Editor’s Note
On 29 May, the 2022 International Mountain Tourism Day theme event was held online and themed on “Mountain Tourism Promotes Healthy Life and Cultural Exchange”. The event motivated the New Media network, connected IMTA members, destination agencies, enterprises, and experts from all over the world, and carried out “cloud communication, dialogue, and presentation” around three chapters — “Focus · Mountain”, “Health · Life”, and “Civilization · Communication”. Against the complex global landscape and threat from COVID-19, the event helps create a healthier and more positive atmosphere and market for mountain tourism, promote cultural exchange, friendly communication, and mutual integration among countries, to jointly prepare, build, and share a bright future of mountain tourism. At the event, He Yafei, Secretary General of IMTA, accepted an exclusive interview.
Innovating the Platform and Servicing the Industry to Guide the Tourism Revitalization Thinking
Q：
On the occasion of International Mountain Tourism Day 2022, what has been achieved by the International Mountain Tourism Alliance since the establishment of International Mountain Tourism Day in 2018? What is the significance of the event in promoting the development of the mountain tourism industry?
A：International Mountain Tourism Day on May the 29th (IMTD) proposed and promoted by IMTA now enters its 5th. Anniversary silhouetted against multitudes of global challenges such as the Covid pandemic, climate change, Ukraine war, cyber security. The 1st celebration of IMTD was held in Nepal, featuring “Ecology, Green, Science & Technology Lead the High-Quality Development of Mountain Tourism ” which reverberated and stirred up enthusiasm among international mountain tourism community. Mountain tourism is a favorite choice by numerous tourists around the world not only for its attractive offerings of mountain tours, sports and rich cultural heritages, but also and maybe even more importantly for its unique features and environment in the healthy development of human mind and constitution.
Which was projected to be top priority for all countries and peoples with the pandemic ravaging humanity in the last few years. IMTD serves as one of many popular platforms now hosted by IMTA to promoting mountain tourism for its stakeholders to compare notes with new ideas and experiences, while cultivating a free and open environment for sorely-needed cultural exchanges appropriate hindered a lot by rising ideological bias and weakening globalization.
Take 2020 IMTD for example. It had over one million participants. The day issued the Report on World Mountain Tourism Development Tendency (2020). And also announced an Initiative of “Mountain Tourism for a Healthy Life” by which IMTA tried to lead the thinking on revival of tourism once Covid ends itself or once we reach the post-Covid era.
Q：
What are the features and innovations of the International Mountain Tourism Day 2022?
A：2022 is even more challenging in maintaining global peace and economic prosperity. Therefore, this year’s IMTD celebration will offer an unprecedented and innovative platform with multiple sites connected through Internet globally covering five continents and focuses on three major topics.
The first is to present an all-dimensional exposure of “Mountain Tourism Championing Healthy Life and Cultural Exchange” by connecting dots among fighting pandemic, promoting a healthy life and ensuring safety in tourism.
Secondly it explores ways and means for a new mountain tourism that will satisfy both yearnings for tourism and for health.
Thirdly it provides an opportunity for different civilizations as encroached in different cultures and languages, tourism offerings to increase mutual exchanges and enhance mutual learning and tolerance.
Q：
How does the International Mountain Tourism Alliance innovate the integration of "Mountain+" and "Tourism+", integrate with local culture, folk culture, and intangible cultural heritage, promote the development of traditional mountain sightseeing tourism to cultural tourism and use culture to empower the development of the mountain tourism industry chain?
A：IMTA inherently knows that tourism is inseparable from culture which is composed of various local cultural heritages and expressions. I am certain that without cultural contents tourism, whether in general and mountain tourism in particular will be devoid of life and meaning.
We know that the supply chain of mountain tourism is richly endowed in unique local cultures. Take Guizhou and Yunnan provinces of China for instance, almost all mountain tourist attractions have a component part expressing endearingly locally identifiable cultures. IMTA since its inception a few year ago has spared no efforts in promoting the concept of “mountain tourism +”, with the pluses mostly in cultural forms. By culture here I mean its broad definition which encompasses for instance education, sports, music, arts etc, namely “software”, the software part of any tourist attraction on tourist sites. More powerful and attractive a tourist site is more adhesion it has for people to come and enjoy, because what it offers is very much enriching experiences in life, no other supply chain or no other means is capable of providing.
Q：
While mountain tourism is developing the related industries have also attracted attention, such as B&Bs, high-end tourism equipment, well-being medical equipment outdoor sports equipment manufacturing industry, etc. How can we use mountain tourism to promote the deep integration of tourism with agriculture, industry and service industry then improve infrastructure, enhance tourism services and drive local rural revitalization?
A：It is understood that tourism has “hardware” part that provides accommodations, foods, health care equipment, outdoor sports facilities and equipment etc. Needless to say the most important hardware in mountain tourism is mountains themselves.
Another well-known fact is that poverty is widely found unfortunately in mountainous areas where access is difficult for lack of adequate infrastructure. Things have been changing as with China. China is an example in using mountain tourism to fight and eliminate poverty. In China access is no longer a problem and poverty reduction and elimination has achieved great success partly through mountain tourism. So expansion and enrichment of mountain tourism can play a no small role in reducing poverty.
As it has achieved success in China it certainly can do the same thing in the other countries. Promoting mountain tourism without jeopardizing its eco-system can certainly bring tourism in line with agriculture, forestation, fishery and husbandry to increase income for both local people and investors in hardware and software. I would say that a smooth “coupling” requires extending the supply chains and cross-fertilizing the supply chains both horizontally and vertically in mountain tourism. Governments, enterprises, tourism operators as well as “software providers” should work together to make it happen and to make it a success.
Q：
With your many years of experience in diplomacy, could you please tell us how the International Mountain Tourism Alliance to be a disseminator and bridge for cultural and tourism cooperation among countries with mountain tourism and turn mountain tourism into a "golden card"?
A：International mountain tourism will certainly enjoy a strong rebound after Covid pandemic ends. And it will end. As globalization is being reshaped and world order is being restructured, the cultural links which international tourism is part and parcel face a danger of severance now, because of emerging and increasingly ideological and geopolitical divisions and frictions. Covid epidemic is of course making things worse, not better. But I am certain globalization will not die overnight even though rising populism and identity politics in many countries is pushing it over the top. I am sure globalization will endure because it has benefited so many people for so many decades. It will endure in upgraded forms leading all of us into a new face. I will call it a globalization 2.0.
What we IMTA has been trying to do is building a solid platform or several solid platforms. For that matter, where upon governments, enterprises, mountain tourism operators and all other players will pool their resources together in expanding and increasing people-to-people exchanges and enhancing cultural links by enriching mountain tourism with new ideas. New practices and possibly new international standards. It will make, if we are successful in that, will make the future world a better one and more beautiful one.
International community as we know it, has a shared future no doubt about it, rain or shine. The current epidemic has shown us that we do have a shared future. No single country can handle global challenges on its own. Mountain tourism community for that matter has to do the same. Because we have a shared future too. We need to do our best to promote a sense of togetherness and shared future. This is, I would say, the most important mandate for IMTA. And we hope all of you will join us in the fulfillment of that important mandate.
