Welcome Dinner of WTCF Changsha Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2023 Held in Changsha

The World Tourism Cities Federation Changsha Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2023 (hereinafter referred to as "the Summit") is being jointly hosted by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and Changsha Municipal People's Government, in Changsha, China from 9 to 11 May. During the Welcome Dinner held on 9 May, guests from around the world discussed new opportunities for world tourism recovery and appreciated the beauty of Changsha, a city with beautiful mountains and water, as well as a profound history and culture.

Chen Peng, a member of the Standing Committee and Director-General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee, delivers a speech.

Chen Peng, a member of the Standing Committee and Director-General of the Publicity Department of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee, presided over the Welcome Dinner. He welcomed all the guests and friends to Changsha on behalf of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee and Changsha Municipal People's Government. "We sincerely welcome all guests to feel the charm of Changsha, to care for and support our city, and to invest and flourish here. Changsha could be the home to you all," said Chen.

Qin Guowen, Vice Governor of Hunan Province, delivers a speech.

"Hunan is a major province with abundant tourism resources, and Changsha is a hub city well known for its profound history and culture, picturesque scenery with mountains and water, and well-developed transportation system," said Qin Guowen, Vice Governor of Hunan Province. He expressed his pleasure to meet all the guests at the foot of Yuelu Mountain located on a bank of the Xiang River. Qin believed that the Summit would be a grand tourism-relevant event for all attendees to strive for joint development and a common future, starting a new chapter for the high-quality development of world tourism.

Sima Hong, Vice Mayor of Beijing Municipality, delivers a speech.

"WTCF has become a multilateral exchange platform for world tourism, covering most of the international tourism cities and industry chains," pointed out by Sima Hong, Vice Mayor of Beijing Municipality, in her speech. As a brand event of WTCF, the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit also serves as an important platform that promotes the exchange and cooperation between tourism cities. "This Summit is of great practical significance, aiming to explore the post-pandemic recovery and development of the world tourism industry." Sima hoped that everyone can personally experience the internationality, culture and happiness of Changsha in depth. Moreover, she called upon everyone to explore the plans for the recovery and development of the urban tourism industry through the Summit, and jointly contribute to the famous cultural tourism cities on the world stage.

At the Welcome Dinner, photos of Juzi Zhoutou, Hunan Museum, Yuelu Mountain and other landmarks of Changsha were shown on a large screen on site. The rich colors and connotations of these spots attracted the guests to capture the stunning scenery with their photo-taking devices.

Under the theme of "Gathering the Strength of Cities to Revitalize World Tourism", the Summit consists of an opening ceremony, a segment for keynote speeches, a special forum of ambassadors, the mayors' dialogue, the release of research reports, a segment for thematic speeches, a thematic forum, a promotion conference for tourism investment, and a segment featuring tourism B2B matching. It aims to gather the strength for the development of tourism cities, promote consensus-reaching efforts, win-win opportunities, wisdom pooling, sharing of ideas and practices, and cooperation among governments, tourism authorities, industrial associations, and enterprises related to tourism industrial chains in all countries, so as to boost the world tourism industry in the post-pandemic era.