International tourism summit kicks off in central China

People visit the ancient city wall scenic spot in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 30, 2023. (Photo by Zou Jingyi/Xinhua)

CHANGSHA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- An international summit on the global tourism economy and the development of tourism cities opened Wednesday in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

The World Tourism Cities Federation Changsha Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2023 was jointly held by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the Changsha municipal government. The WTCF, formed on the initiative of Beijing, is the world's first international tourism organization focusing on cities.

This year's summit is themed "Gathering the Strength of Cities to Revitalize World Tourism." It includes keynote speeches, a special forum of ambassadors, a mayors' dialogue, research reports, a promotion conference for tourism investment, and tourism B2B matching. It aims to help the global tourism industry set sail again in the post-pandemic era.

International tourism is poised for a strong recovery this year, said Sima Hong, deputy mayor of Beijing, at the opening ceremony. She took domestic travel during this year's May Day holiday as an example. During the five-day holiday, 274 million trips took place across China, with domestic tourism revenue reaching 148 billion yuan (about 21.36 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.2 times year on year, driving the sales revenue of consumption-related industries to increase by 24.4 percent year on year.

The Report on World Tourism Economy Trends (2023) was released at the summit.

The summit also released a report titled "The Sustainable Development of World Tourism Cities in the COVID Context: the Research on Chinese Actions," which takes Changsha and nine other Chinese cities as research objects.

The WTCF has conducted studies and published research findings that have positively contributed to the healthy advancement and sustainable growth of the world tourism economy. Its membership has grown from 58 to 238, covering 83 countries and regions globally.