In 2009, the "Tourism Market and Destination Marketing Research Base", one of the first five research bases of China Tourism Academy, was established in Nankai University. The Research base is committed to promoting the education and research development of tourism and services in China, promoting the academic progress in the field of tourism market and destination marketing, and providing professional consulting services for tourism destination managers.

In recent years, the researchers of the Centre have completed Research on China-Eu Tourism Cooperation and EU Tourist Source Market under the Background of the Belt and Road Initiative, Case Study on Domestic Tourism Destination Marketing (funded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), and Integrated Tourism Planning of Yangcheng County. Many media articles and interviews in China Tourism News, China City News, City Forum of PhoenixNet, and China Brand are published.