Mayors' Dialogue: Facing Opportunities and Challenges in Urban Tourism Development and Jointly Determining New Measures

A photo taken during the segment for mayors' dialogue

On 10 May, the 2023 World Tourism Cities Federation Changsha Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit was held in Changsha, China. The segment of mayors' dialogue invited Sunita Dangol, Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City in Nepal, Elvis Lexin La Torre Uñaccori, Mayor of Machupicchu in Peru, Sun Lei, Vice Mayor of Sanya in China, and Lydia Beryl Charlie, Acting Mayor of Victoria in Seychelles, to have in-depth discussions on the topic of "New Measures of City Tourism Development".

As the impact of the global pandemic wanes, the tourism industry is showing an optimistic trend of recovery. Mayors from cities around the world shared positive discoveries and new measures that can be used to better attract and serve tourists.

Sunita Dangol, Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City in Nepal, noted that although the pandemic has affected Kathmandu's tourism, it also resulted in a change of mindset and, consequentially, a transformation. To improve tourists' experiences in Kathmandu often called a "living museum", the city has adopted a number of policies and initiatives, including providing "self-built" houses with local features for tourists to experience the city's uniqueness, supporting the protection of both tangible and intangible cultural heritages, and concentrating on educational experiences so that children can also understand the city's culture as well as tourism.

Sunita Dangol, Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal

Elvis Lexin La Torre Uñaccori, Mayor of Machupicchu in Peru, said that before the outbreak of COVID-19, Machupicchu was 100% dependent on tourism and, as a result, encountered a lot of difficulties during the days stricken by the pandemic. To promote more comprehensive development of the city, the local government thus adopted a series of measures to protect the natural environment and cultural heritage. He also noted that in this new era, Machupicchu will explore more ways of developing different models of tourism, which will, in turn, improve the overall healthy development of the region.

Elvis Lexin La Torre Uñaccori, Mayor of Machupicchu, Peru

"Seychelles is a highly sustainable tourist destination. Protecting Seychelles' natural resources is a major strategy of our country," said Lydia Beryl Charlie, Acting Mayor of Victoria, Seychelles. The government has implemented strict regulations on environmental protection that ensure 40% of the land and 30% of the sea surface are protected resources. The country's ministry of tourism has developed and redefined sustainable tourism, so as to better protect its tourist resorts.

Lydia Beryl Charlie, Acting Mayor of Victoria, Seychelles

Considering the coexistence of both challenges and opportunities for tourism cities after the pandemic, Sanya in southern China has seized the historical opportunity of building Hainan Free Trade Port. The city concentrates on the needs of tourists and constantly develops new meanings and forms of tourism. Sun Lei, Vice Mayor of Sanya, said that the city will actively promote high-quality tourism development in three ways. First, Sanya will vigorously develop its health and wellness tourism by focusing on new relevant resources, such as hot springs, traditional Chinese medicine and forests. Second, Sanya will put more effort into the integrated development of its cultural tourism, aiming to give visitors more meaningful and varied ways to access cultural resources. Third, Sanya will intensify policy support with several measures taken, including the establishment of a fund worth CNY 1 million specifically for compensation of tourism-related complaints and a mechanism of advance compensation, aimed at making tourists in Sanya feel more at ease and comfortable. In addition, the city will aim to advance the integration of tourism with technologies and commercial activities to offer more diversified attractions and travel forms.

Sun Lei, Vice Mayor of Sanya, China

The tourism industry today faces many new challenges, which are bringing about new development trends. The attending mayors expressed their views on how their cities are tackling these challenges and actively seeking solutions.

Elvis Lexin La Torre Uñaccori said that Machupicchu will combine its natural scenery and cultural landscape to further diversify its tourism offerings. In addition, it is committed to building a smarter city, integrating new digital and information technologies into its urban management in order to provide better experiences for visitors.

Sunita Dangol pointed out several existing challenges such as the negative impact of climate change on Kathmandu and the gradual loss of authentic local characteristics in the process of modernization. She said that Kathmandu will pay more attention to climate change and strengthen the protection of its tangible and intangible cultural heritages.

Some new trends have also emerged in the post-pandemic era. Sun Lei and Lydia Beryl Charlie gave their respective explanations. In view of the shift in demand seen across the world from simple sightseeing to more spiritually-inclined leisure-style resorts, Sun Lei introduced the efforts Sanya has been making toward satisfying these demands. First, the city has enhanced the development of smart tourism by launching a digital platform that provides one-stop public services, which tourists find quite helpful. Second, the city has closely intertwined tourism and commercial activities to achieve a win-win situation in which tourism becomes an integral part of the urban economy. Finally, the city has made tourists a top priority, and deliberately integrates their needs with governmental actions, to create a market that is beneficial for everyone involved.

"We hope to create a tourism sector with higher value but lower environmental impact," Lydia Beryl Charlie said, emphasizing that Victoria will focus more on emerging markets rather than solely on traditional European markets, and will also aim to better differentiate between customers with diverse backgrounds while protecting intangible cultural heritage. Seychelles plans to conduct tourism-focused human resource training courses across the country, especially for children, so that they will be prepared for and interested in taking part in the responsible and sustainable development of the country's tourism industry.

The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) is the first city-centered international tourism organization initiated by Beijing. As a WTCF annual international summit, the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit has become a comprehensive platform for the tourism industry, and an event for member cities and institutions to promote exchanges, strengthen cooperation, boost economic development and build global consensuses.