"Dialogue among Famous Mountains in the World" is a communication and sharing platform established by the IMTA for the world's famous mountain tourism destinations. After the first debut in 2018, it has attracted widespread concern and hot discussion in the global tourism industry. The “2020 Annual Conference of IMTA”is a start of a new journey for the IMTA. In order to build up such a platform for experience exchange and cooperation, in 2020 "Dialogue among Famous Mountains in the World",IMTA specially invited Emma Chen, global vice president and China president of the Internationale Organisation Für Volkskunst (IOV)and Dean of Research Academy of Cultural Heritage and Creative Industry at China’s Jinan University as the emcee. The fourm also invited the World Tourism Organization, the World Travel & Tourism Council, as well as experts, scholars and managers of famous mountain tourism destinations from China, Italy, Switzerland, Peru, Spain, Chili, Japan, Nepal and Indonesia to sit together and jointly discuss the recovery and revitalization of famous mountain tourism after COVID-19, and share the case and experience of mountain resource protection and sustainable development.
Discuss the recovery of mountain tourism after the COVID-19
He Yafei，Secretary-General of International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA)
Very happy to speak at 2020 dialogue among famous mountains in the world. It is timely to talk about the future prospects on sustainable mountain tourism, especially in this time of COVID -19 which has brought untold suffering to global tourism including mountain tourism with huge losses in come and job opportunities.I will briefly elaborate on three points to initiate this dialogue.
First one, post COVID calls for new ideas, new models, and new services in tourist sector all over the world as tourists will be more mindful of healthy and eco-friendly tourist destinations and services. It is therefore, imperative for tourism and associated sectors to be able to provide innovative ideas of tourist attractions and services while making sure there will be no health risks in their tour packages. Public health contingency plans must be made. This is in essence a tourist supply side revolution which needs a great deal of research on what tourists in the future really want.
Second point, famous mountains of the world are the crystallization of different local cultures which will help incoming tourists from other regions and other countries, to broaden their minds and be more tolerant of other cultures through unique tourists/cultural experiences that will be immersed during the stay in the famous mountains. For example in China, famous mountains are usually the source of religious mountains in the form of renowned Buddhist or Taoist temples. In addition
most minority nationalities reside in mountains with their cultural identity being kept in tact over centuries which again provides for singular and rich cultural and even religious experiences. When people are searching for ways to communicate among different cultures and civilizations, there is almost no better way than mountain tourism in general and famous mountain tourism in particular.
The third point, famous mountains are the best places to create a mountain tourism plus platforms for the revitalization of tourism after COVID-19 fades away, including mountain tourism plus health, mountain tourism plus sports and mountain tourism plus caring facilities for the aged. These are the three points I wish to give my thoughts to you in order to initiate this dialogue and I wish all of the experts and the participants will open your minds and speak your mind too to make this dialogue more meaningful and more inclusive, thank you very much!
Traveling model and consumer behavior of Chinese tourists to Switzerland are changing
Conny Camenzind, Consul General of Consulate of Switzerland in Chengdu
Vice chairman Mr. Shao, Secretary -General Mr. He, distinguished guests from the counselor and diplomatic here in China.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. A warm welcome from Switzerland to you all. It is my great pleasure to be here today. Actually, it is my very first time I have traveled here since I started my position as counselor general in Chengdu. I arrived there pretty much fourteen months ago. I spent the first three months very hectically in Chengdu and Sichuan and then, with everything in order, was ready to get ready to go to Switzerland for the Chinese new year and then come here.
But unfortunately, this tiny little virus has stopped all of my plans for the last year. And it has also, I think, affected all of us quite tremendously. It has not been easy for all of us and especially not easily for many of us present here today that are in the travel business. Particularly in international travel business.
Before I go a bit deeper into the topic, I would like to mention that this year Switzerland, we are celebrating the 70 anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Swiss confederation and the people’s republic of China. We have an ambitious plan. Our events throughout 2020 under the umbrella of the topic of smart and sustainability. With innovative technology and smart ways of communication available, but unfortunately, we had to call all events off in the first half of 2020. Therefore, I’m very glad to be here today with the mountain tourism professionals and talk about what the world has been longing for. The nature, the mountains. COVID -19 has brought many changes to our everyday life, the way we live, study and travel. And some are temporary and some may be profound. We cannot turn a blind eye to the changes that have already happened and are happening in consumer’s behaviors and demands.
Looking at the figures of the Chinese traveling to Switzerland, the Chinese market experienced a steady growth in terms of overnight hotels since 2008, except for a short drop in 2015 and 2016. Majority of the travels come from tier one cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and acting for about two-thirds, 63 percent.
The most visited regions include Rigi region where I grew up and the SDURic region and 46 percent of the visitors like to go to the mountains. While that is where I would live and spend my Christmas this year if I could leave. This is from my hometown and actually from my house where I usually spend my vacations so I do miss it.
It’s in the mountains. Yes, it’s beautiful! 69.5 percent of Chinese travelers prefer to go to Switzerland in the summer season but this is only one side of Switzerland. With the growing popularity of winter sports among Chinese consumers, with winter travel to Switzerland, it may also be soon catching up. As Switzerland is indeed, an all seasons destination for all.
Which segments do our guests belong to Nature’s lover, snow loves, attraction tourists and out door enthusiasts take up to 86 percent. All mountains are related to these segments and are the core competence of the Swiss tourism industry. Looking at the traveling to Switzerland after COVID-19, it’s not surprisingly a dying figure out of minus 22 percent for greater China in July and August this year.
Traveling is not yet possible and no recovery is yet in sight. The recovery of the market will depend on cross border traffic ability and the willingness to travel and how well the COVID -19 risk is managed. Some changes are already happening and may affect future trends. For example, in a survey conducted by the consulting company, the self -guided self -driven market grew while guided packages have fallen dramatically in popularity with only 10 percent of travelers saying they will take a group tour for the next trip. 68 percent don’t even consider group travel any longer.
Besides relaxing and local culture, safety, not crowded, active and healthy are on the rise on what attracts the Chinese smart travelers the most. I see great potential in Switzerland in Chinese and mountain tourism in general.
Faced with the current situation, we cannot just all sit and wait. Switzerland tourism has been officially actively promoting travel information on its official web sites. A recovery sales promotion "buy now, travel later" has been in place since Q2 2020,s and will progressively carry on to Q1, 2022.
Let me close by looking ahead. I see immense opportunities in the Chinese travel market for Switzerland which is in doubt with beautiful and natural sceneries, mountains that can cater to a wide range of needs of sight seeking and vigorous activities of mountain and skiing. We are working together to cope with the challenges in this very difficult times and I am confidence that as the growing law among Chinese people for winter sports, Switzerland will be visited again, by more and more Chinese travelers.
Switzerland will be happy to share our experience in turns our beautiful mountains into heated site that people are all over the world want to enjoy and repeatedly visit. The embassy of Switzerland are on the ground to offer facilitation for such exchanges and cooperation. I hope that soon the national borders open up to each other and that people can travel, and explore the world freely, once again as we are all used to.
