On 29 May, the “International Mountain Tourism Day 2023” theme events titled “Enjoy the Wonder of Mountains, Share the Beauty of Life, Revitalize the Tourism Industry” kicked off in Vientiane, Laos. The events were jointly organized by Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR (MICT), International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF), and supported by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), ASEAN-China Center (ACC), China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), Guizhou Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Foreign Affairs Office. Over 250 guests from international organizations, IMTA members, and tourism institutions, culture and tourism enterprises, experts and scholars, and global media workers from Laos and other countries, gathered together to discuss the supply, market development, and solutions of mountain tourism facing the new consumer demands, explore the system of mountain tourism cooperation and governance within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) framework, and jointly facilitate the full recovery, opening and interaction of the tourism market. Guests, from various perspectives, offered constructive and forward-looking insights on the new-stage innovation and regional development of mountain tourism. The events has aroused widespread concern in the international tourism industry.
During the opening ceremony, Fu Yingchun, Vice Chairman and Executive Secretary General of the IMTA, delivered a speech.
On this fifth “International Mountain Tourism Day", we, gathering on the riverside of the beautiful Mekong River in Vientiane, discuss the recovery and development of mountain tourism under the theme of “Enjoy the Wonder of Mountains, Share the Beauty of Life, Revitalize the Tourism Industry". In the conference, the representatives of the sponsors, international tourism organizations, destination organizations, culture and tourism enterprises and research institutes will propose constructive and forward-looking judgements and ideas for the innovation and regional development of the mountain tourism in the new stage from several perspectives, which is a collision of tourism intelligence under the special background in the important time at the beautiful place. Hereon, on behalf of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the distinguished guests, colleagues and people from all walks of life attending the conference, and especially express my sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of PRC and the Laos Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism for their assistance and support to the event.
“Enjoy the wonder of mountains " is a gift from the nature. Mountain, as a surface configuration, cover 30% of the land area of the earth. Mountains grow in every continent of the world. The multipeaked mountains present not only countless famous mountains, rivers and natural and cultural heritages, which are also the "Wonder of Mountains" carrying infinite value and bringing an incredible future to the tourism. The mountain tourism, with the characteristics of being close to nature, pursuing healthiness and being environmentally friendly, stimulates consumption potential and gives a strong support to the service quality while responding to the development trend of the ecological tourism by the structural optimization to the tourism supply chain.
“Sharing the beauty of life" is the essence of the tourism development. To share, it must create first. To create, it must follow. Nowadays, as the tourism is reshaped in a rapid speed, to follow is especially important. So, we must, according to the new development concept, take the road of ecological priority and green low-carbon development, protect the natural and humanistic ecosystem gifted by nature to human beings, conserve the biodiversity and the harmony between human and nature, and build a system of "Amity, Sincerity, Mutual Benefit, Inclusiveness" based on civilization, mutual learning and sharing. Only if insisting on leading the development of cultural and tourism industry with ecological civilization, can we make our home better, which is also the premise for tourists to share the beauty of life and the essential principle of the sustainable development of tourism. Here, it would be systematically described in the “ Vientiane Consensus " introduced by the sponsors of the event.
“Revitalize the tourism industry" is a topic we have to break hand by hand. Now, with the elimination of the COVID-19 epidemic, tourism is ushering in the dawn. The “World Tourism Barometer" issued by the UN World Tourism Organization indicates that, in the first quarter of 2023, global tourism has recovered 80% of the pre-pandemic level at the same period, with the quantity of international tourists reaching 235 million which is more than doubled of the first quarter of 2022. The tourism in the Asia-Pacific region also recovers at a remarkably quick speed, having reached to more than 50% of the pre-epidemic level at the corresponding period. WTTC predicts in the Economic Research Impact Report 2023 that the contribution of global tourism output to GDP will be close to the one in 2019. The China Tourism Research Institute forecasts that number of domestic tourists and revenues of the domestic tourism will respectively grow by 80% and 95% year-on-year in 2023. The tourism will be steadily recovering and even revitalizing, which is undoubted. Against this backdrop, the innate uniqueness and developing future of mountain tourism will play a catalytic role in activating consumer demand and boosting industry confidence, so strengthening international cooperation will be inevitable for tourism revitalization. In the context, many options are available for regional cooperation in tourism, such as the “Belt and Road" initiative, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Lancang-Mekong cooperation, China-ASEAN dialogue, the China-Lao railway and the construction of the Greater Bay Area, etc. Relying on these major regional cooperation initiatives, the tourism industry characterized by promoting consumer and economic flows with people flows will discover its own opportunities and entry points. In addition, the main topics of this event also concern empowering the tourism industry to carry out multi-disciplinary and cross-city cooperation as well as providing intellectual and practical support to promote the interaction of international markets.
With the assistance of the UNWTO, the International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) successfully launched and established the International Mountain Tourism Day in 2018. Since then, the global mountain tourism community and mountain tourism enthusiasts have their own holiday. The International Mountain Tourism Day on 29 May of each year may be not the only day of commemoration, but certainly an international day of extraordinary significance. Marked by the day of the first human landing on the summit of Mount Everest, it stands for the supreme vision of the mountain tourism, the power to be better and stronger, the fearlessness of danger and difficulty and the braveness of going forth, aiming at landing on the summit of Mount Everest, the place of long-term mountain tourism. Today, we are here to celebrate the fifth International Mountain Tourism Day, which makes us feel so grateful and proud. We are grateful to all the friends who care about and support the International Mountain Tourism Alliance for its growth and progress. We are proud that the Alliance, living up to expectations, gradually makes the International Mountain Tourism Day become a shared platform connecting members and the mountain tourism industry; builds a cooperation mechanism to promote the development of the sustainable tourism and the co-establishment of the governance system step by step; develops into a bridge dedicated to the mutual learning and friendly interaction of mountain tourism civilization, and becomes a recognized and influential "business card" in the mountain tourism industry.
Sailing from Nepal in 2019 and landing in Laos in 2023, the International Mountain Tourism Day has only one goal which is to protect mountain resources, inherit mountain civilization, promote mountain economy, benefit mountain people, join hands to build a vision of sustainable mountain tourism development, turn beautiful resources into beautiful supply and consumption and develop “the last home for the tired human mind" into the “poetry and distance" dreamed and the vacation paradise favored by the tourists. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why we bring everyone in Laos. We believe that, with our joint efforts, this event will advance with the times, recognize the tourism trends in the context of the new era and explore and show new ideas, new thoughts and new methods, so that the brand value of “International Mountain Tourism Day" can be improved further.
Finally, I wish to say something about my expression to Laos. Laos is a friendly neighbor of China, an important partner in the Lancang-Mekong cooperation and the country with the largest area in the Mekong River basin, taking the advantage of location as well as owning rich resources, beautiful ecological environment, profound humanistic heritage and unique tourism resources. Although the tourism here is still underdeveloped at present, the future holds limitless promise. On my first day in Vientiane, I was impressed by the beautiful natural environment and then was conquered by the very tasteful cuisines, healthy diets and gentle and friendly people here. We often talk about the elements of tourism, but I consider those are the tourism elements that tourists really need. Meanwhile, the needs of tourists are the key we have to follow. If such elements can be always protected and developed, the tourism here will be definitely the “poetry and distance" that people aspire to. Additionally, I would also like to encourage the entrepreneurs attending this conference to keep your eyes open and throw yourselves into this beautiful pure land. Again, thank the Laos Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism and all relevant units for their support to the conference, and wish you all good health and all the best!
