Wang. Tourist ethnocentrism and tourism intentions during a political crisis. Journal of Tourism & Cultural Change, 2023, 23(1).

[2] Xiaolong Ma, R. Wang, M. Dai, Y. Ou. The action logic and interpretation framework of residents’ resistance in rural tourism development. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 2022, 51.

[3] Xiaolong Ma, L. Yang, R. Wang, M. Dai. Community participation in tourism employment: a phased evolution model. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2022, Online

[4] Xiaolong Ma, R. Wang, M. Dai, Y. Ou. The influence of culture on the sustainable livelihoods of households in rural tourism destinations, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2021, 29(8).

[5] R. Wang, M. Dai, Y. Ou, Xiaolong Ma*. Residents’ happiness of life in rural tourism development. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 2021, 20.

[6] M. Dai, D. Fan, R. Wang, Y. Ou, Xiaolong Ma*. Residents’ social capital in rural tourism development: Guanxi in housing demolition. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 2021, 22.

[7] Xiaolong Ma, M. Dai, D. Fan. Land expropriation in tourism development: Residents’ attitudinal change and its influencing mechanism, Tourism Management, 2020, 76.

[8] Xiaolong Ma, M. Dai & D. Fan. Cooperation or confrontation? Exploring stakeholder relationships in rural tourism land expropriation, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2020, 28(11).

[9] W. Su, Xiaolong Ma *, W. Jia, L. Chen. The impact of tourism development on rural residents' livelihood types and characteristics under the goal of common prosperity. Journal of Natural Resources, 2023, 38(02): 474-489. (in Chinese)

[10] R. Wang, H. Ouyang, M. Dai, Xiaolong Ma* Sustainable Livelihoods in Tourism Destinations: A Review of International Research Progress and Its Implications for China. Human Geography, 2022, 37(04): 10-21. (in Chinese)

[11] Xiaolong Ma. Give full play to the supporting role of standardized technology to promote high-quality development of the tourism industry. China Standardization, 2022(21): 27-29. (in Chinese)

[12] Xiaolong Ma, H. Wang, L. Chen, P. Yin. The Time Series Characteristics of Provincial Inbound Tourism Revenue: Taking Hainan Province as an Example. Tourism Forum, 2022, 15(01): 25-36. (in Chinese)

[13] Xiaolong Ma, L. Chen, N. Wei, L. Zhang. A Dynamic Study on the Interactive Pattern of Outbound Tourism Market in China and Surrounding Countries. Human Geography, 2021, 36(02): 155-163. (in Chinese)

[14] Xiaolong Ma, W. Li, N. Wei, R. Wang. The Interactive Pattern and Structural Characteristics of the International Tourism Market in China and Its Surrounding Countries. Geography and Geo-Information Science,2021,37(03):120-127. (in Chinese)

[15] R. Wang, M. Dai, H. Ouyang, Xiaolong Ma* The spatial pattern, utilization efficiency, and strategic adaptation of Chinese scenic resources. Resource Development & Market, 2021, 37(06): 726-733. (in Chinese)

[16] R. Wang, M. Dai, H. Ouyang, Xiaolong Ma* Measurement of Livelihood Capital of Farmers in Rural Tourism Destinations under the Intervention of Cultural Capital: A Case Study of Li Keng Village in Wuyuan. Tourism Tribune, 2021, 36(07): 56-66. (in Chinese)

[17] R. Zhu, Xiaolong Ma* Seeking profit or avoiding harm? Decision Game in the Situation of Discounting and Promoting Outbound Tourism Products. Tourism Research, 2021, 13(03): 18-31. (in Chinese)

[18] H. Ouyang, M. Dai, R. Wang, Xiaolong Ma* Review on the Research Progress of Intangible Cultural Heritage Tourism in China. Geography and Geo-Information Science, 2021, 37(05): 124-132. (in Chinese)

[19] W. Li, T. Chen, Xiaolong Ma* The Characteristics and Formation Mechanism of Hot Spots in the Space of Xi'an Urban Tourism and Leisure Industry. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 2020, 40(03): 437-446. (in Chinese) (in Chinese)

[20] M. Dai, Xiaolong Ma* Characteristics of residents' willingness and subdivision mechanism in the stage of land acquisition and storage in rural tourism development: a study based on Grounded theory. Tourism Tribune, 2020, 35(04): 26-35. (in Chinese)

As one of the key universities that first establish a tourism management undergraduate program in China, Nankai University, known as the "Whampoa Military Academy" of Chinese tourism education, actively relies on serving national strategic needs to promote the construction of the tourism discipline. At the same time, it transforms academic theories into characteristic industry practices of "knowing China and serving China", continuously striving to promote the development of the tourism industry, enhance national happiness, and assist in the high-quality modernization of China.

（Translator：BI Jianwu，Proofreading：LI Chunxiao）