I would like to end my presentation with a short message from one mountain country Switzerland, to another mountain province, as well as China with the slogan of Switzerland tourism.
Dream now, travel later. Switzerland will welcome you very soon again.
Ecology and safety drive the sustainable development of tourism
Ivan Alexander Silva Rivera
Consul General of the Consulate General of Peru in Guangzhou
First of all, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Peru, I would like to express my congratulations to the authorities of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) and all organizers of this important Annual Conference. At the same time, I would like to express my special thanks to them for the invitation and have the possibility to talk about Peru and its mountain tourism in a post-pandemic world.
Peru, the land of Incas, is a country with more of 5000 years of history. Before the arrival of the Spanish people in the 15th century, a cultural process developed in Peru throughout its current territory, from the Caral culture (whose city is considered the oldest in America) to the Incas empire that covered many others territories of current
countries in South America.
Likewise, Peru is a country with great natural wealth, divided into three natural regions: Coast, Andes Mountains and Amazon Rainforest. It is one of the 12 countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world, privileged with about 158 protected natural areas. It has 84 of the 117 life zones of the planet and 28 of the 32 climates of the world. This natural biodiversity of ecosystems allows to have a very high number of species, only in terms of flora there are about 25000 species (approximately 10% worldwide). In addition, my country is recognized as one of the countries with the greatest diversity of fish, the second with the greatest diversity of birds, and third in amphibians and mammals.
If there is something that identifies Peru around the world is that its territory is crossed by a exciting Andean landscape, in which snow -capped peaks and imposing mountains inspire peace, respect and a great desire to go exploring.
Our country has spectacular mountains located along the Andes mountain range, which runs through much of the American continent, the highest mountains are located in the regions of Ancash, in the north of the country, and Arequipa
and Cusco, in the south.
In terms of of mountain tourism, one of the most visited places in Peru is the Huascarán National Park, located in the Ancash region, which is a protected area that houses the entire Cordillera Blanca, a mountain range where the snow -capped mountain is located. Huscarán, which is the highest mountain in Peru and as well as other moving destinations such as ravines with colored lagoons, centuries-old forests and hundreds of glaciers. The snowy Huscarán has 3 peaks, the highest is 6,768 meters. Huascarán is the fifth highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere after the Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado, Mount Pissis and Cerro Mercedario peaks.
Another important mountain destination, also located in the Ancash region, is the Cordillera Huayhuash, considered the most spectacular of the Peruvian Andes, it is a mountainous set with 20 peaks among which is the second highest mountain in Peru called Yerupajá. Unlike other ecotourism destinations, this mountain has been minimally intervened and maintains an important environmental balance. Yerupajá, at 6,617 meters, is one of the most difficult peaks to climb, which is why it has gained worldwide fame for its imposing snow -capped mountains and chilling peaks. It is constantly visited by scientists and scholars, as well as athletes who are attracted by the fascinating landscape.
But also in Peru you can visit mountains of volcanic origin such as the Chachani snowy Volcano, which is a wonderful destination with easy access, it can be known in just one day without having previous experience in climbing and is located near the city Arequipa, my homeland that is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Peru. Further south of the country is located the Ubinas volcano that, in addition to being a charming attraction for adventure and nature, also guarantees a lot of adrenaline since this volcano is the most active in Peru.
However, one of the most famous mountains in Peru worldwide is Machu Picchu which means in Quechua, the native language of the Incas, "Old Mountain". At its feet is the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, which is considered by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage and is for Peru the main tourist attraction in the country.Many of the travelers who visit this Inca archeological city, built at 2430 meters above sea level, choose to do the Inca Trail, which is an emblematic adventure of the continent that includes the 3 fundamental factors of mountain tourism that are:
1. Physical activity: walking (trekking)
2. Natural Environment (Archeological city of Machu Picchu and Inca Trail)
3. Cultural immersion (tour of archaeological remains + interaction with local people.
Dear friends, I would like to emphasize at this point that the Government of Peru takes special importance to care and protect of its cultural and natural heritage, and has the promotion of tourism as one of its main priorities of its national policy that has an important impact on the country's economy and employs around 1.3 million Peruvians.
Peru is a one of the most important tourist destination in Latin America. Last year Peru received about 4.4 million tourists in Lima, Cusco, Tacna, Puno and Arequipa. The tourism represents 3.6% of the national GDP. Although the COVID -19 pandemic has had a very negative impact on the tourism sector in my country, it is expected from this last quarter of the year to be able to reactivate the sector after having had a constant growth for more than 20 years.
One of the most important aspects in the development of sustainable tourism in Peru is the promotion and strengthening of Ecotourism. It should be noted that in 2013, the United Nations recognized Ecotourism as a key activity to fight poverty and protect the environment, the natural wealth in Peru is perfect for ecotourism that allows you to have a most vital experience, enjoy Peruvian cuisine (one of the most internationally awarded in recent years), learn about our religious and cultural festivities, do sports such as surfing and paragliding or simply enjoy a mystical and wellness trip.
Recently, one important news for my country was to receive the “Safe Travels” seal that certifies Peru as a safe tourist destination that complies with international hygiene and biosafety standards against COVID-19, which means the country is already prepared for the reactivation of this sector.
The "Safe travels" seal is endorsed by the World Travel and Tourism Council and is a set of protocols designed under the guidelines of the World Health Organization to create a general health policy in the tourism industry and thus restore trust among travelers, with the aim of restarting tourism activity globally.
It is worth mentioning that, after certification, Peru becomes the third destination in South America to receive the“Safe Travels” seal after Ecuador and Brazil. Likewise, Peru has eight biosafety protocols in the tourism sector prepared by the Tourism Training Center (CENFOTUR), which have followed the recommendations of world entities.
Finally, I want to point out that today we are living in difficult times that are testing all governments and the tourism sector around the world in order to achieve a sustainable reactivation. That is why the Government of Peru has been working very hard with the different actors and institutions in the tourism sector in order to this reactivation can develop as quickly as possible for the benefit of the population.
Before concluding with my words, I would like to express my special gratitude to all of you and wish the best of success to this event. Thank so much.
Topic 1:Prospects of Sustainable Tourism for World-Famous Mountains in the Post-COVID World
Experts Speech
Mountain tourism destination should be centered around sustainable development
Sandra Carvao
Chief of Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness of UNWTO
Dear friends, it’s a pleasure to welcome you today and greet you from the World Tourism Organization City headquarter here in Madrid.
I very much want to thank you for this opportunity that International Mountain Tourism Alliance has given UNWTO long -term partnership that we value to address you today on what are the challenges that we face currently with the biggest pandemic that we have faced in the history of international travel and how we can actually address those challenges from the mountain tourism side, and also enable the opportunities that actually have been brought up to us by this challenge that we’re facing.
