Tourism body keen to open arms

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By Zheng Xin (China Daily) 10:07, September 18, 2013

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Federation wants to boost synergy with world peers

The World Tourism Cities Federation vows to attract more tourism cities and international tourism organizations from across the world to discuss the revival of the global economy through tourism.

In addition to world famous tourism cities, including Paris and New York City, the organization aims to draw more influential international organizations in the fields of aviation, financing, insurance and media to expand the influence of the organization across the world, according to the organizing committee of the federation.

"The committee will continuously promote its brand by paying visits to the world-renowned tourism cities, to learn from their experiences while enlarging the scale of the federation," Yan Han, deputy head of the federation, said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday.

Beijing will continuously take full advantage of the resources of the ancient city and make itself a worldwide tourism attraction to strengthen its role as an important driver of the city's economic and social development, he said.

According to the committee, the number of federation members has soared to 107, including world famous tourism cities and international organizations, from 58 members last year.

"The committee has focused on attracting more international organizations to the federation this year," Yan said.

The 2013 World Tourism Cities Federation Council and the Second Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, held in Beijing from Sept 11 to 14 has attracted about 100 tourism cities, international tourism organizations and tourism experts from across the world to discuss the development of tourism and its role in the world's sustainable progress.

The tourism development of the country has witnessed tremendous improvement in the past 30 years, Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang said during the summit.

The tourism industry has served as a bridge and greatly promotes the negotiation and communication between China and the world, he said.

"The country should promote the policy of annual paid vacation and enrich the supply of tourism products," he said.

Wang also emphasized the importance of a better-regulated tourism market, better behavior of tourists and greater communication among world tourism cities.

Shao Qiwei, head of China's National Tourism Administration, estimated that China's tourist visits will reach 4 billion by the end of 2015, with the number of inbound travelers reaching 136 million. The number of overnight visits is expected to hit 61 million by the end of 2015.

Outbound trips may reach 120 million, he said.

Shao said China is glad to exchange experiences with tourism cities worldwide and continue to contribute to the world's tourism development.

The non-profit, non-governmental international organization, which is set to enhance urban development, elevate city images, strengthen inter-city exchanges, improve the quality of the tourism industry and expand the tourism economy, also set up an evaluation system during the summit to strengthen the federation's say worldwide and guide the development of cities with special attractions.

During the conference, forum members also agreed on the Beijing Consensus Framework over the role of tourism services guidelines in world tourism development.