Global elite gather for Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit

The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and Beijing municipal government will hold the Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, Sept 4 – 5, with plenty of themed forums, a tourist cities exhibition, a tourism product promotion, and tourism trade negotiations and meetings. The purpose of the summit is to promote cooperation, innovation and a pragmatic approach, with the focus on marketing for tourist cities, in the following ways:

I. Building a top dialogue mechanism

WTCF members from 81 cities (56 international, 25 domestic) and 44 institutes from 36 countries have signed up for the event, with 329 representatives having confirmed their presence. These include six mayors of major international cities, nine deputy mayors, a head of the National Tourism Administration, and 12 mayors and deputy mayors of Chinese cities. Also taking part will be the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN's economic and marketing division, the executive director of the UN World Tourism Organization, and the chairman and president of the Pacific Area Travel Association.

II. Building trade negotiations with tourism industry leaders to promote China's tourism

There were two world tourism city itinerant exhibitions, one in 2012, the other 2013 to use WTCF's resources and build an advanced method of exchanges and cooperation among the world's tourism cities and the tourism industry. This year, there will be a trade negotiation meeting added to provide more opportunities for foreign and Chinese tourism industry leaders to hold trade talks and exchanges. There are currently 43 inbound and 53 outbound tourism dealers who have signed up, mainly from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Russia, Japan and ROK. Also, more than 150 Chinese tour managers will attend the trade meeting. The WTCF has carefully chosen buyers who adhere to high standards and does its best to build a site for China's inbound and outbound tourism cooperation. It has an online pairing system to help buyers and sellers with one-to-one, face-to-face negotiations, and, thus far, has paired up 1,410 businesses.

III. Build a We Media site to show tourism resources and products and provide tourism information

During the summit, the WTCF will announce the opening of its We Media official website, APP, microblog, WeChat, magazine and news and information, where members can put their tourism resources and products on display in an attractive easy-to-access way and interact with tourists all over the globe. It also allows members to post their official tourism information via videos to promote the city's special landscape, scenery, culture, heritage, customs, and up-to-date travel tips. It also improves the WTCF’s image and influence and that of its members and is a convenient way to improve information integration of and between tourist cities. The We Media site can help tourist cities and companies keep track of changes in the tourism market and engage in corresponding business activities by through improved information management, tourist consultations, and tourism services for the better overall development of tourist cities worldwide.

IV. Exhibition for promoting tourism resources and projects, and for cooperation and exchanges between member cities.

This exhibition will run simultaneously with the Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit and offers some great opportunities for exhibitors to pursue their interests. There will be 32 booths and 10 introduction and marketing sessions.

The tourism cities and institutions exhibition will follow an opening ceremony, on Sept 4, and will show WTCF members’ tourism resources and special tourism products. Its purpose is to increase cooperation among cities and institutions in the field of tourism. The exhibition is a showcase of the best tourism resources, as well as tourism investment and cooperation projects, and special routes and tourism products in China and abroad. It is a good place for negotiations, introductions, and marketing, and there will be dinner sessions to help participants interact with each other and form a tri-partite trade site for the maximum benefit of all.

The Tourism Resources and Project Introduction and Marketing Meeting will be on Sept 5 and will invite member cities and institutions to come and promote their tourism resources and products. This will help member cities fully introduce themselves on the WTCF site and increase the WTCF's attraction and comprehensiveness. For example, the city of Milan will be promoting the 2015 World Expo during the meeting.

V. Dialogue for experts and scholars to promote the development of city tourism.

There will be three forums, Sep 4 - 5, so that representatives of tourist cities, executives of large tourism companies, and prominent experts and scholars can discuss the tourism market and cooperation in the industry. The topics are as follows:

I: WTCF's role in tourist city development

This forum will introduce the latest Research on service standards of the world's tourist cities, which looks at tourism services mentioned in The Beijing Consensus, which was signed at the 2013 summit, with additional explanations on the content, as an extension of the consensus. There will be discussion and case studies on cooperation between cities and institutions, and ample time to explore how to increase cooperation and develop through the WTCF framework.

II: Chinese tourist market

This will focus on discussions on how to promote inbound tourism since insiders have been paying special attention to China's inbound and outbound tourism markets. Participants can discuss China's inbound tourism resources and learn more about them, as well as development strategies and support measures for them. And the participating enterprises will be encouraged to cooperate in inbound tourism products and in changing the marketing model.

III: Digital media and smart tourism, smart city

The WTCF’s media advantages will be fully displayed during the forum. And there will be a discussion on the marketing application of new media in developing tourist cities and look for ways to take advantage of all media to promote smart tourist city development.

VI. Chinese outbound tourist habits and a market survey on Chinese outbound tourist consumer trends.

The WTCF will hand out its Market survey on Chinese outbound tourist consumption to increase each tourism city's understanding of Chinese consumers as a way to know their desires and individual characteristics. The survey could help member cities get insights into Chinese outbound tourism developments and the market, which could in turn help them improve tourist services and target various areas and activities for promotion and reach a consensus on greater market interaction.