Just to start by saying a little bit of what are the biggest numbers that we’re seeing at this moment, international tourist arrivals have declined by as much as 56% in the first five months of this year. Just to give you an idea of a caparison term, in the whole 2009, when we were facing the Global Economic Crisis, we had a that was only 4%.
So this is how much the magnitude of this crisis impacting our sector. But another feature of this crisis is not only its magnitude. It’s also its global scale.For the first time, this is a situation that’s affecting travel and tourism all over the world. In the previous crisis like 9/11 or the SARS epidemic, we have seen that the focus have been on specific regions. But now, with COVID-19 for the first time, we are facing a challenge that is truly global in its nature.
So you can see, most of the regions have been impacted in a very similar way. Asia and the Pacific suffered the most because obviously it started to feel the impact of this pandemic earlier. But Europe followed very closely, since the fact that by mid-March, most of the European countries had closed their borders. The Americas, a little bit slower at this point. If we look at little bit forward and with all the challenges that the situation offers in terms of doing any scenario planning or any actual forecast on where we might see international tourism evolving towards the end of the year.
In any case, this is a total huge impact in terms of international tourism arrivals. But most importantly and we always stress this, it’s a very important impact in terms of jobs. At the moment, UNWTO forecast at a hundred to a hundred and twenty million direct tourism jobs could be at risk in the tourism industry.And this is not taking into account all the indirect impacts that the tourism has in so many other areas. So for addressing the challenges that we’re facing, UNWTO has been working very strongly with the other UN agencies, with the private sector, and with the countries, its member states to actually try to mitigate the impact of the crisis and accelerate
recovery.
We have set up a series of priorities that we think all countries and destination should consider when looking to recovery. Those include, the first one to provide liquidity and protect jobs.The most valuable workers that we have at this moment are jeopardized by this crisis. We need to ensure that they do have income. That they continue to be there for when the sector recoveries. We also need to make sure that the sector which is made mostly of small and medium enterprises can actually survive through this situation.
The second point which is as we open, one of the key for confidence-building is safety and security, safety and security in terms of social protocols, in terms of health regulations, both at the destination and throughout the value chain of travel? Hospitality, transport, all the touch points of the consumer need to be taken care of. And they also need to be communicated. It’s very important that we are capable of communicating very clearly. What are the safety measures that are being put in place?
The third point is public -private collaboration for an efficient reopening. It is critical that the measures that the public health and tourism sectors put together be implemented by the private sector. So they need to be totally on board with those measures and they need to support them.
The fourth point which is a key point, as I mentioned before is the opening of borders with responsibility. We need to ensurethat the measures are there. They need to be evidence-based and they need to actually address the level of risk. It’s very important that we protect health in the first place but also that we assure that we can restart our tourism sector.
That takes me to the 5th point which is the need for harmonization and coordination of travel protocols.International travel depends at this moment on how much countries are capable of coordinating their travel restrictions. How much they care capable of creating systems that allow for tracing of people in terms of the travel from the moment of their departure to the moment they get back home.
The 6th point is to use technology in this challenging time to actually be able to improve our capacity, to manage the sector, to communicate with consumers, and to decrease costs as we face so many challenges.
And finally,the last one, is how can you use innovation and sustainability as the new normal.As we restart tourism, it’s very important to build back better. Better in a sense that we respect our environment, our cultural values, but also the communities that we visit.
We know how many challenges we were facing before the crisis in terms of managing tourism flows and numbers. So this is an opportunity to think a little bit how do we want the sector to actually develop in the next 20 years.
To compliment these priorities, UNWTO has also set a series of global guidelines to restart tourism. And those touch issues such as border management, how the private sector can actually implement safety protocols, air travel, hospitality, and I do invite you to come and visit the UNWTO website where you can find all these measures in detail.
They touch upon each of the points of the travel journey, from the moment where the consumer actually searches for the travel, where it is very important that all the information on health regulations, cancellation policies is available.Second step, when the traveler goes through the transport network, how he needs to behave? What kind of information he should be given? And also when he arrives at the destination to make sure that for example when we talk about mountain tourism and we talked about visiting a park that things like contactless payment and contactless buy of tickets can be in place.And in this regard, I think there’s a lot that we can learn from actually what is happening in Asia because Asia’s been at the front of technology in travel and I think this is a huge opportunity to actually in many parts of the world advance this agenda.
So when we look forward, the challenges and opportunities that we have in face of COVID-19 and linking it to specific to what brings us here today, which is mountain tourism, there is an important point which is the opportunities of the sustainability- oriented segments. Segments like rural tourism, nature tourism, and health tourism will be a priority and we’ll see a much higher growth in the months and years to come. So we do have an opportunity to make sure that mountain tourism benefits somehow for this new trends that we are facing and adapts to the challenges that we have.
So I would like to leave you with seven quick ideas of principles that we at UNWTO promote to ensure that the development of tourism specifically in mountain areas can actually contribute to a healthy and sustainable recovery. The first one is the importance of knowing your customers. The use of big data is more and more common among the tourism stakeholders. But it is important that that view that is very common in the private sector can actually be enlarged to the public sector. We need to be able to target the consumers to understand what they want in this moment, to understand what they are concerned about. What would be important to build their confidence? So it is important to invest in data and in data management.
The second point is how to empower local communities.The fact that we have seen how tourism affects societies takes us to believe that this is a huge opportunity to make sure that all the good things that communities have can be brought into the value chain of travel. Handicrafts, gastronomy, local flavors are really an opportunity for a new consumer who actually will value very much those values.
The third point is the importance of building strong governance models.And what do I mean by this I mean that it is important that public sector at national level institutions, at local level, and all the players in the tourism industry can work together to have a structure that helps the destination to move forward but also to build resilience for the future. We need to work closer and closer together.
And this takes me to the 4th point where it is the importance of having destination management organizations. For mountain tourism to thrive, we need to ensure that there is a structure in place that is responsible for all the components of tourism development, the planning, the management, the evaluation, the partnership, the consumer experience, the quality. We need to make sure that there is a set organization that manages those points and that it does so in a sustainable way.
The 5th point is the importance of local leaders.Today, we know that people go to a destination with a strong motivation either it is to be healthier, to feel more closer to nature, to know local cultures. So it is important that depending on what is the strong point of the destination, we can find who are the local leaders and who are the best providers that can take that experience forward.
If we have a strong experience that links the destination with a certain brand, with the image of this is the place where I will be able to connect with nature, this is the place where I’ll have the best experience of sports in my life, then we will have a winning destination.
The 6th point is the need to innovate. Innovating products, in products that take into account the new needs of consumers. We will see that probably the travel of the next month will be done by couples, will be done by smaller groups, will be done in proximity, so it is important to make sure that products are adopted to those new trends.
