The World Tourism Cities Federation Europe Tourism Conference 2018 Held in Seville

From 10 to 12 December 2018, World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and its member city Seville co-hosted the “WTCF Europe Tourism Conference 2018”, which opened at the FIBESⅡ. The conference, with the theme of “China-Europe City Tourism Cooperation and Development”, is the first large regional conference that has been held in Europe, aimed at profoundly discussing the important issues regarding the tourism cooperation between Chinese and European cities, and boosting the deep tourism cooperation between China and Europe, so as to generate new impetus to the world’s tourism development. About 200 people attended the conference, including representatives from 10 WTCF member cities from Europe including Riga, Edinburgh, The Hague, Turin, London, Helsinki, Copenhagen etc., experts of WTCF’s Expert Committee, representatives of tourism enterprises, managers of investment funds, tourism media and so on.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Mr. Antonio Jimenez, Managing Director of Seville Tourism Board. Mr. Juan Espadas-Cejas, Mayor of Seville, delivered the welcome remarks, and Mr. Li Baochun, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of WTCF, delivered the opening remarks. Those who delivered remarks respectively include Ms. Isabel María Oliver-Sagreras, Secretary of State for Tourism; Ms. Liu Wenqiu, Cultural Counselor of China Embassy in Spain; Mr. Manuel Butler Halter, Executive Director of UN World Tourism Organization; and Dr. Miguel Angel Castro, Rector of University of Seville.

Mr. Juan Espadas-Cejas, Mayor of Seville, delivered the welcome remarks

Mr. Juan Espadas-Cejas, Mayor of Seville, said that he hoped to strengthen the connection in the tourism industry of both parties through this World Tourism Cities Federation Europe Tourism Conference, and also pointed out that, boosting the construction of the brand new cooperation relations through the platform of WTCF can consolidate the position of Seville as an important city along the “Belt and Road” route.

Mr. Li Baochun, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of WTCF, delivered the opening remarks

In his opening remarks, Executive Deputy Secretary-General Li Baochun introduced the recent development and important academic research results of WTCF, and also said, “WTCF looks forward to working with all parties to actively explore new areas, new models and new space of China-Europe tourism cooperation, and take tourism development in both China and Europe to a higher level.”

Ms. Isabel María Oliver-Sagreras, Secretary of State for Tourism, delivered remarks at the opening ceremony

Ms. Liu Wenqiu, Cultural Counselor of China Embassy in Spain, delivered remarks at the opening ceremony

Mr. Manuel Butler Halter, Executive Director of UN World Tourism Organization, delivered remarks at the opening ceremony

In his remarks that followed, Mr. Manuel Butler Halter, Executive Director of UN World Tourism Organization, pointed out, “As the world’s first international organization focusing on cities, WTCF has conducted a series of pioneering work in promoting exchanges and cooperation among tourism cities, which has greatly enhanced the strategic position of cities in world tourism development and injected new impetus into the sustainable development of world tourism.”

Dr. Miguel Angel Castro, Rector of University of Seville, delivered remarks at the opening ceremony

Since March 2017, WTCF has held the regional conferences in many different cities such as Penang, Astana, Casablanca, Bogota and other cities. Each conference has been approved by the participating members as well as the tourism professionals in the region where the conference was held, and they have expressed their intent to participate in subsequent conferences. By holding the regional conference, WTCF hopes to increase the visibility of the region, especially the host city, in order to promote tourism cooperation and development.

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