Home > News > WTA·Yiwu Dialogue—— Forum on High-quality Development of Tourist Destinations Held in Yiwu

WTA·Yiwu Dialogue—— Forum on High-quality Development of Tourist Destinations Held in Yiwu

2019.04.27

On April 27, the “WTA Yiwu Dialogue —— Forum on High-quality Development of Tourist Destinations” sponsored by the World Tourism Alliance (WTA) and the People’s Government of Yiwu opened in Yiwu. Liu Shijun, Secretary — General of the WTA, Xu Peng & Yang Jianwu, Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and Wang Jian, Mayor of Yiwu, attended and delivered speeches. About 240 guests from Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the People’s Government of Yiwu, culture and tourism authorities from other provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), as well as representatives from associations, the WTA, the China Tourism Commodity Competition, tourism enterprises, and teachers and students from tourism colleges attended the forum.

WTA·Yiwu Dialogue

Liu Shijun stated that tourism had become an essential part of the better life and spiritual and cultural needs of the people in the new era. Currently, China’s tourism industry is entering a new stage of improving the management and service capacity and the quality of tourism, which puts forward new requirements for the high-quality development of tourist destinations. In light of the new situation, all parties should form a joint force to promote the high-quality development of tourist destinations in a more effective and efficient way.

WTA·Yiwu Dialogue

Yang Jianwu pointed out that tourism was not only a livelihood industry that could create a better life but a pillar industry that could accelerate economic transformation and upgrading. He looked forward to working together with the WTA to build a platform of resource sharing, information communication and academic exchange for the national tourism industry so as to fully promote the high-quality and high-level development of the tourism industry.

WTA·Yiwu Dialogue

Wang Jian noted that Yiwu would intensify reform and innovation, help tourism grow international, comprehensive and quality-oriented, speed up the promotion of tourism quality, optimize the transformation and development, so that the tourism industry could better benefit millions of households and contribute to the development of global tourism.

The theme of this forum is “High-quality Development of Tourist Destinations”, which includes Keynote speeches, Keynote presentations and case sharing. Wu Bihu, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of Peking University, delivered a Keynote speech on the theme of “Cultivation of Different Lifestyle in Destinations: Content Innovation and Quality Assurance”. Wu said that at present, tourism in China had entered an era of popular leisure and consumption; the middle class had become the absolute main force of leisure tourism consumption; a simple sightseeing tourism product could no longer satisfy the middle class; and creating a different lifestyle in a destination would become a new tourism experience for the middle class.

WTA·Yiwu Dialogue

The “WTA·Yiwu Dialogue — Forum on High-quality Development of Tourist Destinations” is one of the important activities of 14th China Yiwu Cultural Products Trade Fair and the 11th China International Tourism Commodities Fair. It aims to solve the key problems and main contradictions affecting the tourism experience of tourists, create new industries and new business forms that are scarce for tourists to upgrade and build high-quality tourist destinations. The Yiwu Dialogue focuses on the development of global tourism, the integration practices of culture and tourism, and the innovation of tourism mode and business models through high-end forums and expert dialogues. At present, tourism industry in China has entered an era of mass tourism. Tourism demands are characterized by high quality, diversification and personalization, and tourism is moving from the stage of high-speed development to the stage of high-quality development. High-quality tourism will be promoted through the integration of culture and tourism to strive to build world-class tourism destinations.

Up to now, the WTA has 182 members from 38 countries and regions in the world. In the coming year, the WTA will continue to hold a series of forum activities and enrich the service content centered on data support and membership.

WTA·Yiwu Dialogue

Preparations for the WTA Council, the Annual Meeting and the second “Xianghu Dialogue” from September 18 to 21, 2019 have started. The second Xianghu Dialogue is sponsored by WTA and supported by the World Tourism Organization, the World Bank, the European Travel Commission, the Global Tourism Economy Forum and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, with the theme of “Travel Growth and Industrial Change”. At the meeting, WTA Global Tourism Poverty Reduction Cases 2019, World Tourism Development Report 2019 and Data Analysis Report of Inbound Tourism in China will be released, and parallel forums on “Destination Marketing and Big Data” and “Scientific and Technological Progress and Mode Innovation” will be held. At the same time, WTA will regularly publish a series of briefs reflecting the development trend of the tourism market in China, as well as boom index survey reports for China’s tourism market to establish a long-term data tracking and evaluation mechanism. Recently, the WTA plans to organize the Second and Third Member’s Day in Enshi of Hubei and Guilin of Guangxi, in cooperation with member organizations such as Hubei Culture and Tourism Investment Group and Airbnb to enhance the engagement and adhesiveness of members.