And finally, the 7th idea is sustainability. We need to identify in each of the mountain destinations what is tourism success.And it’s not about the numbers. It’s not about an increasing number of visitors. It’s about the right visitors. The right visitors that respect the environment, that respects the culture, that can spend on local products, and that can actually benefit and respect the communities and the nature that they visit. So this is a huge opportunity for us to rethink as we build back better tourism on what is success in terms of tourism.
In mountain destinations for their own brand are at the core of this decision. They won’t be any future for mountain tourism if we don’t play sustainability at the core of this development. Form this side, UNWTO is totally available to continue working with you to make sure that this agenda is moving forward in spite of the challenges that we face.We know this is one of the biggest crises that the tourism sector has ever faced but it has brought us together and it does provide us with an opportunity to rethink what we want to tourism sector to be as we move forward to the 2030 agenda of the United Nations.We have 10 years to make sure that tourism contributes to sustainable development goals and this is an opportunity to all together make sure that mountain tourism destinations can actually be part of that journey.
Once again, thank you very much for your attention. I look forward for seeing you in presence whenever possible and as soon as possible. And once again, from the World Tourism Organization, we send you greetings from Madrid.Thank you very much.
Dialogue
Emcee: Global Vice President and China President of the Internationale Organisation Für Volkskunst (IOV), Expert of International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development under the Auspices of UNESCO(ISSCD) Emma Chen
Online Guest：CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, Representative of Sagarmatha (Mount Qomolangma) National Park Dr. Dhananjay Regmi
How dose Nepal's mountain tourism achieve sustainable development after the epidemic?
The outbreak of Corona virus disease, COVID -19 has created a global economic and health crisis,that has created a deep impact on global economy and our everyday life. Its impact is most seen in tourism industry and people are losing jobs and income, with no way of knowing when normality will return. Countries heavily dependent on tourism are now facing hard time with deserted destinations and empty hotels.To combat the situation, Nepal has also developed "COVID -19 Safety and Hygiene Protocols for the Tourism Industry"which is a detailed guideline on the operation of tourism industry with strict adherence to health and safety.In this light, with health and safety measures as the new normal, mountain tourism will have lesser risk factors for Corona spread.
As one of the world -famous national parks in Nepal, what are the unique advantages and attractions of Mount Qomolangma National Park?
In Nepal the driving factor for tourists to Sagarmatha National Park，first thing, it is a national park and it listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and this national park has the highest altitudinal difference from 2845 meters to the top of the world. Sagarmatha National Park has the highest altitude Airport at Syangboche and the highest altitude 5 star hotel, the Qomolangma View Hotel from where you can have a terrific view of the mountains. Besides that， it’s completely environment friendly tourism, such as provide different type of trail, high emphasis on wildlife and cultural resources.Sagarmatha National Park provides different type of trail from very easy to the most difficult where tourist can find different types of flora fauna number of glaciers and glacial lakes. It is also the land of endangered species, such as snow leopard, musk deer, red panda and you know the“Yeti”, the mythical snowman, is also believed to be found here. Besides Mt. Qomolangma, there
are Mt. Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Thamserku, Nuptse, Amadublam and other major popular peaks are also located here.At the same time, Mera Peak and Island Peak are the ones practitioners love to climb during their training period.
Online Guest：Site manager of UNESCO world heritage Swiss Alps jungfrau aletsch and Director of World Nature Forum Dr. Leiggener
What are the unique attractions of the world natural heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau -Aletsch? Switzerland's winter sports have a lot of mature experience. What are your suggestions for the 2022 Winter Olympics in China?
The UNESCO world natural heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch is the heart of the Swiss Alps. There is a glacial surface of 350 square kilometers which is compact, 50% of the glacial volume is in this world natural heritage.
In 2001 the world heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch has been listed into the world heritage sites. And of course, this has been because of three UNESCO criteria, which are uniqueness, diversity and beauty. It is very easy to access, mostly by train and cable-cars ensure an easy access and also a contingent control. The major target is, that the next generation will have this exciting nature as well as we do. But, we also want that the next generation already think about their next generation.
For the Winter Olympic Games in China in 2022，let’s give you the advice that maybe you should give an image to skiing, which is very important, which is very exclusive not as snobby as maybe in the US, but as popular as a ski or sports for well situated people. And maybe take an example of the Lauberhorn downhill race World Cup of Jungfrau - Aletsch. If you can transport a sequence of the mood of this downhill race, in the sense of letting it become such a (popular event) and place in China.
Online Guest：CEO of Jungfraubahn Railways, Swiss Urs Kessler
What are the operating experiences of the Jungfraujoch railway? What changes have been brought about by digitalization and new social software applications in the tourism industry?
The V-Project is the most important project of Jungfrau Railways since the construction of Jungfrau Railways. This project enables us to be a brand the Top Brand in Europe for the next 30 to 50 years. The investment of 470 Million Swiss The main goals: quality and comfort for our guests around the world. The most unique part of the project is the Eiger -Express with a 3S gondola (cableway) from Grindelwald Terminal (station) to Eiger Glacier (station) within 15 minutes. where you change to the new trains of Jungfrau Railways to the (Jungfraujoch) - Top of Europe. The project is a project of the Alps, it’s a project for the future and it’s a project for our customers. That means, we keep the distance in our company. We give free of charge masks if our guests don’t have a mask or forget the mask. We clean the trains regularly, every hour, every two hours, it depends on the number of visitors we have, and we instruct our staff to follow all the instructions to make it (The visit) very safe. And very important is we have reservation for the seats for FIT (Free Independent Travelers) and we hope as well for the future for the groups, they are coming back very soon! And at the same time, for the reservations, if a market like China would like to have a special service, we can even reserve a train just for the Chinese visitors.
Digitization changed the world of travelling. People want to experience the nature, the real product, the mountains. That means we need to go ahead with the digitalization, that means we need to have online bookings, we need to have apps. As we are creating at the moment a new “Jungfrau-App” and congratulations to China, you are far ahead, that’s something that is already well established in your market, in China!but we will have, in Europe, as the first mountain, the Jungfrau App where you can reserve the seats, where you can reserve the restaurants, where you can reserve the tickets, where you can book, for example, the ski instructor, etc. so all you will have on our new Jungfrau App from the 5th of December 2020.
Online Guest： General Manager of Rinjani -Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark, lndonesia Farid Zaini
How does Rinjani -Lombok Geopark attract tourists? What are the experiences and practices in mountain tourism in the post-COVID World?
Prior to 13th Century,Rinjani Complex consisted of two volcanic cones,namely Samalas (or Old Rinjani) and Rinjani. In 1257, Samalas erupted and the eruption buried Pamatan Kingdom, and change the landscape of Lombok immensely. Until today, people can see the remains of the powerful eruption in the past by visit Mount Rinjani. To climb Rinjani, traveller should book the trip online through website www.erinjani.id or by an android application named eRinjani.They need a local Trekking Organizer to arrange and responsible to their while trekking to Rinjani.Local guide and porters will accompany and serve almost everything during the trek.
