2020.12.04
As COVID-19 has hit the global tourism hard, how to revive the confidence and expedite the recovery of the tourism has become the focus of the industry.
Recently, WTA·Xianghu Dialogue 2020, with the theme of Shaping the Future: Rebuilding Confidence & Embracing the New Normal in Travel & Tourism, was held in Hangzhou. Representatives from government departments, tourism industry, academia and tourist cities from 24 countries and regions attended the event on the venue and via the Internet. They discussed the development of tourism amid the pandemic and in the future. It is worth noting that ambassadors to China of 7 countries including Spain, Croatia, Thailand, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar and the east coast of Uruguay attended this event which had the largest number of ambassadors present since the inception of the WTA·Xianghu Dialogue. To some extent, it shows that when the pandemic is still raging abroad, China, as the country to recover the fastest from the pandemic, has begun to attract the attention of the world.
Through the WTA·Xianghu Dialogue platform, Chinese and foreign parties jointly discussed the revitalization, reform and development of tourism in the post-pandemic era. The keywords, such as “international cooperation”, “tourism innovation”, “industrial community” and “multilateralism” have been mentioned many times, sending a positive signal to the outside world to further cooperate, resonate confidence and tide over the difficulties together, providing new inspiration and thinking for China’s non-governmental international tourism organizations to participate in the global tourism cooperation and governance.
As China’s strategic pillar industry, tourism industry, in the face of complex and volatile international situation, especially when the overseas pandemic situation has not been completely prevented and controlled, the following considerations should be taken into account in order to restore confidence, speed up recovery and even win a new round of development opportunities:
First, we should stay committed to multilateralism and actively explore global cooperation. Multilateralism is an important foundation for safeguarding world peace, promoting world economic development and win-win regional cooperation. Tourism itself is a highly international industry, featuring regional cooperation. The principle of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits is of great reference value for global tourism governance.
China has always adhered to multilateralism and won recognition from other countries. Recently, 15 countries and regions including China signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), marking the launch of a free trade area (FTA) with the largest population, the largest economic scale and the greatest development potential in the world. This is a powerful practice of multilateralism in promoting win-win international economic cooperation. WTA has always been adhering to the path of win-win cooperation, striving to build a platform of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits for the global tourism. At present, WTA has 211 members from 40 countries and regions, working together to promote the concept of “Better Tourism, Better Life, Better World”, and to achieve the goal of “Tourism for Development, Tourism for Poverty Reduction and Tourism for Peace”.
Second, we should actively participate in world tourism governance and offer new Chinese experience to the world tourism. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, China was the world’s country where the most tourists were from. In 2019, Chinese tourists made 155 million outbound trips and spent USD 133.8 billion overseas, according to the 2020 China Outbound Tourism Development Report released by the China Tourism Academy. The arrival of the pandemic completely changed the pattern of the tourism market. In China, with the continuous improvement of pandemic prevention and control, a large number of market demands for outbound tourism have been transformed into domestic tourism demands, thus leading to the recovery of China’s tourism market. Take for example this year’s National Day and the 8-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. China saw a total of 637 million domestic trips, a year-on-year recovery of 79.0% on a comparable basis. In addition, its domestic tourism revenue hit RMB 466.56 billion, a year-on-year recovery of 69.9% on a comparable basis. China’s experience in the development of tourism with regular pandemic prevention and control has provided a model for the world.
At present, China can play a more active role in further participating in the world tourism cooperation and governance, as the pandemic overseas has not been subsided. For example, China has accumulated successful experience in promoting citizens’ awareness of tourism safety, strengthening hygiene and safety management in the tourism market, and innovating contactless tourism products. Such experience is exactly what other countries need in tourism when they have to face the fact of regular pandemic prevention and control.
Third, we should effectively shoulder the industrial social responsibility and comprehensively serve the industry. Tourism for development, tourism for poverty reduction and tourism for peace are the three missions of WTA. Take poverty reduction as an example, the development of tourism has become an important means for many countries to eliminate poverty. WTA, in cooperation with the World Bank and International Poverty Reduction Center in China, has done a lot of work in promoting poverty reduction through tourism. From 2018 to 2020, 100 best practices of poverty reduction through tourism had been finally determined after the selection and review of the panel based on the standards including the quantitative effect of poverty reduction, innovation, replicability, positive social impact and sustainability, forming the WTA Best Practice in Poverty Alleviation through Tourism. In addition, a video of practice in poverty alleviation entitling “Travel makes the world and life better” was shot to introduce China’s successful experience in poverty reduction by tourism to the world through CGTN. In this year’s “WTA·Xianghu Dialogue”, a practice of poverty reduction through tourism in Azheke Village in Yunnan Province was also presented by Professor Bao Jigang from the School of Tourism of Sun Yat-Sen University, a WTA member, to tell the world the story of China’s poverty reduction through tourism.
In addition to the poverty alleviation work, WTA also has published a range of important reports, including Report on the Prosperity of China’s Tourism Market, Report on the Development of International Tourism Education, China Inbound Tourism Data Analysis Report, Report on World Tourism Development and Reflection on the Development Status and Future of the Tourism Market from China to Cambodia, providing intellectual support and decision-making reference for WTA members and the industry and offering Chinese wisdom and strength for the development of world tourism.
In addition to high-quality non-governmental platforms such as WTA, China’s tourism needs more participants and practitioners to participate in cooperative governance of world tourism. Only by adhering to multilateralism and sharing advanced experience and industrial social responsibilities, can the world tourism, hit hard by the pandemic, work together to prevent and control the pandemic, drive industrial transformation and promote high-quality development.
(Author: Wang Kunxin, Deputy Secretary-General of WTA and Professor of Tourism College of Zhejiang)