World Tourism Cities Federation and West Africa Tourism Organisation Sign MOU

On the morning of April 25, the Thematic Forum on People-to-People Connectivity of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation kicked off at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. During the forum, in the contract-signing round of the local cooperation sub-forum, World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the West Africa Tourism Organisation (WATO) signed a contract, and both parties will push forward the win-win mechanism of the “Belt and Road” tourism destination cooperation, set up the friendly China-African non-governmental cooperation platform, and establish the panoramic strategic partnership between the two organizations. The cooperation framework agreement signed by WTCF and the WATO has been placed on the outcome list of the Second Forum.

Through comprehensive communication, WTCF and the WATO organized and established the cooperation development mechanism. Based on the principle of friendly cooperation and mutual benefits, both parties have agreed to strengthen the cooperation and communication in the tourism industry in the following fields: cooperate to launch regional forum projects in the renowned cities of West Africa; cooperate to hold tourism trade fairs; recommend the renowned West African tourism cities to join WTCF; set up cooperation and communication platforms between members; cooperate to launch destination database cooperation, and exchange and share the relevant data of the destinations; mutually provide support for the other party’s relevant tourism meetings; provide free training for five select members, to be recommended by WATO, to attend the Training Program on International Tourist Destination Promotion and Marketing from WTCF. Additionally, WTCF will provide publicity services for WATO through the WTCF We-media platform, which includes the website, mobile apps, WeChat account, Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter), and other channels in order to improve the influence of the West African destinations in China.

Ola Wright, CEO of the West Africa Tourism Organisation, said that she has achieved a great deal from the forum, for she not only listened to President Xi Jinping’s visionary speech, but she also signed important outcome documents during the forum, and signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with WTCF to strengthen tourism cooperation. Ola Wright said that as the person in charge of the West Africa Tourism Organisation, she has been so much inspired. The circulation of personnel will be arranged for the MOU with WTCF to better realize the exchange visits between Chinese tourists and African tourists. In Africa, people have clearly seen Chinese companies arrive and pave high-quality roads, and China’s high-speed rail has traveled through so many African countries. All of these have provided conditions for enhancing tourism exchanges and interconnection.

The West Africa Tourism Organisation, a non-profit tourism organization managed by a committee consisting of tourism experts and professionals, is committed to promoting and developing the tourism industry of West Africa and Central Africa by providing training and consulting services for the region. Services include marketing, public relations, internet and others. The organization keeps close cooperation relations with West African and Central African countries, and now has 17 member countries from Africa, which proactively participate in the activities of the organization.