Currently in Indonesia, we try to create the best formula for developing post-pandemic mountain tourism. We believe mountain tourism in Rinjani
will slowly recovered. Some of the things to do are to prepare Standard Operational Procedures in trekking, and adopting COVID -19 protocols by limiting the number of visitors. And we trying to optimize promoting through virtual tour and social media.
At the moment we are holding a photo and video competition with the theme of Mount Rinjani Trekking Activity to promote Rinjani to the world. The most important thing about sustainable tourism is engagement with the people, and we are trying to engage everyone who’ve been visiting Rinjani, and anyone who interested in Rinjani by remind beautiful memories about Rinjani.
Guest：Chairman and General Manager of Henan Yuntai Mountain Tourism Co., Ltd. Feng Jinsong
What efforts has Yuntai Mountain made to promote sustainable and high-quality tourism after the epidemic?
First, unswervingly taking high-quality service as the "symbol point" for achieving high-quality development.Continue to deepen the service concept of "moving every tourist ", with off-line and on-line service.Second, unswervingly taking market recovery as the "starting point" for achieving high -quality development.Third, unswervingly taking market development as the "tipping point" to achieve high -quality development.Focus on creating Yuntai Mountain Music Festival, Yuntai Mountain Tourism Festival, Yuntai Mountain International Marathon and a series of activities, with widely praised.Fourth, unswervingly taking project construction as the "breakthrough point" to achieve high -quality development.Focusing on the new consumption needs of tourists, 16 "cloud series projects" with a total investment of 20 billion yuan covering 4 categories including leisure and vacation, interactive experience, homestay culture and parent-child research have been planned.In the next step, Yuntai Mountain will use an international mindset and a global perspective, centering on the essential connotation of mountain tourism— “close to nature and focus on health”, and increase cross -border integration with cultural communication, sports, ecological environment and other fields. We would target the young customers and the middle-class consumer group to launch more mountain tourism products that integrate experience, excitement and novelty.
Guest：Deputy County Mayor of Deqing County, Director of Moganshan Internationa Tourist Resort Management Committee, Huzhou, Zhejiang Hong Yanyan
What achievements and measures has Moganshan International Tourist Resort achieved in recent years, and how to carry out sustainable development in the future?
According to data from Mafengwo, Deqing, where Mogan Mountain is located, ranked No.1 among the most searched rural tourism B&Bs destinations during the May Day holiday.We can develop in this way, there are the following four points.First, protection and safety are prerequisites.There are many new forms of mountain tourism, such as glass plank roads, hot air balloons, etc. In fact, there are no very clear laws and regulations in China, and there are no very clear standards on how to supervise them. Therefore, in this case, our Huzhou City first published the "Huzhou Rural Tourism Regulations", in the form of human legislation to clarify the management responsibilities of each department. Second, policy support is a guarantee.Various cities in Zhejiang Province have published supporting policies. The government has used real money to leverage the market to break the initial peak period for enterprises. At the same time, the government vigorously promotes Deqing therapy recuperation products. Third, talent and industry are very important.We have all kinds of talents, including returnees, talents who have graduated from large companies and famous schools and returned to local rural tourism, and there are also talents from local college students who return to their hometowns to start businesses. Mountain tourism rural tourism will have the greatest vitality and after young people returned.Fourth, market integration and development are the most critical. From the perspective of resort development, we will continue to be guided by innovation and integration, promote the "tourism + " industry linkage, and vigorously promote the integrated development of cultural tourism, sports tourism, and agricultural tourism. We should advocate the "homestay +" in the term of“joint space”, encourage the themed development of homestays, and introduce different themed homestays, such as calligraphy, parent -child fun, outdoor sports, mountain life, and gourmet dining. In addition ,we should encourage the "talent + " in terms of creative combination, create excellence and strive for excellence,focus on talents, carry out standards and train output, to realize that homestays are originated from accommodation, but are not only the accommodation.
We have also mentioned the cultural“soft power”. For the events Mogan Mountain built some cultural auditoriums and integrated them well with tourism this summer, because every place has immaterial and handicrafts. As long as there are tourists coming during this time, will open it for free. Mogan Mountain invite inheritors of intangible culture to teach them these intangible cultures. I think these are the“soft tourism” methods you talk about. We are also trying this.
Guest：Director of Tourism, Culture and Sports Bureau of Changbai Mountain Management Committee Geng Deyong
Changbai Mountain is one of China’s top 10 famous mountains and one of China first batch of national 5A scenic spots. Please introduce how Changbai Mountain promoted tourism development after the pandemic？
First, the faith.Looking back to the entire period of pandemic, Changbai Mountain deployed high -level pandemic prevention work, implemented various measures with high standards during the pandemic, and promoted high -quality prevention & control and tourism recovery under the new normal of the pandemic. Up to now, Changbai Mountain is still in the "double zero" state under the pandemic, with zero confirmed cases and zero suspects. On the other hand, during the pandemic, Changbai Mountain has published supportive policy. Changbai Mountain has published supportive policy. Such as issuing 15 million consumer vouchers, supporting cultural and tourism enterprises, stimulating cultural and tourism consumption, and injecting a shot in the heart to restore tourism confidence.The second one is about brands.Through the pandemic, the trends and ways of people traveling has been changed. In recent years, Changbai Mountain has explored the all -for -one tourism development model and promoted the diversified development of the tourism industry. There are many highlights in "Tourism + ".This one -trip "fast food check -in" is transformed into an in - depth cultural experience and consumer experience that realize the transition from "coming in a hurry" to "walking slowly".
Guest：Culture and Tourism counselor of Tanzania Embassy in China， Representative of Kilimanjaro National Park Lusekelo S. Gwassa
How does the Tanzanian government, where Kilimanjaro Park is located, provide support to the tourism industry?
Kilimanjaro National Park is more than 5,800 meters above sea level. It is a very beautiful mountain that attracts many tourists. Visitors to Tanzania have increased the local income and also increased Tanzania’s GDP by 15% . This year, because of COVID -19, the tourism has been hardly hit. So the economy has been hard hit. We will continue to see the impact of COVID-19. So a lot of people have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, but the government didn’t stay idle. The government did something, through the cooperation, the government of Tanzania with stakeholders, they form sort of a standard, you know, procedure to combat.China is a potential market and they go there. They have their own culture and their own way of doing it. Like, they would like to go like using one plane, a direct flight. We have our own carrier, which will sign the contract with the local. So we will continue to promote while we’re putting the safety measures at the local level.
Topic 2: Constructing Mountain Tourism Destinations Targeted at New Consumer Demand
Experts Speech
Vitalize cultural heritage of mountain villages and develop mountain village vacation products
Wu Bihu（Tiger Wu）
Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism; Director/Professor of Center for Recreation and Tourism Research (CRTR) , Peking University
Today, I’d like to talk about “Vitalizing Cultural Heritage of Mountain Villages and Developing Mountain Village Vacation Products.” A variety of mountain tourism products, relevant tourism events as well, reside not just in Guizhou, but in China, and even the world at large. My focus today is the segment of Mountain Village, and I want to share with you how to take tourism resources in mountains, cultural heritage of mountain villages, and mountain vacation products into consideration.
