Mountain tourism resources are rich, development space is broad. Throughout the global mountain resources, topographic environment, elevation difference, geological landform, ecological nature, special climate and other factors provide excellent conditions for mountain tourism. Mountain tourism can not only meet people's needs for sightseeing and outdoor sports, but also an important carrier of mountain life such as wild fishing and camping. Mountain tourism has grown rapidly in recent years, becoming a healthy and fashionable way of life. According to statistics, mountain tourism accounts for 9% to 16% of the international tourism market. Especially in today's post-pandemic era, mountain tourism is popular among the public due to its characteristics of closeness to nature, positive health and diverse experience.
On May 29, the fifth "International Mountain Tourism Day" is coming. The International Mountain Tourism Alliance(IMTA), together with the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR, the Pacific Asia Travel Association(PATA), the Global Tourism Economy Forum(GTEF) and other organizations, jointly held the "International Mountain Tourism Day" themed activities and marketing activities with the theme of "Enjoy the Wonder of Mountains, Share the Beauty of Life, Revitalize the Tourism Industry" in Laos, and jion hands together to promote the full recovery of tourism and the full opening up of the tourism market. The activity was actively supported and assisted by the ASEAN-China Center, the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the World Travel and Tourism Council and other international organizations.
Mountain tourism going popular, the global festival is coming
As an important pillar of global tourism economy, mountain tourism is imperative to build a mechanism and professional platform to promote its sustainable development from a high starting point. In August 2017, the IMTA, initiated by Guizhou Province and approved by the Chinese government, was officially launched. It not only marks the settlement of a new international organization headquarters in China, but also means that a new international cooperation and exchange platform has been added in the field of mountain tourism.
In 2018, the IMTA initiated the establishment of "International Mountain Tourism Day", a global day, aiming at enhancing people's awareness of protecting mountain resources, inheriting mountain civilization, advocating a positive, healthy and progressive lifestyle, creating a good mountain tourism environment, and promoting the sustainable development of mountain tourism. Since 2019, "International Mountain Tourism Day" has gone through four spring and autumn seasons. It has become a sharing platform for the global mountain tourism industry and the members of the International Mountain Tourism Union to jointly cultivate, participate in and benefit from. It is the most well-known and influential institutional brand for the IMTA to actively participate in the construction of the global tourism governance system.
Mount Elbrus, source: IMTA Gallery
The first "International Mountain Tourism Day" in 2019 was successfully held in Kathmandu, Nepal, with the theme of "Ecology, Green Environment and Science and Technology lead the high-quality development of Mountain tourism". It demonstrated active participation in tourism governance and dialogue among mountain civilizations, and the IMTA took a substantial step to build a platform. At a time when the epidemic is spreading and the prospect of tourism is difficult to predict, the 2020 International Mountain Tourism Day, with the theme of "Pandemic Crisis and Mountain Tourism Challenges and Opportunities", was held online, demonstrating the resilience and leading role of international organizations in crisis management, and establishing an efficient communication platform for the industry and members of the alliance in this special period. In 2021, Chongqing City of China successfully hosted and co-hosted with the IMTA the "International Mountain Tourism Day World Heritage Mountain (Jinfo Mountain) Summit" and a series of activities with the theme of "World Heritage Protection and Green Mountain Tourism Development", achieving positive interaction and mutual support between the development of mountain tourism and the protection of World Heritage Mountain, with fruitful results. Influence is growing again. In the special situation of COVID-19, the theme event of the "International Mountain Tourism Day" in 2022 was held for the first time in the global online live broadcast. The IMTA members and industry organizations from more than 30 countries on five continents were linked across time and space and across regions to show each other the rich and colorful mountain tourism styles of different countries under the theme of "Mountain Tourism advocates healthy life and civilized exchanges". Presented a "cloud communication, cloud dialogue, cloud display" wonderful interactive activities.
The main peak of Jinfo Mountain, by Chen Rongsen
So far, five events related to the International Mountain Tourism Day have been held in succession. In 2023, the year of reshaping the global tourism industry, the IMTA will celebrate the 5th International Mountain Tourism Day with a dedicated theme event. Together with IMTA members and industry colleagues, the IMTA will welcome the new growth of the mountain tourism market.
Seize the opportunity of recovery and jointly build a community of shared future for mountain tourism
On May 29, 2023, the 5th "International Mountain Tourism Day" themed event co-organized by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR, the IMTA, the Pacific Asia Travel Association(PATA) and the Global Tourism Economy Forum(GTEF) will be held in Laos. Representatives of international organizations, members of the IMTA, representatives of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR and the cultural and tourism systems of the provinces, representatives of embassies and consulates in Laos, tourism-related institutions of relevant countries, representatives of enterprises, experts and scholars, and representatives of international media will be invited to have a dialogue on mountain tourism supply, market development and solutions for new consumer demands and work together to promote the full recovery of tourism and the opening and interaction of the market, and actively explore the establishment of a cooperation and governance system for mountain tourism under the RCEP framework. The Vientiane Consensus on 2023 International Mountain Tourism Day will also be released at the event.
Luang Prabang Falls in Laos, source: IMTA Gallery
In order to support the successful holding of 2023 "International Mountain Tourism Day" theme activities, the activity will use the "traditional + new media" propaganda matrix, through People's Daily online, Xinhua.net, Learning Power, CCTV, Guangming, Culture and Tourism APP, official Weibo, Tencent, Baidu, Sohu, NetEase, Toutiao and other Chinese media platforms of Culture and Tourism as well as Facebook, YouTube and other international social platforms.
2023 is the year of full recovery of the tourism industry, in this year, mountain tourism will step into a new stage of development. 2023 "International Mountain Tourism Day" theme activities will sound the clarion call for the revitalization of mountain tourism industry, the International Mountain Tourism Alliance will also provide an inexhaustible impetus for the high-quality sustainable development of mountain tourism.
