On November 18, 2020 IMTA Annual Conference was held in Guiyang city of Guizhou province, China, along with a key event – awarding ceremony of 2020 "IMTA Mountain Tourism Awards." Initiated by International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) and characterized by internationalization, high standard, and innovativeness, the Awards was the first of its kind in the cultural tourism sector.
At the opening ceremony of the Conference, Dominique de Villepin, IMTA Chairman and former Prime Minister of France, delivered a video speech because he could not attend due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He highlighted the significance of mountain tourism innovation, and pointed out that mountain tourism must serve as an advantage for local community development and make greater contributions to the social progress and economic growth. After that, Zhu Shanzhong–Executive Director at the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Chen Dehai–Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Center, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey--Ambassador of Nepal to China, and many other guests delivered keynote speeches, expressing their expectation on the Conference as well as the promising prospect of mountain tourism.
The competition for the Awards was fierce among cultural tourism enterprises and institutions and other mountain destination players this year. The applications of over 100 domestic and overseas projects have been received. Experts in tourism planning, ecological environment, art and culture, and outdoor sport from China, Germany, Korea, France, Switzerland, and the USA participated in the selection.
2020 "IMTA Mountain Tourism Awards" consists of five category awards, namely, Mountain Tourism Sustainable Development Award, Best Mountain Tourism Destination Award, Best Mountain Tourism Outdoor Sport Award, Best Mountain Hiking Route Award, and Best Mountain Tourism Camping Award.
After one and a half months of collection and selection, IMTA announced the 12 winners at the awarding ceremony. Shao Qiwei - IMTA Vice Chairman, Hu Zhongxiong - Vice Governor of the People's Government of Guizhou Province, He Yafei -- IMTA Secretary-General, Xie Jinying -- Director of the Bureau for International Exchange and Cooperation of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, and Wei Xiao'an -- President of the 2020 IMTA Mountain Tourism Awards Expert Jury, presented the awards to the winners.
