A large number of experts and scholars had nothing but lavish praise and admiration for the the First International Tourism Expo held in Xi’an. Famous historian Zhou Tianyou and folk custom expert Li Liming believe that holding this international tourism event in Xi’an, the starting point of Silk Road, may give a strong boost to the ongoing effort to restore the city’s glory as the starting point of the Silk Road, in which tourism should play a more important role.

Cui Ning, a tourism planning and design expert, pointed out that the holding of the China Xi’an Silk Road International Tourism Expo 2014 is a meaningful event carried out by Shaanxi in its effort to promote international cooperation on the Silk Road, adding that all parties concerned should treat this event as a platform, expand the field of vision in seeking cooperation, and accelerate the breakthrough in tourism.

Zhang Hui, deputy director of the Expert Committee of the World Tourism Cities Federation, said that Xi’an may take advantage of the first event as a precious opportunity to gather the strengths of all parties concerned and make use of its advantages as a new platform, and make Xi’an tourism reveal its charm among the world famous tourism cities.

Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Academy, said that as the starting point of the Silk Road, Xi’an is an important tourist destination in China and in the world, and will surely perform more important functions and play a more important role in forging tourist routes along the Silk Road in the future. The Silk Road International Tourism Expo will serve as a platform on which all parties join together to promote the cooperation on and the development of the Silk Road international tourism.