On the morning of Friday, July 4, 2025, a 9-member delegation led by Honourable Gordon Wesley, Governor of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, visited the Alliance. Accompanied by Gao Lin, Director of the Office of Guizhou Provincial Alumni Association of the Whampoa Military Academy (Provincial Association for the Promotion of Unification), and Zhu Hongxi, a third-level researcher from the Foreign Affairs Office of Guizhou Province, the delegation toured the Alliance's headquarters facilities and thematic exhibitions, watched the Alliance's promotional video, and held discussions with relevant departments of the Secretariat. The discussion was chaired by Wu Mai, Deputy Secretary-General of the Alliance.
At the forum, Wen Weiya, Assistant to the Secretary-General of the Alliance, systematically introduced the Alliance's background, development history, and core functions. She highlighted the Alliance's series of activities and achievements in promoting sustainable development of mountain tourism and facilitating international cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation. She also emphasized that as a non-governmental and non-profit international tourism organization, the Alliance is committed to serving the industry and empowering its members, and is willing to work with all relevant parties to continuously promote sustainable development in the field of mountain tourism.
Governor Gordon Wesley introduced the basic situation of Milne Bay Province and the purpose of this visit. He elaborated on the province's yet-to-be-systematically developed tourism resources, including the "glass sea" with white sand beaches, world-class coral reef systems, corridors of World War II historical relics, indigenous cultural traditions, and pristine tropical rainforests. He emphasized that the province is willing to conduct more in-depth exchanges and pragmatic cooperation with the Alliance to tap into Milne Bay's huge tourism development potential. He also invited the Alliance's leaders to visit Milne Bay to experience the unique features of the mountainous rainforest islands in the South Pacific. During the forum, Governor Gordon Wesley explicitly instructed Mimosa Sinedou, Minister of Tourism of Milne Bay Province, to handle the procedures for the province's tourism institutions to join the Alliance as members.
During the discussions, heads of relevant departments of the Alliance's Secretariat provided detailed answers to the questions raised by Governor Gordon Wesley and his delegation, and put forward constructive suggestions on enhancing mutual interactions and strengthening cooperation. Wu Mai, Deputy Secretary-General of the Alliance, stated: First, we warmly welcome the visit of the Milne Bay Province delegation and thank the Guizhou Provincial Alumni Association of the Whampoa Military Academy (Provincial Association for the Promotion of Unification) and the Foreign Affairs Office of Guizhou Province for their communication and coordination in making this visit possible, which has built a bridge for friendly exchanges between the two sides. Second, we fully agree with Governor Gordon Wesley's proposal that both sides should further strengthen exchanges and cooperation, leverage their respective advantages, and establish a sound cooperation mechanism in areas such as mountain hiking trail construction, mountain tourism resource development, and international tourism promotion. Third, we welcome the Milne Bay Province delegation to join the Alliance, and look forward to working together to contribute to the sustainable development of international mountain tourism. We also sincerely invite Milne Bay Province to send representatives to participate in the 2025 "International Mountain Tourism and Outdoor Sports Conference" and the Alliance's Annual Conference, and to promote Milne Bay's unique mountain tourism resources at the supporting Asia Mountain Tourism Promotion Conference. We aim to promote innovative development of Asian mountain tourism and facilitate sustainable development of mountainous island communities in the South Pacific under the concept of "ecology first, culture empowerment".
Photo of both parties
In-depth communication on potential cooperation areas at the forum
Editor Ⅰ: Zhang Wenwen
Editor Ⅱ: Bao Gang
Editor Ⅲ: Liu Guosong
