On November 17th-19th, the 2020 International Mountain Tourism Alliance Annual Conference opened in Guiyang. The Conference is concentrated on the theme of "The Path of Mountain Tourism Development in the Post-COVID World". During the annual conference, the participants focused on this major topic, and discuss depth in how to promote the revitalization and quality of mountain tourism after the pandemic, and provide thoughts guidance and practice support for global mountain tourism management and promotion of global tourism industry.

This Annual Conference is hosted by the International Mountain Tourism Alliance. UNWTO, WTTC, PATA, GTEF, WTA, WTCF, ASEAN-China Centre, WCCO and other well-know international organizations and associations provided powerful support.

The Address at Opening Ceremony
Zhu Shanzhong , Executive director at the World Tourism Organization(UNWTO)

Distinguished Mr. Dominique de Villepin, Chairman of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA); 

Mr. Lu Yongzheng, Member of the Standing Committee and Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee; 

Mr. Hu Zhongxiong, Vice Governor of the Guizhou Provincial People's Government,

Honorable leaders, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

I am pleased to attend the opening ceremony of the 2020 Annual Conference of International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) online. On behalf of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), I would like to extend the sincerest wishes for you. 

As a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), UNWTO calls for taking tourism as a driver for economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability, and providing leadership and support for global tourism development. In 2019, the total number of international tourists exceeded 1.5 billion, tourism revenues accounted for 10% of global GDP, and 1 out of 10 jobs was tourism-related. Tourism has made remarkable contributions to global economic development.

Global tourism has been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak since the beginning of this year. According to UNWTO's prediction, the total number of international tourists decreased by 70% to nearly 700 million in the first eight months of this year, causing economic losses of 730 billion U.S. dollars; the total number of international tourism will reduce by 850 million to 1.1 billion in 2020, causing economic losses of 910 billion to 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars. This will be the gravest crisis ever for global tourism. In the hard times, UNWTO calls on global tourism circles to team up to tide over the hardships, shore up confidence, overcome difficulties and revitalize tourism under the new normal of pandemic prevention and control, thus promoting social employment and economic recovery.

UNWTO highly appreciates the Chinese government's effective efforts in advancing pandemic prevention and control and economic and social development in a coordinated manner. Under the strong leadership of the Chinese government, Chinese culture and tourism departments at all levels have implemented national support policies, and helped culture and tourism enterprises get financial support, to promote the fast recovery of tourism in China and set a good example for the recovery of global tourism.

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought opportunities while posing challenges. Over the 50 years, tourism has developed rapidly in the world and become an important global economic engine. However, rapid development has brought along a lot of problems, such as worsening environmental pollution and excessive commercialization that have destroyed traditional looks and ecology to confront tourism with huge challenges. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, we cool down, face up to problems and have more opportunities to reach consensus. Amid the pandemic, we have been compelled to reshape ideas of tourism, promoted the extensive development and use of new technologies, and created new driving forces for the permanent development of world tourism. We are delighted to see that some countries and regions have achieved positive results in this respect. In the special period, it is particularly important to discuss and share more to jointly promote the recovery of tourism.

As an integral part of global tourism development, mountain tourism has made significant contributions to social and economic development and anti-poverty efforts. World mountain tourism is in various forms which have distinct features. In spite of starting late, China's mountain tourism has developed rapidly. Mountain tourism has integrated with culture, health preservation and sports, progressively switched to leisure holiday, and cultivated a multitude of Chinese-style mountain tourism destinations favored by tourists.

Since its founding in 2017, IMTA has built a good platform for the development of global mountain tourism. UNWTO has worked closely with IMTA in recent years to promote the sustainability of mountain tourism.

With the theme "The Path of Mountain Tourism Development in the Post-COVID World", based on the characteristics of mountain tourism resources, the current situation of the industry and post-COVID changes, the 2020 Annual Conference of IMTA will probe into the direction of mountain tourism development in the post-COVID world. The conference will play a positive role in creating jobs, starting the market, fueling consumption and promoting economic development. 

At last, on behalf of UNWTO, I would like to extend congratulations on the opening of the conference, and wish it a complete success and fruitful results!

Thank you.