Yang Jinbai, Vice Mayor of Beijing: Grasping the Trend of Cooperation and Innovation to Jointly Promote the Prosperity and Development of the World Tourism Industry

The World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development 2022, hosted by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), opened at the China National Convention Center in Beijing on 1 September. In his keynote speech, Yang Jinbai, Vice Mayor of Beijing, noted that world tourism cities need to deepen cooperation, develop through cooperation and innovate through development. Yang further stated that Beijing will always support the development of WTCF, vigorously enhance exchanges and mutual learning with other member cities, and contribute to the recovery of the world tourism industry, to jointly restore the prosperity of the world tourism industry.

Yang Jinbai, Vice Mayor of Beijing

The continued spread and resurgences of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought unprecedented challenges to the global tourism industry. According to Yang, in 2021, the number of international tourists worldwide increased by 4% compared with 2020, but it was still less than a third of the 2019 level. Total tourism revenue increased by USD 300 billion over 2020, but less than 60% of the 2019 levels. Tourism spending grew by USD 300 billion from 2020, only 50% of the pre-pandemic level.

In the face of many difficulties and challenges, tourism cities and tourism practitioners around the globe have risen to the challenge and strengthened tourism cooperation to promote the recovery of tourism. Yang noted that Beijing, where the headquarters of WTCF is located, has focused its efforts on the resumption of work and production, showing strong resilience in development. In 2021, Beijing's tourism revenue and tourist arrivals were 67% and 79% of the 2019 levels, respectively, recovering to nearly 70% and 80% of the previous levels.

Yang pointed out that, in the context of the normalization of pandemic prevention and control, the public health governance capacity of each tourism city has been growing in importance, becoming the premise and basis for the effective development of urban tourism. Meanwhile, he believes that tourism's internal circulation served as a vital cornerstone to support the development of tourism. Considering the differences in pandemic prevention and control measures among countries, tourism cities have focused on their domestic and regional markets, and adopted proactive policies to tap consumption potential and promote the development of local tourism markets. In addition, digital technology has become a strong driving force for the development of tourism. "Accelerated application of digital technology to various tourism scenarios is sparking the renewal and rapid development of the tourism industry. Consumption patterns, business models and upgraded management integrating robotics, big data, virtual reality, online payment and online travel service platforms with digital technology have extended the frontiers of city tourism," Yang said.

Facing the new trends COVID-19 has brought to world tourism development, Yang stressed that the world tourism cities should grasp new opportunities in tourism development, deepen cooperation among tourism cities, tourism institutions and the sector, robustly boost innovation of products, business forms, models and management, in a bid to promote symbiosis, interdependence and mutual development of tourism and cities. 

First, cities must adopt a people-centered approach and focus on scientific epidemic prevention and safe tourism. Yang emphasized the need to actively adapt to the new situation and requirements of normalized COVID-19 prevention and control, and flexibly balance epidemic prevention and control with tourism development. Every city should prioritize the safety and health of its citizens and tourists, integrate pandemic prevention and control into all aspects and fields of tourism, and create a safe, clean and convenient tourism environment. Besides, the construction of the urban public health system needs to be strengthened to provide a safer and more comfortable tourism environment for urban residents and tourists.

Second, cities should promote tourism through integration and pay attention to product innovation and integrated development. It is necessary to proactively adapt to the new trend of global tourism development, optimize product structure, launch more innovative and attractive tourism products, and promote the renewal of city tourism. Cities need to create a variety of tourism products and consumption hotspots, stimulate the vitality of tourism development, expand the space and industrial chain for city tourism development, and inject new impetus into the industry development of world tourism cities.

Third, cities need to seek new changes and promote the digitalization and intelligentization of tourism. This requires cities to fully leverage the supporting role of science and technology, enhance the information-based, intellectualized, network-based and digitalized development of tourism cities, and improve city tourism management, services, promotion and experience. Moreover, cities should adapt to the new trend of digital consumption in the post-pandemic era, beef up the construction of smart city infrastructure, boost the smart application of new technology to city transportation and financial payment, promote tourist visa facilitation, enhance popularization and application of unmanned and non-contact infrastructure, and allow tourists and city residents to enjoy highly efficient, smart and humanized urban services.  

Fourth, cities need to deepen win-win cooperation to create new growth drivers for city tourism. Yang pointed out that the recovery and development of city tourism require multi-stakeholder cooperation based on health, safety, transportation, markets and services. The prosperity of city tourism relies on more bilateral and multilateral city cooperation, and the cross-field matchmaking of different core capabilities.

"The full recovery of the tourism industry is of great significance for promoting global economic development. We hope that cities around the world will strengthen the sharing of customer sources, experience and standards, help each other with tourism promotion and marketing, share high-quality cases of tourism development, cooperate to develop tourism routes, jointly establish and perfect the industry risk assessment standards, and build a collaborative and symbiotic global tourism ecosystem, in order to promote the quick recovery and development of the world tourism industry," Yang stated.