Second World Senior Congress held in Yantai

François Vellas, president of the International Association of the University for the Aged, releases Yantai WSTC Consensus at the second WSTC in Yantai on May 24. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The second World Senior Congress (WSTC) was held in Yantai Economic and Development Zone, Shandong province on May 24, attracting more than 1,200 guests from 46 countries.

With the slogan "Senior Study Tour for a Brighter World," the seven-day congress will launch a total of 16 activities featuring senior tourism.

At the opening ceremony, François Vellas, president of the International Association of the University for the Aged, released Yantai WSTC Consensus to support senior tourism cooperation and senior study tours.

The consensus also supports the establishment of the World Federation of Seniors for Study Tours (WST) as a permanent organization of the WSTC and senior university study tours.

The consensus noted that developing study tours and education for the elderly will have a positive impact on the service sector. The senior study tours will help the elderly to improve their lives and is a good way to lessen the impact of a rapidly aging population.

In recent years, the city of Yantai has been stressing importance of the high-quality development of cultural tourism and made efforts to promote the integration of cultural tourism with aging-related industries.

As the permanent site of the World Senior Tourism Congress, Yantai will make full use of the opportunities brought by an aging population and further explore ways to boost senior tourism.