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WTA Attends Opening Ceremony of China Tourism and Culture Weeks 2021

2021.06.07

On June 7, the Opening Ceremony of China Tourism and Culture Weeks 2021, co-sponsored by Cultural Exchange between China and Foreign Countries, CPC Publicity Department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Department of Culture and Tourism of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Yinchuan Municipal People’s Government, was successfully held in Yinchuan. The event was attended by Zhang Xu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, Lai Jiao, Vice Chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Liu Shijun, Secretary-General of WTA.

Opening Ceremony of China Tourism and Culture Weeks

In his speech, Vice Minister Zhang Xu said that against the backdrop of the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overseas Chinese cultural centers and tourism offices have conveyed to people all over the world the spiritual strength of standing together in times of difficulty and helping each other through the Internet and cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation. The “China Tourism and Culture Weeks” is mainly an online exchange to show the status quo and achievements of China in the intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance, the construction of beautiful countryside and the development of ice-snow tourism, and to enjoy the “Beautiful China” with foreign friends at the cloud platform, thus expecting a better future.

Zhang Xu, Vice Minister and Party Member of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism

Vice Chairman Lai Jiao said that the launch ceremony of the “2021 China Tourism and Culture Weeks” in Ningxia fully reflects the importance and care of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to Ningxia, and also provides a rare opportunity to show the great achievements of Ningxia and tell the stories about Ningxia well with the help of the national platform. At present, Ningxia is making efforts to build a Great Northwest tourist destination, transfer station and international tourist destination with the image orientation of “Southern Frontier Ningxia and Magical Ningxia” and the value orientation of “Enjoying a Good Trip to Ningxia and Taking a Vacation for Your Soul”.

Lai Jiao, Vice Chairman of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Secretary-General Liu Shijun was invited to attend and deliver a keynote speech on the theme of “Exploring the Path of Poverty Reduction through Tourism and Drawing a Picture of Rural Revitalization”. In his speech, Liu Shijun comprehensively explained the important role of tourism in consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation and promoting rural revitalization from four aspects: country, industry, culture and ecology. According to the case study experience of WTA in poverty reduction through tourism over the past three years, he summed up five modes of poverty alleviation through tourism, i.e. “government-leading + market operation”, “enterprise + cooperative + poverty-stricken households”, “government driving + paired assistance”, “enterprise support + technology driving” and “intelligence support from colleges and universities”, showing the successful experience and great achievements of China’s poverty reduction through tourism.

Liu Shijun, Secretary-General of WTA

As a global international tourism organization, WTA will continue to uphold the mission of “Promote Tourism for Peace, Development and Poverty Alleviation” and actively carry out international cooperation in poverty reduction, serving as a strong promoter of rural revitalization. At present, WTA, based on the Best Practice in Poverty Alleviation through Tourism, continues to open a new chapter of promoting rural revitalization through tourism in combination with the World Bank, International Poverty Reduction Center in China and other relevant institutions. It has launched a collection activity of “2021 WTA – Practices of Promoting Rural Revitalization through Tourism” to collect typical cases of boosting rural revitalization through tourism worldwide, and the selection results will be compiled into a book which will be released in the 4th WTA·Xianghu Dialogue to be held in Hangzhou in October 2021.