WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026 to Open in June

Focusing on Digital Intelligence Empowerment, Embarking on the Future of Tourism

WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026 to Open in June

Recently, the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) held a media briefing in Beijing, officially releasing key information and preparation progress of the WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026.

Under the theme “Smart Tourism, Better Future”, the Summit will be held from June 1 to 4 at the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center, Haidian District, Beijing. It will focus on the deep integration of digital intelligence technology with the tourism industry, exploring new pathways, opportunities and patterns for the future development of tourism.

As the most authoritative and influential annual flagship event of the WTCF, the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit has been successfully held 12 times in Beijing, Chongqing, Los Angeles, Helsinki, Hong Kong and other cities, becoming a core platform for dialogue, resource sharing and industrial innovation among global tourism cities. The return of this year’s summit to Beijing is both a geographical homecoming and a reaffirmation of the founding mission, as well as a renewed consolidation and upgrading of the brand influence of world tourism city cooperation.

The Summit plans to invite more than 300 delegates from over 50 countries around the world, including delegates from WTCF member cities, international organizations, leading cultural and tourism enterprises, academics, and mainstream Chinese and international media. To date, more than 50 senior international guests have confirmed their attendance, including heads of international organizations such as the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Global Tourism Economic Forum (GTEF), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO), mayors of overseas cities including Cairo and Athens, and tourism officials from London, Seoul, Brussels, Buenos Aires, and other global cities.

Compared with previous sessions, the Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026 features outstanding highlights, showcasing all-round new explorations in digital-intelligent cultural tourism.

In terms of agenda topics, the Summit puts forward the core concept of “Future Tourism” for the first time. Keeping pace with cutting-edge trends in the global cultural tourism industry, it takes digital transformation and technology-enabled industrial upgrading as the main line, responding precisely to major concerns such as digital reform of the industry, recovery of cross-border tourism, and smart city construction, providing new ideas and solutions for the high-quality development of the global tourism industry.

In terms of achievement release, the Summit’s opening ceremony will see the release of the The World Tourism Destination Competitiveness Index 2026 - The Digital City Edition. The report systematically evaluates the digital and intelligent development level of global tourism destinations for the first time, and announces the “Top 20 World Digital & Intelligent Tourism Cities” on site, offering an authoritative reference and benchmark for the digital-intelligent construction in cultural tourism cities worldwide.

Technology empowering culture and tourism is the core feature of the Summit. The “Ten Application Scenarios of Science and Technology in the Field of Cultural Tourism in Beijing” will be released on site, highlighting benchmark achievements of smart cultural tourism in Beijing. Meanwhile, digital services such as intelligent translation and smart tour guidance will be provided throughout the Summit, creating a full-process smart participation experience. More than 40 leading enterprises including Alibaba, ByteDance (Douyin Group) and Tencent Technology will present cutting-edge achievements in smart cultural tourism, AI cultural tourism applications, and immersive cultural tourism experiences, building a perceivable, experiential and communicative digital tourism exhibition platform.

In terms of exchange platforms, “Mayor’s Forum: 2026 Global Mayors’ Dialogue · Beijing”, co-hosted by the WTCF and the Information Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, will invite mayors of seven international tourism cities to focus on smart tourism and urban development, discussing innovative approaches and practical measures for big data and artificial intelligence to empower cross-border cultural tourism cooperation and urban cultural tourism upgrading. In addition, the Summit will cooperate with organizations including the PATA, the GTEF, Mastercard, and Time Out China to hold four parallel forums for in-depth cross-border discussions.

With digital intelligence as the wing and cooperation as the bridge, this Summit is expected to become a key event leading the digital transformation of global tourism, deepening international cultural tourism cooperation, and empowering high-quality development of the industry. Stay tuned!