WTCF Attends ITB Berlin as Co-Host and Holds Two Events

On March 7th, 2018, the 52nd Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB Berlin) will be held in the capital city of Germany. As the co-host of this exhibition, WTCF will dispatch a delegation to participate in the event, and WTCF Executive Deputy Secretary-General Li Baochun will deliver a speech at the opening ceremony as the co-host representative. WTCF will hold two events at the exhibition, with the first event aimed to issue the Report on World Tourism Economy Trends (2018) and the UNWTO/WTCF City Tourism Performance Research, and the second panel discussion centered on the discussion of the popular topic “New Changes and New Motives in China 's Tourism Market” and others.

It is the third time that WTCF has participated in the exhibition as the co-host. The ITB Berlin is a leading tourism trade fair in the global tourism industry. Each year, leading buyers from nearly 200 countries and regions from the five continents of the world come and participate in the trade fair. As the Vice-Chairman Organization of WTCF Council, Berlin actively participates in the events of WTCF, and has given so much support to the work of WTCF.

Session I

Date and Time: 11:00-12:45, March 7, 2018

Theme: Introduction of Report on World Tourism Economy Trends (2018) and UNWTO/WTCF City Tourism Performance Research

Location: Convention Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 2

Speakers:

Dr. Song Rui, Specially Appointed Expert of WTCF Expert Committee, and Director, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Esencan Terzibasoglu, Special Advisor to the UNWTO Secretary-General, UNWTO

In the report on World Tourism Economy Trends (2018), the main development trend and characteristics of global tourism economy are explained mainly from eight aspects, including the development of global tourism economy, pattern changes of regional development, emerging economies’ tourism industry, The tourism development of BRICS, Tourism and the international service and trade industry, investment of global tourism, the role of cities in the global tourism economy and the global tourism companies.

The UNWTO-WTCF City Tourism Performance Research is the result of a collaborative project between the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since 2015. It is an instrument with a set of criteria and a platform for exchange of information that can be used globally to benchmark tourism performance in urban destinations. The research is conducted by a group of experts who collected field data in order to have more in-depth understanding of each city.

The following cities took part in the research program: Beijing, Cape Town, Marrakech, Buenos Aires, Hangzhou, Bogota, Sapporo, Seoul, Tianjin, Tokyo, Linz, Torino, Antwerp, Berlin and Copenhagen.

Session II

Date and Time: 12:00-12:45, March 7, 2018

Theme: New Trends And Driving Forces For The Chinese Tourism Market

Location: Convention Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 2

Panel guests:

Kaari Artemjeff, Marketing Manager (China & Russia), Helsinki Marketing

Ralf Ostendorf, Director Market Management, visitBerlin

Dr. Song Rui, Specially Appointed Expert of WTCF Expert Committee, and Director, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 

Howard Zhang, Editor, BBC Chinese

Tony Jin, Caissa Product Director