Take Guizhou province as an example. Guizhou has been at the fringe place of China’s thousands of years of history and progress. As we all know, central China and south of the Yangtze River are home to China’s economic and cultural engines. But Guizhou, a border province, houses many ethnic minorities, thus a present tendency “from fringe to core.” In the post -industrial and post - urbanization age, regions with relatively inconvenient traffic yet sound ecological environment and well - preserved traditional or national cultures have turned into key areas for tourism development.
Guizhou defines itself as a “Province of Mountain Parks” where people come for a tour, not for settling down. My advice to Guizhou and other mountainous areas is to turn more visitors into dwellers; in other words, turn sightseeing tour into leisure vacation. Because it bears the advantage of making visitors stay longer, spend more, and buy more, and having a stronger push to the local economic growth.
Mountainous areas used to suffer from poor traffic in the past, but things have changed now. In recent years, we have seen more sunny days in Guizhou, probably because of the global warming. But anyway, Guizhou is now perfectly suitable for holiday or leisure vacation.
Why do I highlight the importance of mountain village vacation Among all the mountain tourism products, such as mountaineering, sport, sightseeing and ecological environment, vacation can best evoke a higher “destination involvement.” Higher “destination involvement” makes it easier for the destination to progress. Guizhou houses the most traditional villages in China, followed only by the hilly region south of Yangtze River. Inconvenient traffic and less external influence in mountains in turn have preserved many cultural legacies well which can further be adjusted as vacation products.
We know that going on a holiday isn’t just spending a few days in a nice house, but rather experiencing the views and local customs. It is the most satisfying part of a vacation.
Therefore, our goal is to vitalize the cultural heritage in mountain villages as a “vacation experience.” For example, to build hotels featuring such heritage. Like castle hotels in Europe, we have Chinese -style castles, like Anshun city, in Guizhou province.
Nowadays, many mountainous areas, including Guizhou, have had their local traffic improved. As County Mayor Hong from Huzhou city mentioned just now, traffic convenience is of great significance to the tourism development in Huzhou as the city stands very close to the tourism market of the Yangtze River Delta. Once the route from Guangdong -Hong Kong -Macao Greater Bay Area, GBA in short, and Guangzhou Province, Guangxi Province, Guizhou Province to Yunnan Province is built, the prospect mountain leisure vacation will look quite promising in the future.
Next, I’d like to talk about information technology. As we step into the era of 5G, we can book tickets in advance, and bid farewell to the poor experience of getting in crowded lines at destinations. Advanced information technology and traffic can bring even the remotest villages close to any tourist.
Mountain vacation products include forests, springs and mountain villages. Such village -featured cultural experience is the key in attracting visitors from populated areas like Shanghai, GBA, Paris and Tokyo.
How do mountain villages evolve from planting rice and tea trees to “planting tourists” For that, local governments need to be aware that agricultural land also needs to be adjusted for industry and service sector by modifying the industrial structure and land use purpose in rural areas. In detail, we must build holiday resorts, and lower down the travel cost for tourists. And the top choice for reducing cost is to add construction land.
I think governments of all countries need to learn from Switzerland, to “balance protection and development,” and to put the conviction that“lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” into practice. In other words, we should turn the village culture into vacation products.
That’s all. Thank you for listening!
Construct a mountain tourism destination for new consumer demands via exchange and cooperation
Andrew Brown
Senior Regional Manager of World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC )
WTTC represents the global private sector of Travel & Tourism, this year we are celebrating our 30th anniversary. The purpose and mission of WTTC is to provide the private sector with a single powerful voice into governments, highlighting the importance of Travel & Tourism and striving for fair economic policy and the long -term sustainable growth of the sector. We have over 200 Members, who are the leaders of some of the largest Travel & Tourism organizations around the world, including Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com, Gary Chapman, President at Emirates and Christopher J. Nassetta, President & CEO of Hilton who is also our Chairman. WTTC is the only body who represents the whole sector,and whose Members have operations across every industry and within every geographic region.
Global Performance
Now since our foundation, we have been quantifying the economic and social impact of Travel & Tourism for 185 countries and 25 regions around the world. We also conduct research into other important area and issues facing the sector such as sustainability, visa facilitation and most important right now crisis management. Using this research, we are able to highlight exactly how significant Travel & Tourism is for a country, region or in the case of this slide, the global economy. The key data points that we released in February this year, prior to the impact of Covid-19. Travel & Tourism GDP grew at 3.5% compared to the overall global GDP growth of 2.5%. This was in fact the 9th consecutive year that Travel & Tourism had outpaced the global economy. Overall,our sector accounted for 10.3% of total global GDP, and supported 330 million jobs,which is equivalent to 1/10 of all jobs in the world. An interesting point is that of all the new jobs created over the last 5 years, 1 in every 4 was within our sector. Which is fairly impressive! What this slide also highlights is that Travel & Tourism is the perfect sector to help the global, regional and country economies recover and grow stronger out of the current crisis.
Global Recovery Scenarios
Since the start of the pandemic, WTTC has been quantifying the potential impact that COVID-19 will have on GDP and Jobs across the sector. The global picture, with 2 scenarios. Baseline on the left assumed and is in line with exactly what we have been seeing in recent times, especially across China and Europe with the restarting of domestic and short haul travel.
In the baseline scenario, we forecast that there will be over 121million jobs lost, which is from the original 2019 figure of 330million remember also that over $3.4 trillion will be removed from our sector. Which is very significant.The downside scenario on the right however is based on there being further delays to the restarting of travel, with the assumption that there might be a potential second wave,quarantines are put in place and consumer confidence remains at an all time low. Unfortunately, we are starting to see aspects of this scenario come to realization,with swift travel restrictions being put in place, a lack of coordination between countries and significant barriers stopping travelers from travelling overseas. In the downside scenario, you can see that it will be detrimental to the number of jobs lost and GDP contribution forgone. Over 60% in each case.
How can we build back Consumer Demand?
Given the impact that we have all felt due to Covid- 19,the question or questions you might be asking is how can we start taking the right steps towards recovery？ Are there solutions that can help？ Can we generate new consumer demand?
Four Principles for Recovery
Specially, as we all want to avoid the downside scenario from the previous slide and begin stimulating new consumer demand once again, WTTC has developed 4 principle of recovery to help reduce the impact of Covid- 19.
The first is a coordinated approach between governments and the private sector to re -establish effective operations. Within this principal the key focus is on 2 main points, the need to reopen borders replacing quarantine measures with‘corridors’ or‘bubbles’ and the call to remove barriers such as travel advisories and bans on non-essential international travel.
