Guangxi holds intl forum on tourism development

The 13th UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook was held in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Oct 18, drawing tourism officials, experts and scholars, as well as industry elites from all over the world to discuss the current and future development trends of the global tourism industry.

The forum was sponsored by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). It has been successfully held in Guilin for 12 years, bringing international advanced experience to Guangxi’s tourism development, as well as establishing an international tourism exchange and cooperation platform, which has promoted dialogue and cooperation between Guangxi tourism entities and global tourism entities.

This year's forum analyzed current and future trends in the global tourism industry, as well as its impact on visitor evacuation policies, capacity management, and rural destination development. Good practices in policy, planning, and development related to capacity management, infrastructure, and marketing were shared at the forum.

Manuel Butler Halter, executive director of UNWTO, said at the forum that Guilin has made outstanding achievements in tourism development in recent years and is an important city in the Asia-Pacific region. The UNWTO will continue to pay attention to the flourishing development of rural tourism in Guilin and provide assistance for tourism training in Guilin.

Zhao Leqin, Party secretary of Guilin, said that the forum has built an interactive platform for the global tourism industry to explore tourism development, bringing advanced concepts to Guilin tourism, and has been an important window to display Guilin's tourism image.

"We hope to promote cooperation of all countries and seize the trend to better develop tourism through the discussion and exchanges of this forum," said Trevor Weltman, CEO of PATA.