【Summit Review】Building an Interconnected Smart Cross - border Tourism System

During the WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026, a special forum on cross-border tourism, co-organized by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), was successfully held. Centered on the theme "Smart Cross - border Travel", the forum brought together representatives from international organizations, heads of renowned tourist cities and cross-border tourism enterprises. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on emerging opportunities and prevailing challenges facing the sector, shared cutting-edge replicable experience and innovative development initiatives, and built consensus to fuel high-quality, intelligent growth of global cross-border tourism.

Christopher Cocker, CEO of the Pacific Tourism Organization (PTO), stated that public-private partnerships have long served as the core strength and proven successful model for the organisation to advance regional tourism development. To address developmental bottlenecks that individual Pacific island nations struggle to resolve alone, PTO coordinates joint regional efforts and delivers comprehensive support across three key areas: digital transformation of culture and tourism, sustainable tourism implementation, and the compilation of industry data reports. Cocker cited a five-year regional tourism digital transformation programme jointly rolled out by PTO and the New Zealand government to elaborate on digital development pathways for small Pacific island nations. He noted that digitalisation has become a core engine for upgrading the quality and efficiency of tourism across Pacific island states. Given their limited market scale and narrow external distribution channels, this programme features lower overall operational costs and stronger practicality, effectively driving the shift of regional cultural and tourism promotion from traditional offline outreach to digital online marketing.

Soon-Hwa Wong, PATA Ambassador for Greater China and Chair of PATA Singapore Chapter, believesthat digital and smart technologies are fundamental drivers for tourist destination upgrading and cultural tourism industrial iteration. Big data and artificial intelligence can precisely match tourist demands and deliver refined smart travel experiences. Smart tools facilitate scenic area operation and maintenance, visitor flow regulation and ecological governance, enabling green and sustainable growth of the cultural tourism industry. AR and VR immersive technologies cater to consumption demands of new-generation travellers. Various cross-border digital services streamline travel and enhance visitor experience, while data-driven precision marketing effectively improves the quality and efficiency of the cultural tourism sector. He emphasised that digital technologies remain auxiliary tools for cultural tourism development; emotionally resonant experiences, authentic local cultural ambience and sincere human interaction constitute the core competitiveness of tourism. It is necessary to strike a balance between smart technology and humanistic care. Digitalisation can ease workloads and boost efficiency for practitioners, allowing the sector to focus on distinctive cultural services. High-quality cross-border tourist destinations of the future will integrate smart applications, green development and authentic local humanity, supporting the industry’s high-quality, human-centred and sustainable progress.

Valentín Díaz Gilligan, Minister of Tourism of Buenos Aires, Argentina, drew on global tourism development trends and urban cultural tourism philosophies to put forward a core viewpoint: technological empowerment fuels cultural tourism development, while human-centred services stand as the fundamental cornerstone of the industry. He pointed out that global cross-border tourism has achieved leapfrog growth, spurred by transport innovation and rapid advances in the internet and artificial intelligence. Digital technology acts as a vital instrument for industrial transformation, yet warm and distinctive humanistic services represent the irreplicable core competitiveness of tourism. The tourism sector bears substantial value in supporting social employment, and balancing digital innovation with human-oriented services holds the key to its sustainable future. He introduced that Buenos Aires welcomes nearly 3 million international tourists and 7 million domestic visitors annually. Upholding humanistic care as a bottom line, the city delivers thoughtful, premium human-centred services to every traveller, achieving integrated and coordinated development of digital empowerment and humanistic hospitality.

Zhang Xu, Vice President of Trip.com Group, drawing on the group’s global cultural tourism service experience, proposed the four core development dimensions abbreviated as CCSO, systematically sharing innovative ideas and practical pathways for cross-border tourism development. First, cross-border tourism innovation requires consolidated global Communication (C) capacity. By segmenting demands of tourists from different source markets and relying on air route resources and digital channels, two-way cultural and tourism exchange bridges between China and foreign countries can be build to facilitate connectivity between inbound/outbound travellers and destinations, and drive growth of two-way tourist flows. Second, strong Conversion (C) capacity of tourism products is needed. They shall deeply integrate natural and cultural resources and develop high-quality tourism products tailored to overseas consumer preferences to sharpen competitiveness in global markets. Third, an integrated online-offline Service (S) system should be established, providing one-stop full-chain online reservations covering flights, accommodation and scenic spots. Offline service counters should be set up at major airports to offer on-site support including arrival consultation and travel matching for inbound visitors, forming a complete and reliable cross-border travel service ecosystem. Fourth, operators shall enhance long-term Operation (O) capacity for cultural tourism, including regular collection of tourist feedback and continuous service optimisation. Through long-term refined operation, we will steadily elevate the international influence and sustained customer attraction of domestic cultural tourism destinations, and advance steady growth of cross-border tourism.

Todd Robert Barberel, General Manager of Destination Marketing and Communications, WellingtonNZ, New Zealand, stated that digitalisation offers powerful support for cross-border cultural tourism yet cannot replace the intrinsic essence of tourism: connecting people, linking nations and fostering community integration. To tackle the prevalent language barrier in cross-border tourism, Wellington has adopted digital tools such as intelligent translation to break down communication barriers in cultural tourism exchanges, enabling the remote coastal city to connect with global cultural tourism markets. Multiple targeted measures have been rolled out to drive long-term, high-quality growth of local cross-border cultural tourism. He explained that Wellington receives no transit passengers, and all visitors travel there purposefully, making digitalisation and smart solutions a core lever to tap into global source markets. Leveraging big data to accurately analyse tourist demands and identify potential visitor groups, Wellington collaborates with Tourism New Zealand to build national cultural tourism brands and develops differentiated travel products and itineraries targeting core markets including China and the United States, continuously lifting the city’s international cultural tourism profile. He also noted that Wellington maintains a long-standing sister-city partnership with Beijing and will further deepen cultural tourism exchanges and cooperation between the two cities going forward.