The World Tourism Cities Federation Qingdao Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit to Open in September

With the theme of “Orient Industry Trends, Brand Tourism Cities”, the World Tourism Cities Federation Qingdao Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, jointly hosted by World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), and Qingdao Municipal People’s Government, will be held in Qingdao from September 7 to 9. The summit will become another great international conference for Qingdao to hold, after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Qingdao Summit 2018.

World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), which was voluntarily formed by famous tourism cities and tourism-related institutions in the world under the initiative of Beijing, is the world’s first international tourism organization focusing on cities. Established on 15 September 2012 in Beijing and guided by the core vision of “Better City Life through Tourism”, WTCF provides services to its members that cover the entire tourism industrial chain. It aims to facilitate exchanges and cooperation among members, spread the experience of tourism city development, promote tourism products and resources, and contribute to the development and prosperity of world tourism industry. Since its establishment with 58 founding members, WTCF has now grown into an international tourism organization with 202 members, covering 5 continents, 66 countries and territories. Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit is WTCF’s brand activity, which has been successfully held for 6 years. The summit is the main platform for WTCF to conduct exchanges and cooperation.

According to the report, the World Tourism Cities Federation Qingdao Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit will consist of eight sections: Opening Ceremony and Keynote Speech, WTCF Council Meeting, Summit Forums, Tourism Promotion Conference, Tourism Trade Fair, World Tourism Cities Investment & Financing Conference, Tourism Exhibition, and Sub-Committee Activities. It is predicted that about 400 representatives from nearly 100 tourism cities, more than 200 tourism-related enterprises, and many international tourism organizations including the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), will participate in the summit. As of now, more than 40 national tourism ministers and tourism city mayors are confirmed to attend the summit. Representatives of the UNWTO, SCO, Global Tourism Economy Forum and other international tourism organizations are confirmed to attend the summit.

In recent years, travel has become more popular and individualized for more people, and with the trend of culture and tourism fusion and the rapid development of information technology followed by historic changes that are taking place in the market consumption structure, the means of travel, tourism groups, “consumption hot spots”, information transmission, industry forms, and market operation modes… All of them lead new development driving forces, new possibilities, and new challenges for the world tourism industry. Strengthening the brand building of tourism cities functions as a strategic way to enhance the core competitiveness of tourism cities, and it plays an important role in improving the strategic position of world tourism cities in the world tourism development, and in promoting the world tourism sustainable development.

During the summit, the Action Plan for the Brand Building of World Tourism Cities (2018-2028) will be released. The summit will also focus on the theme “Orient Industry Trend, Brand Tourism Cities” and the 3 topics of “New Tourism Trends at Global Level: How Do City Destinations Orient?”, “City Image and City Brand: How Can a City Improve Its Image Through Branding?” and “New Practices of City-Institution Cooperation”, to share minds, seek win-win cooperation, share the brand building experiences in developed regions, and assist the development of city tourism brands in developing regions.