Harnessing Wuhan Wharf Culture for Regional Cultural IP Development and Cross-Media Communication Design: A Pathway to Enhance Wuhan's Cultural Tourism

The objective of this paper is to examine the significant contribution of Wuhan’s wharf culture to the development of the city’s regional cultural intellectual property (IP) and to investigate how cross-media communication design strategies can effectively enhance Wuhan’s cultural tourism industry, thereby fostering a dual prosperity of economy and culture. Wuhan is situated in Hubei Province and is known as the “thoroughfare of nine provinces” and the “province of a thousand lakes.” It is endowed with a distinctive geographical location and an abundance of historical and cultural resources, which provide an exceptional foundation for the creation of cultural IP. The study commences with the definition of the terms “cultural tourism industry” and “cultural intellectual property (IP)” and proceeds to present a historical overview and an analysis of the current status of Wuhan’s wharf culture. Subsequently, the intrinsic connections between wharf culture, morning meal culture, and wharf chant culture are analyzed, as well as the absence and construction strategies of Wuhan’s regional urban IP image. Finally, the latest theories and practices of cross-media communication design are integrated to propose specific implementation pathways and expected effects, with the aim of providing a valuable reference for the innovative development of Wuhan’s cultural tourism industry.