WTCF held the 2020 New Year Reception in Beijing

On Jan.8th, WTCF held the 2020 New Year Reception at Capital Library of China, Beijing. Over 200 participants attended the New Year Reception, including Chen Dong, Secretary-General of WTCF, representatives of members, 13 ambassadors from 60 countries such as Tunisia and Dominica, 6 Charge D'affaires and relative embassy officials, representatives from travel and international organizations that include the Secretary-General of the SCO, media and specialists.

Chen Dong, the newly appointed Secretary-General of WTCF, addressed in his speech that, with the success of events hosted including 2019 WTCF Helsinki Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit held in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, WTCF Latin America & the Caribbean Tourism Conference 2019 and WTCF Central Asia Tourism Conference 2019 held respectively in Panama City and Samarkand, city members of WTCF ; as well as the release of the Rankings of World Tourism Cities (2019), the Global Report on Smart Tourism in Cities and the Report on World Tourism Economy Trends (2019), WTCF has promoted its power to appeal, serve, guide and influence the tourism industry. Chen Dong also expressed his gratitude to those that support WTCF, including offices of the embassies, city members, institutional members, specialists, media, and all the relative domestic and foreign associates.

Dhia Khaled, Tunisian Ambassador to China, gave a speech on behalf of the participants, praising that WTCF has achieved outstanding results in boosting and giving projections on the global tourism industry, as well as promoting cooperation and exchange between the tourism industry and cities. Meanwhile, the ambassador sincerely invited WTCF to host a forum in Tunisia in 2020, facilitating exchange between China and Africa in the tourism sector, building consensus, and promoting cooperation.

Chen Dong expressed that WTCF will continue to take advantage of internet platforms in the forthcoming year, strengthen cooperation with international tourism exhibitions like those hosted by Berlin and London, as well as hosting China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services and its Tourism Forum. The 2020 Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit will be held in Beijing once again, the headquarter city. It will undoubtedly be an annual feast of the tourism industry.

Based in Beijing, WTCF started with 58 founding members and has now grown into an international tourism organization with a total of 218 members, including 145 city members, 73 institutional members and 6 branches. City members cover 73 countries and territories. Its institutional members include travel agencies, mass media, airports, airline companies, hotel groups, cruise companies and financial firms. It is credited as the fastest-growing international tourism organization.