The World Tourism Cities Federation Asia-Pacific Conference 2017 is Open in Penang

The World Tourism Cities Federation Asia-Pacific Conference 2017 was grandly opened in Penang, city of Malaysia. About 300 guests are invited to attend this year’s conference, including delegates from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), city and institutional members of WTCF, members of WTCF Expert Committee as well as delegates from Penang State Government.

Delegates at the opening ceremony

A traditional Malaysia dancing performing at the opening ceremony

The conference is jointly hosted by WTCF and Penang State Government. It is the first large regional conference that WTCF is holding in one of its member cities. The theme of the conference is “One Belt One Road: Development of Tourism Corridor and City Hub” with the objective of powering the world tourism industry by establishing the One Belt, One Road tourism corridor and a series of city hubs, enhancing exchange and cooperation between tourism cities and tourism enterprises.

The opening ceremony of World Tourism Cities Federation Asia-Pacific Conference 2017 was held at Setia SPICE Convention Centre. During the ceremony, Zhu Shanzhong, Executive Director  of UNWTO; Gyoung-gee Liu, Vice Mayor I for Administrative Affairs of Seoul Metropolitan City; Danny Law, Director of Tourism Department of Penang delivered speeches.

YAB Mr. Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang delivered a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony

Zhu Shanzhong, Executive Director of UNWTO delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

Gyoung-Gee Liu, Vice Chairman of WTCF and Vice Mayor 1 for Administrative Affairs of Seoul Metropolitan City delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

Danny Law, Committee Chairman of WTCF Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference delivered a speech at the opening ceremony

During the conference, a series of activities such as exhibitions, theme speeches, and panel discussions will held. Tourism industry elites will be invited to discuss “One Belt One Road: Development of Tourism Corridor and City Hub” related issues. Invited guests are Song Yu, Secretary-General of WTCF; Wu Jun, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Penang; Esencan Terzibasoglu, Director of the Destination Management and Quality Programme at UNWTO; Guido Felipe Loayza Devéscovi, Peruvian Ambassador to Malaysia; Yu Dunde, CEO of Tuniu.com; Wei Xiao’an, the Chief Expert of WTCF Expert Committee; tourist enterprise leaders from tuniu.com, Tripadvisor, Uzai.com, Singapore TTG Asia, American Princess Cruises; as well as Mayors from tourism city, such as Anu La De Puer, Kathmandu, Kapiti Coast City and others.

Secretary General Song Yu and Penang Chief Minister YAB Lim Guan Eng talked at the opening ceremony

The conference aims positively boost and strengthen market development and cooperation between WTCF’s members, especially between members in the area of Asia-Pacific region. Another mission of the conference is to build Penang into a demonstration of a One Belt, One Road city hub, and to enhance the influence of Penang in the world tourism industry.

WTCF City members Beijing, Chengdu, Sanya, Seoul, and institutional member China International Travel Service, set up booths at the Tourism Expo to introduce their tourism resources to visitors.

On behalf of Beijing, the headquarter of WTCF, Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development held the “Beijing Travel Study Photo Exhibition”. Themed with “Charming Beijing, Travel through Time”, this exhibition mainly introduced the high quality travel study resources of Beijing, and also vividly recommended and exhibited the World Heritage, TCM regimen, fine cultural heritage, sports events and other unique tourism products of Beijing to honored guests who participated in the exhibition. In 2016, Chinese domestic tourists had 171 million visitor trips, which generated 427.2 billion RMB in tourism consumption; and Beijing received 4.16 million international trips, which generated 5.07 billion U.S. dollars in foreign currency.

About WTCF

World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) is an international tourism organization voluntarily formed by well-known tourism cities and tourism-related institutions around the world under the initiative of Beijing. Established on 15 September 2012 in Beijing, WTCF is guided by the vision of “Better City Life through Tourism”, it is committed to facilitating exchanges and cooperation between members and promoting sustainable growth in the tourism sector.

After five years of development, the number of WTCF member has increased from 58 at the beginning to 182 by now. WTCF currently has 121 city members and 61 institutional members; WTCF Institutional members consist of world-renowned travel agencies, media organizations, airports, airlines, hotel groups, financial firms and other tourism- related institutions. WTCF consists of several branches including Expert Committee, Committee of Civil Aviation, Committee of Tourism-Related Businesses, Committee of Media Organizations, Committee of Cruise Industry, and Committee of Investment. The committees are sponsored by renowned, authoritative tourism and financial businesses, airlines, airports, media agencies, and are in collaboration with prestigious and competitive global institutions. WTCF provides a service package covering the entire industrial chain for its members, organizes project cooperation in product development, tourism investment and marketing, and promotes cooperation among and between tourism cities and institutions. Having included all the leading Chinese tourism cities, travel agencies and airlines in its membership, WTCF provides an open avenue for cooperation for its international members.