Global tourism is now in a critical phase of recovery, revitalization and transformation. Digital technologies are deeply integrated into all industrial links, tourism service quality keeps improving, and international exchanges and cooperation grow increasingly extensive.

At the recently concluded WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026, city leaders from China and abroad as well as representatives of international tourism organizations held in-depth exchanges on the general trends of the tourism industry. Their viewpoints echoed and reinforced one another, fostering broad consensus on advancing high-quality development of global tourism, and charting a clear practical roadmap for the future growth of tourism cities worldwide.

Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing and Chairman of the WTCF Council, shared three perspectives on the future of global tourism cities by combining prevailing trends with local practices, offering strategically insightful and practically viable ideas for the global industry to explore development paths.

Yin Yong pointed out that digital technologies empower all industries and have profoundly reshaped the present and future of tourism. He put forward three proposals for the advancement of tourism cities: First, take digitalization as a wing to jointly foster new forms of tourism. Scale up R&D and application of new technologies including artificial intelligence and big data, cultivate new business models such as virtual tours and holographic interactive experiences, and enable technology to energize tourism and enrich people’s lives. Second, prioritize quality services to jointly forge new growth drivers for tourism. Dig deep into urban cultural heritage, enrich tourism product supply, optimize service standards and procedures, and deliver superior travel experiences for visitors. Third, build cooperation as the foundation to jointly create a new landscape of mutual benefit and win-win results. Improve the global cooperation framework, strengthen policy communication, jointly develop markets, facilitate free flow of tourism resources and factors, realize coordinated empowerment, ensure tourism benefits reach the general public and bring greater well-being to people of all countries.

Among all dimensions of tourism development, cultural heritage forms the core foundation, and opening-up and cooperation serve as a vital driving force—a vision widely recognized across the global industry. Elvis Uñaccori, Mayor of Machu Picchu, elaborated on the multiple values of tourism from the perspective of boosting civilizational exchange and mutual learning and protecting world heritage, and voiced his willingness to deepen international cultural and tourism collaboration, forming a resonant echo with Beijing’s vision of win-win cooperation.

Mayor Uñaccori stated that tourism, hailed as a vital engine for economic, social and cultural progress, injects vitality into economic growth and plays an indispensable role in enhancing people-to-people bonds and advancing inter-civilizational dialogue. He noted that both Beijing and Machu Picchu are exemplary World Heritage Sites, a shared identity that binds them together in heritage preservation and inheritance. The Great Wall of China, a millennia-old symbol of history and culture, constitutes a precious treasure for all humanity, fully demonstrating that World Heritage conservation requires joint international efforts. Based on this consensus, he looks forward to deeper cooperation with the World Tourism Cities Federation, focusing on broader exchanges and collaboration between Machu Picchu, Cusco Region in Peru and partners worldwide.

The value of development philosophies is ultimately reflected in tangible outcomes. Gloria Guevara, CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), released a set of authoritative statistics that showcase the robust recovery momentum of global tourism and the outstanding performance of tourism in China and Beijing. Her summarized development experience offers replicable practical references for tourism cities across the globe.

Gloria Guevara spoke highly of Beijing’s remarkable transformation. In 2025, Beijing’s international tourist arrivals rose by 17.1% year-on-year, compared with a global average growth rate of merely 4%—Beijing’s growth rate stood over four times the world average. She fully affirmed China’s successful experience and encouraged all stakeholders to learn from its practices, especially sustained investment in visa exemption policies and key infrastructure construction. She emphasized that China ranks as the world’s top-performing tourism economy. While the global industry posted an average growth rate of 4.1% last year, China hit 9.9%, more than doubling the global average.

Sustained improvement in urban tourism competitiveness underpins long-term sound industrial development, with digital transformation as a core lever. At this summit, the 2026 World Tourism Destination Digital Intelligent Competitiveness Report, jointly compiled by WTCF and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), was officially released, with Beijing claiming the top spot in the ranking. Peter Semone, former Chairman of PATA, interpreted the development features of the world’s leading tourism cities based on the report’s evaluation results.

Peter Semone recommended that cities worldwide launch assessments of their tourism competitiveness at an early stage. The top ten cities in this year’s digital and intelligent competitiveness ranking are Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Dubai, Barcelona, Tokyo, Shanghai, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. He explained that Beijing’s leading position stems from the in-depth integration of two core strengths: abundant cultural heritage reserves and implementation of digital applications. This edge enables Beijing to excel in technological adoption and digital presentation of cultural and heritage values.

Digital empowerment, upgraded services and open cooperation have become universal consensus and mainstream practice for tourism cities worldwide. As cities around the world deepen exchanges, mutual learning and experience sharing, tourism will continuously unleash economic momentum, strengthen cultural bonds, and inject lasting impetus into fostering friendship among peoples and advancing common global prosperity.