Secondly, we are calling for a move to a contactless, safe & seamless traveller experience adding in health & hygiene components with the use of the latest technology. Essentially integrating testing and contact tracing throughout the traveller journey, and if a vaccine becomes available incorporating a digital health stamp that is universally recognized for the traveller.
The third is the need to adopt global health and safety protocols, which have been defined by the travel & tourism private sector, health experts and the public sector in an effort to rebuild traveller confidence and a consistent experience.
Last but certainly not least and of equal importance is that governments continue to support the sector given how hard we have been hit and the important role we can play in the recovery of the global economy. These measures include fiscal incentives, interest free loans and worker protection as well as investment in infrastructure and increasing promotional budgets.
Safe & Seamless Traveller Journey (SSTJ)
To help regenerate consumer demand and taking into account the first two principals for recovery, WTTC has, in collaboration with our members and relevant private sector stakeholders produced guidelines for a ‘Safe & Seamless Traveller Journey’. These guidelines are the best practices recommended by the private sector, focusing on seamless and contactless journeys as well as the testing & tracing of travelers. It will make it more efficient and safer for travelers and employees at all the various checkpoints, in effect reducing the ability for Covid -19 to continue spreading. The outcome of allowing travelers to travel in a contactless manner is designed to help to rebuild traveller confidence and trust throughout their entire journey, whether that be across the whole sector or specifically within mountain tourism destinations.
Safe Travels Protocols
To further help build back the confidence of the traveller, we also developed industry specific Safe Travel Protocols. So far they cover 10 industries ranging from Airlines, Airports, Tour Operators, Hospitality providers and Attractions. We will soon be releasing protocols focuses directly on ‘Adventure Tourism’. Which of course mountain tourism is a big part of. If you would like to have access to these, please let me know as they will support the safe, healthy, and responsible restart of adventure tourism around the world.
These protocols are divided into four pillars, that you see on the slide. The first, operational and staff preparedness ensures consistency in quality and delivery of services and that staff are trained to execute on safe & hygienic plans. Second, ensuring a safe experience?for staff and guests through enhanced cleanliness and hygiene best practices. Next, the rebuilding of trust through transparency and communication with guests, by providing clear, consistent, and up-to-date information to customers on new health & hygiene protocols via the organization’s channels, both digitally and physically through on site signage. Finally, the need to implement enabling policies at the governmental level to ensure consistency of services being offered as well as enhancing promotional activity budgets to increase consumer demand, providing financial relief and establishing incentives to boost travel & Tourism.
The aim of our members and the private sector is that by establishing these baseline protocols,we can build the traveller confidence through world leading health and hygiene standards for the protection consumers and the employees. This in turn will bring back consumer demand.
Building on from the industry specific guidelines, and the request from our members we have introduced a Safe Travel Stamp. The Safe Travel Stamp provide a single global indicator for travelers across the world to see who is in the meeting the protocols . We have found that this is a perfect way to start building the confidence of the traveller back,stimulating new consumer demand and start on the road to recovery in global travel and mountain tourism.
Here you see just a few of the destinations who have signed up and pledged to uphold the protocols throughout every stage of their business operations. Our aim is that a traveller who sees the Safe Travel Stamp will feel rest assured that the service they are about to experience has their best health, hygiene, and safety in mind.Here you see the global overview of where those destinations are who have signed up to the Safe Travel Stamp are located. There is now the ability for destinations themselves to adopt the Safe Travel Stamp and provide it to their stakeholders & suppliers who are abiding by the specific protocols. Please let me know if your destination is interested in signing up to the stamp.
I’d like once again thank International Mountain Tourism Alliance allowing myself and WTTC to be a part of this very important conference today.
Thank you!
Dialogue
Online Guest：Chairman of Hokkaido Adventure Travel Association, Representative of Daisetsuzan National Park Kazuhiro ARAI
Do you have any suggestions for the development in Hokkaido Daisetsuzan National Park to meet the new needs of customers of mountain tourism ?
Authenticity. Another words, re - building, and re - enforcing of our lifestyle with mountains. Let’s say, you visit us in Japan, and if I as a guide say “Welcome to Hokkaido, I prepared activities for you, for Chinese guests, so you will be comfortable, but locals do not normally do this”. Is this exciting The answer is no That tour maybe comfortable because it’s customized to you,but this is not an adventure at all, because the experiences will stay within your expectations.So, why do you travel? You are seeking to experience the real cultures,instead of “the Man -Made Tourism Products”. you will see the outdoor is their daily lifestyle and you are shared their experience.” This is different from a tour operator offering you a product, I would like to make this kind of“structure” into our tourism destination.So, “Authenticity” as re-building or reinforcing our local mountain cultures, is the key word, and we are working on providing learning opportunities of local outdoor skills to kids as well as their parents. To conclude my speech, lets’ say A, B, or C grade tourism resources. Grade A resource such as famous skiing resort or beautiful hiking course are already well known, and tourists will get satisfied. So we leave that there.But we have more possibilities to improve on B or C grade resources which are often small, but it is the local lifestyle. And, this is what tourists want,“the authentic experiences”. I think we should work on this for our sustainable tourism development.
What are the unique roles of adventure tourism in promoting the sustainable tourism development of Daxueshan Natural Park and meeting the needs of young travel enthusiasts?
The role of Adventure Tourism is an icon and implementation of sustainable tourism. In Daisetsuzan, the ideas of “wise use” has been promoted since the last 20years. I think“Wise Use” means“management by users”, and the main idea is “Users behaving properly with better understanding”. Its been slowly but certainly moving into action. So you don’t see any rubbish at all in the park, and very pleasant environment there, or even, some of the hikers are helping track maintenance as well.So now, adventure tourism can drive it forward as an icon for young people. Saying “You can seek your self -realization with spontaneous movement for conservation”, which is sustainability. Providing variety of choices. Younger generation are rational and good at searching time by time. DMO here promote ourselves a “Mountain city resort” because we have more than 10 ski areas within 1 hour time, so you can actually choose where to go according to conditions in the morning.You can also say the same thing in summer about hiking. There are alpine hiking, deep forest hiking, swamp, lakeside hiking or rice farm area hiking. You can experience more than 3 environments in one day. We have diverse environments.This gives variety of choices to maximize tourists’ experiences, and should be interesting for young people or it’s not only for young people, but also adults.To make it forward, development of“information” and “transportation” is crucial.And transportation should be ecological as well.
Online Guest：President of the Strategic Program of "Santiago, a Capital of World Mountain Tourism" in Chile Michael Leatherbee
What are the experiences and practices of the "Santiago, a Capital of World Mountain Tourism" in Chile? What efforts has Chile made in recent years to attract mountain enthusiasts around the world?
“Santiago, a Capital of Mountain Tourism”. This is a public-private initiative based in Chile’s capital city of Santiago. Chile is a thin country relative to its length. Our country is essentially one long mountain range. The mountains have been an important part of our culture from pre-Columbian times. Chile has been awarded the Best Adventure Destination by the World Travel Awards.
