Revitalize the Tourism Industry, Share the Beauty Life——Vientiane Consensus for International Mountain Tourism Day 2023

On May 29, the theme events of 2023 International Mountain Tourism Day was launched in Vientiane, Laos, jointly organized by the International Mountain Tourism Alliance(IMTA), the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos (MICT), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the Global Tourism Economic Forum (GTEF) and other organizations. The event was themed "Enjoying the Wonder of Mountains, Sharing the Beauty of Life, Revitalize the Tourism Industry". More than 250 people from international organizations, IMTA members, tourism agencies of Laos and relevant countries, cultural and tourism enterprises, experts, scholars and international media representatives gathered together to discuss mountain tourism supply, market development and solutions for new consumer demands, and jointly promote the comprehensive recovery and opening up of the tourism market. And actively explore the construction of mountain tourism cooperation and governance system within the RCEP framework.

At the opening ceremony, Wu Mai, Executive Secretary General of the IMTA, on behalf of the organizers, read the Vientiane Consensus of Revitalize the Tourism Industry, Share the Beauty Life -- 2023 International Mountain Tourism Day.

The following is the full text of the consensus:

Revitalizing tourism and creating a bright future together

——Vientiane Consensus for International Mountain Tourism Day 2023

The year 2023 marks the reshaping of world tourism – countries are lifting up travel restrictions, tourists are more willing to spend, and the market is picking up the pace of recovery. Against such backdrop, mountain tourism, as a healthy lifestyle, gets more popular, and the diversified mountain tourism products are favored and welcomed by tourists. Mountain tourism is destined to be the bellwether of tourism revitalization. So, it is our mission and responsibility to grasp the trend and opportunity, reach a consensus, engage in post-pandemic tourism reshaping and governing, work hand in hand in facilitating the full recovery of tourism sector and full opening of tourism market, and jointly create a new future for mountain tourism. On the International Mountain Tourism Day 2023, we gather together in Vientiane of Laos and reach the following consensus:

1. The full recovery of tourism requires promoting team spirit. As the world tourism speeds up in revitalization, we ought to grab this opportunity, formulate and implement policies favorable to market interaction and supply guarantee, give full play to the wisdom and cooperation edges of this industry, to promote the global communication and cooperation of mountain tourism. In addition, we must facilitate the talent exchange among countries, make tours more convenient, share customer markets, and establish diversified partnership mechanisms and communication platforms in an equal, open and inclusive manner. In doing so, we strive to keep driving the mutual-learning among civilizations and the progress of the mountain tourism sector, to jointly explore ideas, methods and paths of mountain tourism governance system under new circumstances.

2. Stick to the path of innovative development oriented by the market. The three years of life with the pandemic drastically changed the market, the supply-demand balance, and the product consumption environment. Now, as the world tourism finally gets on the track of reshaping and recovering, it is our responsibility to restore the product supply capacity, improve management and service quality, innovate new business patterns that meet consumer’s diversified demands, usher the tourism sector into the era of high-quality development, to welcome the full opening of the tourism market and more and more tourists.

3. Explore new development paths of mountain tourism within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) framework. Tourism, as an emerging industry, plays an indispensable part in the regional partnership. Now, as RCEP comes into full effect, we ought to tap into the potential of cooperation and co-building based on RCEP policies, explore the overall development trend and partnership patterns within the RCEP framework, innovate thoughts and elements beneficial to the sustainable development of mountain tourism, optimize supply chain guarantee in regional cooperation, keep launching products that meet the varying demands, create a sound environment for the restructuring and optimizing of the industry chain based on the spirit of cooperating and sharing.

4. Advocate for healthy, ecological and low-carbon tourism. Mountain tourism, as a green and healthy lifestyle, is in line with the vision of harmonious man-nature co-existence and sustainable development. Safety, environmental protection, and health are also symbols of high-quality tourism, and the fundamental tourism trend in the post-pandemic world. So, as world tourism picks up the pace of recovery, we should take the opportunity to activate the market. Additionally, oriented by the concept of ecology first and green development, we must stick to the mission of “protecting mountain resources, preserving mountain civilization, and promoting mountain economy to the benefit of the people living in mountainous regions” and the path of sustainable tourism. Targeted at the goal of discussing, co-building and sharing, we must implement more new patterns beneficial to ecological preservation, supply and consumption innovation, regional cooperation, and the well-being of the people, thus making contributions to the sustainable development of world tourism.