2021.10.20
Press conference on “WTA 2021 Research Results” was held in Beijing on October 20, 2021. Mr. Duan Qiang, Chairman of World Tourism Alliance (WTA), Mr. Liu Shijun, Secretary-General of WTA, Mr. Feng Litao, Deputy Director-General of Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism along with Ms. Li Xin, Deputy Director of International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC) attended and addressed the press conference.
The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations. As one of the series supporting activities of the celebration event for the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, the release of WTA 2021 – Practices of Promoting Rural Revitalization Through Tourism is of great significance, which will benefit the promotion of rural revitalization, propagation of China’s stories, facilitation of global poverty alleviation undertakings and realization of sustainable development goals.
The year 2021 marks both the start of the “14th Five-Year Plan”, and the start of effective transition from consolidation and expansion of achievements in poverty alleviation to rural revitalization. WTA started a new chapter of tourism-driven rural revitalization with IPRCC and World Bank, extensively solicited 120 related cases from different circles of the society, and eventually selected 50 typical cases based on measurable results, innovativeness, replicability, positive social impacts, sustainability, quality of materials submitted and other criteria, which covered 31 provinces (districts and cities) throughout the country.
WTA made four proposals through in-depth analysis, summarization and study of the 50 cases: The first one is to a build rural governance mechanism characterized by “pursuing collaboration, participation and common interests”, and give play to the role of diversified entities; the second one is to explore the excellent rural culture and aesthetic value, and create a new scenario for integrated culture and tourism; the third one is to adhere to low-carbon, green, ecological and environmental concepts, and stick to the path of green development; and the fourth one is to create an excellent environment to attract talents, and thus accumulate inner driving force for rural revitalization. WTA will continue to integrate its resources, cooperate with IPRCC and World Bank, gather the strength of its members and partners throughout the world, facilitate the international community’s focus on tourism-driven rural revitalization and related public welfare undertakings, and make persistent efforts in the realization of the mission of “Better Tourism, Better Life, Better World”.
WTA has been taking “Tourism for Poverty Reduction” as an important mission since its establishment. WTA released the WTA Best Practice in Poverty Alleviation Through Tourism with the World Bank and IPRCC for three consecutive years from 2018 to 2020, which included 100 typical cases of poverty reduction through tourism throughout the world, and 89 of them happened in China. It also filmed and produced the micro documentary of Better Tourism, Better Life, Better World of two seasons and eight episodes by taking tourism-driven poverty reduction cases as the script. Through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations World Tourism Organization, China Global Television Network (CGTN) and other platforms, WTA told the international community stories about China’s poverty reduction through tourism, passed on China’s ideas on sustainable development, demonstrated China’s achievements in building new rural areas, and showed new features of China’s development.
Besides, the press conference also released the Tourism Development Report on River Valley Civilization 2021, Report on Development of Tourism Cooperation Along Belt and Road and other research results, and it announced the launch of “World Tourism Museum Online Exhibition”.
WTA and China Academy of Culture & Tourism, Beijing International Studies University jointly released the Report on Development of Tourism Cooperation Along Belt and Road. Upon China’s proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese government had more pragmatic and in-depth tourism related cooperation with countries along ‘Belt and Road’, and made substantial achievements in joint marketing, visa simplification, tourism investment, product development, talent cultivation and tourism safety related fields. Starting from the four perspectives of Belt and Road Initiative related tourism cooperation policies, tourism market cooperation, tourism investment cooperation and analysis on big data of tourism related public opinions, the Report on Development of Tourism Cooperation Along Belt and Road is formulated to summarize development journey and future development trend of Belt and Road Initiative related tourism cooperation in recent years, and provide a reference for the joint establishment of tourism cooperation among countries along the Belt and Road.
WTA released the Tourism Development Report on River Valley Civilization 2021 with People’s Government of Linfen City, Shanxi Province and Nankai University. River basin’s the source of survival and development of mankind and progress of civilization. Under the guidance of the development idea of lucid waters and lush mountains as invaluable assets, river basin tourism is not only a key concern of tourism development, but also an important growth point of tourism economy. The Tourism Development Report on River Valley Civilization 2021 can facilitate the social, economic and tourism development of river basins through in-depth analysis on tourism market development, protection of ecological environment, value realization, quality development path and regional cooperation among major river basins in the world as well as Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin in China, and it can provide a reference for the succession of river valley civilization and facilitation of quality development of river valley tourism. In addition, ideas and opinions proposed by this report can further facilitate regional cooperation on river valley civilization tourism, facilitate the establishment of a diversified cooperation system dominated by cross-regional governments and participated by the market and society, and realize cross-department, cross-basin and cross-industry exchanges and sharing of related information.
World Tourism Museum introduced an online exhibition for the first time. Situated at Xianghu Lake, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou Municipality, Zhejiang Province, World Tourism Museum covers a total floor area of approximately 36,000 m2, which will become the world’s first comprehensive museum themed by tourism upon the completion of construction. By now, the museum has totally collected 411 pieces (sets) of objects, which include tourism related cultural relics and collections from China, Germany, France, Japan, Italy and other 21 countries. The collections also cover historical documents in Chinese, English, Japanese, French and other 4 languages ranged from 1820 to 2020. This online exhibition is a pilot exhibition for the opening of World Tourism Museum, which includes two sectors of “Explore Tourism” and “Starlight”. “Explore Tourism” tells brilliant characters and stories in tourism history through the three chapters of “Profile of the World”, “Upsurges of Tours” and “A Review of Tourism in China”. Taking collections donated by members as the main line of the exhibition, “Starlight” displays the positive contributions made by WTA members to facilitate development of global tourism undertakings through the five chapters of “WTA Family”, “Development Journey of Tourism”, “A World Connected by Tourism”, “Tourism for Poverty Alleviation” and “Tourism for Campaign Against COVID-19”.
Founded in September 2017, WTA’s an international tourism organization initiated and established by China with the State Council’s approval, which has 211 members from 40 countries and regions at the moment. WTA will approve applications of 11 applicants recently upon deliberation, and the number of members is expected to reach 222 by then. After four years of development, WTA has become a cooperation platform for dialogues and exchanges in global tourism industry, a practical and authoritative information platform, a media platform for shared resources and a communication platform for integrated development.