Greetings from Co-Host WTCF Deputy Secretary-General Yan Han at the Opening Ceremony of 2017 ITB

Dear ITB participants, it is great honor for World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) to be the Co-Host for ITB Berlin Convention second consecutive year. We would like to express our gratitude to ITB Convention team, ITB Berlin team and especially Prof. Dr. Roland Conrady for excellent work organizing this event. This is remarkable year for ITB as for the first time ITB Tourism Trade show will be held in China, city of Shanghai this May. We wish all the success for ITB Berlin, ITB Convention and ITB China 2017 trade shows as well as look forward our cooperation in the future.

World Tourism Cities Federation is an international non-profit tourism organization established for tourism development around the world. WTCF currently has 181 members, including 119 city members and 62 institutional members.

In the present era, tourism has been working as a crucial force to connect the world and bridge different civilizations, with its widespread effects on economy, society, culture, politics, eco-system and other areas. As the first city-based international tourism organization in the world, WTCF has published the report World Tourism Economy Trends (2017). The report shows that global tourism has become a vital drive for the global economy as it sustained a high growth rate while the global economy has been recovering slowly and the international trade has slowed down.

With gradual change of investment structure in China, where not that much investment as before is going into real estate, more investors are looking for investment projects abroad, especially in tourism sector like theme parks, hotels, restaurants etc. Therefore WTCF together with China Association of Private Equity has established Investment Branch, which will allocate investors with projects.

By the end of 2016, the Chinese outbound tourist count has passed 122 million, with year on increase of 4.3%. Total inbound and outbound tourists in China have reached 260 million. WTCF will help you to understand the Chinese tourism market in more depth and will feature a discussion with our speakers who have excellent knowledge of the Chinese outbound tourism.

WTCF recognizes the importance of tourism industry globally and impact it has on local economies. We support sustainable tourism development which emphasizes involvement of local communities, job creation and poverty alleviation. Moreover we encourage giving local economies tools and knowledge they need for building their own tourism products, infrastructure and brand image of tourism city.

WTCF promotes its members in China through various media platforms like WTCF website, WeChat and Weibo, with our vast media knowledge and professional experience we can promote your city or company in China as well as establish long lasting business relations with business partners in China by becoming a WTCF member.

Once a year we welcome all our members to gather at WTCF Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, where we discuss latest developments and trends in tourism, have B2B meetings, tourism promotion events with media and local buyer participation. Our annual Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit is a great platform for tourism industry executives, city Mayors, tourism bureau directors, city promotion and marketing department representatives, from government to private companies and NGO, international tourism organization representatives, all those whose thrive and work for better tourism industry around the world.

Last year in Chongqing, we had one of the most successful summits in the WTCF history, with total participation of more than 600 people, strategic cooperation agreements were reached and all participants agreed on Chongqing Declaration which recognizes importance of fair play in shared economy and sustainable tourism development around the world. This year September WTCF summit will take place in show business and media mecca- Los Angeles.

This afternoon World Tourism Cities Federation will have a session during ITB Convention, where Mrs. Song Rui will introduce the World Tourism Research Report 2017, which is joint research carried out by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and WTCF. Mr. He Shengkang will present you with Ipsos and WTCF joint research findings on Chinese Outbound Tourist (City) Consumption (2015-2016). Director of Public Relations & Media Mrs. Cai Hua will present WTCF New Media platform, so you have all the tools to attract Chinese Tourist to your destination or your city. We will end the session with panel discussion on “China Outbound Tourism - Market Changes and Development Trends 2017” with participants from Guangzhou tourism bureau, Buenos Aires tourism bureau, and Belgrade tourism bureau, WTCF and China Academy of Social Sciences.

I sincerely invite you to attend our session on “World Tourism Economy Trends 2017 & Chinese Outbound Tourism” this afternoon, from 14:30-16:00 in Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 1.

Mr. Yan Han

Deputy Secretary General

World Tourism Cities Federation