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,Pansy Ho, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of GTEF, Vice Chairman of IMTA,delivered a speech.
Holding this momentous event in Laos showcases the great potential of the country’s spectacular mountain resources.The Global Tourism Economy Forum — or GTEF for short is pleased to be one of the organizers of this event. The GTEF and the IMTA have collaborated for years, holding a shared vision to promote sustainable development of global tourism. Since its inception over 10 years ago, the GTEF has served as an acclaimed international exchange and collaboration platform, gathering great minds from the public and private sectors to shed light on the most pressing issues of the global tourism economy.
With the long-standing support of the IMTA, our platformGTEF has attached great importance to the conservation and protection of global cultural and natural assets. Echoing President Xi’s guidance that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, we believe mountains are a natural gift shared by all humankind with immense potential to explore, including mountain tourism as part of China’s “strategy of rural vitalization” since 2017. The strategy not only aims to develop rural areas with thriving businesses and a pleasant living environment, but it also places high value on social etiquette, civility, effective governance.
In fact, mountain tourism is gaining popularity worldwide, accounting for one-fifth of the global tourism sector. In China, mountain tourism has been on the rise and is expected to ramp up tourism recovery in the post-pandemic era.Part of its success lies in its engagement of the local communities in the planning and management aspects, which ensure that local needs are taken into consideration.The Chinese government has been always maintaining a balance between environment conservation and green tourism, as it believes protecting the ecological environment is in itself benefiting the economy.
Indeed, mountain tourism would have not been as successful as it is nowtoday, if we do not preserve our unique natural resources.The International Mountain Tourism Day on May 29th is a tribute to our precious environment and unique heritages. Thank you all for your keen participation today.Your professionalism and insights will be impetus for the “high-quality development” of mountain tourism and a sustainable future. Special thanks are also devoted to the IMTA for actualizing this meaning event. I look forward to all of your great ideas and continued support, and hope that you would have some cheerful and fruitful discussion today.
