WTCF Latin America & the Caribbean Tourism Conference 2019 Held in Panama City

On April 5, 2019, the WTCF Latin America & the Caribbean Tourism Conference 2019, co-hosted by WTCF and Panama City Hall, was held in Panama City. The theme of the conference is "Chinese Outbound Market and Tourism Development in Latin America and the Caribbean" and it aims to fully display the tourism resources in Latin America and greatly promote the coordinated development of Latin American and global tourism. Travel companies, government representatives, travel media, and investment fund managers from 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and more than 200 people from the local tourism industry of Panama attended this conference.

Mrs. Raisa Banfield, Acting Mayor of Panama City, delivered a welcome speech

At the opening ceremony, Mrs. Raisa Banfield, Acting Mayor of Panama City, delivered a welcome speech; Mr. Li Baochun, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of WTCF, delivered the opening speech; and Mr. Francisco Escobar, Panamanian Ambassador to China; Mr. Wei Qiang, China's Ambassador in Panama; Mr. Antonio Alfaro, President of the Panamanian Chamber of Tourism; and Mr. Juan Francisco Guerrero, Deputy Director of Panama National Cultural Institute, made remarks respectively at the ceremony.

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

At the opening conference, Mr. Li Baochun, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of WTCF, pointed out that Latin America, with its beautiful natural scenery and long history and culture, is an important tourist destination in the world, and the conference will further enhance the popularity of Latin America in the world tourism market. He hopes that this meeting will make a greater contribution to the promotion of sustainable economic, social, and urban development in Latin America.

Mrs. Raisa Banfield, Acting Mayor of Panama City, said that regional advantages boost the sustainable development of Panama's tourism industry, and this conference is an opportunity for the future development of its tourism industry, the pillar industry of Panama. Through this conference, she hopes to introduce more abundant tourism resources to everyone, and relevant departments can better develop tourism products. WTCF has implemented the concept of “Better City Life through Tourism”. Panama City will also help promote the exchanges between the eastern and western hemispheres, and strengthen mutual understanding and respect on the platform of WTCF.

Mr. Wei Qiang, China's Ambassador in Panama, delivered a speech

Mr. Wei Qiang, China's Ambassador in Panama, believes that the tourism industry is one of the important economic pillars of Panama. Tourism is a priority area of practical cooperation between China and Panama, can drive the prosperous development of Panama's local economy, and is also an important way to render the people of the two nations to strengthen exchanges and friendly cooperation.

At the opening ceremony, the A Summary of Strategies and Approaches for Latin America and the Caribbean Tourism Destinations document was released.

Forum Session Ⅰ: New Feature of Chinese Outbound Tourism Market

Forum Session Ⅱ: Tourism Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Focusing on the theme of the conference, the guests had profound discussions on the topics of "New Feature of Chinese Outbound Tourism Market" and "Tourism Development in Latin America and the Caribbean".

In addition, activities such as the Tourism B2B Matching, Investment B2B Matching, and Training Program on Tourism Destinations Marketing were also held. 7 renowned tourism enterprises and 6 renowned investment fund organizations from China attended the above activities. More than 30 companies arranged by Panama participated in the training program and the B2B matching events. In total, the matching events facilitated 258 matchmaking meetings with Chinese companies.

10 well-known media from China and 20 media from Latin America participated in the coverage of the conference.

Since March 2017, WTCF has held regional conferences in Penang, Malaysia; Astana, Kazakhstan; Casablanca, Morocco; Bogota, Colombia; Seville, Spain, and other cities, and is committed to increasing the visibility of the regions where the conferences were held, especially the host cities, and boosting the development of the local tourism industry.

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