Mountainous areas are closely related to human beings. Mountains, as important surface configurations, ecosystems and living spaces as well as important tourism resources, account for about 25% of the world's land area and are located in 75% of all countries in the world. People climb mountains to show their ambitions, live in harmony with the mountain ecology, create a colorful mountain civilization and explore the charm of mountains in various ways, which makes mountain areas an important tourist destination. The natural and human resources in the mountainous environment are not only precious wealth shared by human beings, but also important tourism resources, which occupy a very important position in the global tourism development pattern. World mountain tourism started in Europe, expanded to North America and then extended to the world. According to the statistics of the World Tourism Organization of the United Nations, mountain tourism has accounted for 20% of the total global tourism and is increasing year by year.

As the only international organization with the theme of mountain tourism in the world, the International Mountain Tourism Alliance is committed to promoting the sustainable development of mountain tourism with the good vision of "protecting mountain resources, inheriting mountain civilization, promoting mountain economy and benefiting mountain people". How to make mountain tourism get more attention, enter more people's lives and achieve ecological sustainable development is an important issue that the International Mountain Tourism Alliance has been thinking and exploring. For this reason, after many investigations and evaluations and listening to opinions from many sides, the International Mountain Tourism Alliance decided to initiate the International Mountain Tourism Day, which is a commemorative day in the field of mountain tourism and a festival for mountain tourism enthusiasts, marked by the date on which mankind first successfully ascended the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.

At the annual conference of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance in 2018, the board of directors discussed the initiative of setting up the International Mountain Tourism Day. It was considered that the establishment of the International Mountain Tourism Day initiated by the International Mountain Tourism Alliance conforms to the principles of sustainable tourism development, the aims and business development goals of the IMTA and the professional orientation of the IMTA. And the initiative was unanimously adopted.

The International Mountain Tourism Alliance will expand its open and shared space from an international perspective and multi-dimensional perspective, mobilize members enthusiasm to participate in mountain tourism affairs from different industries and make the International Mountain Tourism Day a sustainable and extensible development platform. In the annual International Mountain Tourism Day, the International Mountain Tourism Alliance will organize and carry out rich mountain tourism activities according to the tourism theme and industry characteristics. At the same time, it is advocated that institutions, organizations, enterprises, colleges and professionals of mountain tourism destinations should actively pay attention to, support and participate in the activities of the International Mountain Tourism Day. Through every bit of action, people should arouse their awareness of protecting mountain resources and inheriting mountain civilization, promote their responsibility for mountain economy and advocate active, healthy and upward life ways to create a good mountain tourism environment, promote the sustainable development of mountain tourism and create a better future of mountain tourism.

The first International Mountain Tourism Day was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, on May 29, 2019.