When you land in Chile’s capital city, you are a one hour drive from the heart of the Andean range. You can find some of the finest skiing in the southern hemisphere, and some of the most breathtaking hikes and excursions. But outdoor adventure is not the only appealing attribute of our mountains. And the Incas knew this well. There is a mysticism about being in the heart of the Andes that is hard to describe. It is a place where you can find yourself and make a deeper connection with life. This is why we are working hard to make the mountains more inclusive, where there is a place for everyone to enjoy and find well-being.
Last year there was an important point of inflection. As far as I know, for the first time in the country history, four sectors of society have come together to work on the development of this destination: these sectors are the public, private, academic and civil society. Together, we are building the social capital and also a collective vision that will drive effective decision-making in the near future. As a result, by the end of this year we will have a strategic road map that will guide our development towards becoming a unmissable destination on everyone’s bucket list.There are a couple forecast that I think we all need to keep in mind. The first is a reduction in international travel, which will naturally increase domestic demand. The second is the recession, which will decrease purchasing power. The third is the need to deal with anxiety (either from confinement or poverty), which may push people towards being in the outdoors, but without much income to pay for services in those locations. So, we live in a scenario of uncertainty. Will people spend less in long -distance travel and use their money to pay for domestic services? That will be a good thing, or will people be reluctant to pay for services despite visiting the outdoors, at the detriment of the infrastructure that requires upkeep? That will be a bad thing.
We must learn to change our business logic from a causal to an effectual one. Planning, which is a causal logic, works well when you can predict the future. When you can’t predict the future, it is better to work with effectuation. Touristic destinations and tourism providers need to think creatively,and ask themselves, what resources do I have at hand to make the best of the situation we currently face? It is not an easy paradigm shift, but one that is needed if you wish to increase your chances of success in the face of uncertainty. Also, politicians need to realize the importance and fragility of outdoor tourism. It is an industry that emphasizes the importance of environmental sustainability. That’s a good thing.It is an industry that provides well -being to visitors and service providers. That’s also a good thing.It is an industry that must not break down, because if it does, it will take a long time to rebuild. And that’s why we all need to work together to continue to protect this industry.
Guest：Chairman of Guizhou Shierbeihou Tourism Group Chen Jin
How can you attract more young people to travel to your scenic spots for consumption in the post COVID-19 era and what kinds of changes or reforms would you want to do?
We would like to have different categories of the tourism including the common tourism for middle -aged and elderly people --sightseeing tours, and the special tourism for young people --outdoor leisure sports. We put outdoor leisure sports tourism in the most important position. People take outdoor leisure activities means that they could take a certain time to rest and relax in a busy and tense life in order to adjust their mood, relieve physical and mental pleasure, maintain life and health care, and restore physical fitness regularly.
As an industry, outdoor leisure need to be with a certain entertainment, the second is for leisure, the third is with cultural connotation, and the fourth is to contribute a mature service system. By subdividing the market, young people is the main consumptive force of outdoor leisure for our scenic spots. After years of exploration, Guizhou Twelve Back Tourism Group has also achieved certain results. In the tourist season after the pandemic, our hotel rooms need to be booked one month in advance. I am very pleased with this.
Guest：Director of Outdoor Sports Center, Siguniang “Four Girls” Mountain in Sichuan province, China Yang Weitai
How did Siguniang Mountain construct mountain tourism destinations targeted at new consumer demand after this pandemic?
Siguniang Mountain is a representative of mountainous tourism destinations in Sichuan Province. It is located in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, only 175 kilometers away from Chengdu City, particularly with rich mountain outdoor sports resources. At present, we have developed outdoor projects such as ice climbing, rock climbing, biking, rafting and so on.
Our model is to use mountain outdoor sports enthusiasts to drive the common people to join in this activity. Currently we are applying for the country's first AAAAA scenic spot featuring with mountain outdoor sports. The development and construction of outdoor sports in Siguniang Mountain started in the 1980s and has now begun to take shape. The whole town has 30 professional outdoor sports clubs with nearly 300 employees.
（Emcee:The outdoor sports in Siguniang Mountain is well -known all over the country. We want to know after this pandemic, how did Siguniang Mountain construct mountain tourism destinations targeted at new consumer demand?） As people's living standards improved, mountain outdoor sports came into people's lives in an irresistibly state. scenic area has formed a consensus, that is, taking effective management and persuasion instead of“rough” control.
Guest：Representative of Parque nacional del Teide,Tourism counselor of Consulate General of Spain in Guangzhou Ana Lafuente
What are the experiences and practices of Parque nacional del Teide?
Parque nacional del Teide is the highest peak in Spain and the third highest volcano in the world, it’s the most visited national park in Spain and Europe and the second most visited national park in the world. I think destinations need to be enriched with content with high quality, attractive to tourists see the rich connotations. I have to say that the Canary Islands, it’s a set of islands where the Parque nacional del Teide is located, is one of the regions in Europe right now where tourism is taking place because the risk is very low.
In Europe, the policy right now is trying to identify the regions with low risk,so the tourism can take place and the Canary Islands is one of these regions. The recovery (in Europe) is starting slowly but it’s starting now, and the prospects are quite good. In the short term, we are focused on nearby tourism in Europe. In the middle term, we’re going to be focused on connectivity, because connectivity is really important for us. Our organization which is related to tourism,hopes to open international flights again to reactivate connectivity soon. And in the longer term, we are working on a strategic marketing plan from 2021 to 2024 which will be focused on the post pandemic period and we want to improve the things，such as digitalization and sustainability.Chinese tourism groups do like, visiting Madrid and other cities in southwest Spain. We’re focusing on presenting a new Spain that is unknown in China. Spain has 15 national parks. And it is a country with rich biodiversity, rich cultural history and natural ecological landscapes, which will attract more Chinese tourists.
Guest: Scientific Counselor & Head of Commercial Office, Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing Lorenzo Gonzo
What are features of the Italy mountain tourism? How was it affected by COVID-19?
Italy tourism is very important sector. It accounts for nearly, 6 to 10 percent of GDP. And we has nearly 4 thousand kilometers of coast, people going for art and culture and mountain tourism. The industry which drives the mountain tourism in Italy, we have of course, the resorts and the hotel. But what is coming out in the last few years is some sort of shared economy that you have a B&B accommodation or even agricultural tourism. More infrastructure are led by local families,so you could have an immersive experience by living in the country side and near the mountain.
For winter time, Italy is also quite strong for ski industry and mounting.We have over 1,500 ski facilities which are nearby Switzerland. Italy is contributing also for Beijing 2022. Italy has been hosting three times the Olympics and the next time is in 2026.There are a lot of other activities like climbing, rafting, canyoning, mountain biking, ski touring and snow shoring and we try to offer all of these things to the tourist with a full immersive experience in the mountain tourism. Of course, sustainability, it has be an award which has been used all along this conference is the kind of behavior.
