Forum Session I

Forum Agenda

Tourism as one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world continues to contribute to the socio-economic progress at a global level. Tourism has turned out to be a culture and a way of life for more and more people. Today, 10% of the world’s GDP, 10% of global employment and 7 % of the world’s total exports are all generated by the tourism sector.

Given the factors related to the changes in the marketplace, consumption patterns, innovation and technology and cultural integration, the tourism sector is facing with new consumer trends while merging with other related industries in the process of transformation. All these have brought new challenges, new variables and new drivers to the development of world tourism.

In recent years, while mass tourism is booming, consumers tend to experience personalized products. In this regard, the brand of a destination is one of the decisive factors that affect consumer preference. It is quite essential that the brand of an urban destination is clearly understood and managed. The brand of a city should highlight a unique competitive identity and a distinctive personality so that it can be differentiated from its competitors as a tourist destination. Furthermore, this brand not only consolidates the international reputation of the city in terms of its economic positioning and competitiveness at global level, but also it creates a value system which requires a continuous conceptual innovation.

Forum Session I 09:00-10:30 (90 minutes)

Topic: Building of Tourism City Brand

Host: Dr. Theuns Vivian, Head of Tourism of Cape Town, Vice Chairman City of World Tourism Cities Federation Council

Keynote Speech 1: Mr. Gonzalo Robredo President of the Tourism Entity of the City of Buenos Aires，WTCF Vice Chairman City (15 min)

Keynote Speech 2: Mr. Christophe Decloux, Director General Paris Region (15 min)

Keynote Speech 3: Mr. Seven Shu, General Manger,Tencent Culture and Tourism Industry (15 min)

Keynote Speech 4: Mr. Jan Vapaavuori, Mayor of Helsinki (15 min)

Keynote Speech 5 : Mr. Gerhard Hrebicek, President of European Brand Institute (15 min)

Keynote Speech 6: Mr. Lifeng LIU，Chairman & CEO, Ipsos China Region (15 min)

During the session, the Market Research Report on Chinese Outbound Tourist Consumption will also be release.