Tourism Summit to Examine Global Issues

The impact of globalization on major tourism cities will be explored at a Los Angeles summit this week.

Government officials, top executives and industry professionals will discuss challenges the cities face and policies to promote investment at the sixth annual Fragrant Hill Tourism Summit.

The World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) has held the summit since its founding in 2012. It is scheduled for Sept 19-20 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

The event is expected to attract more than 500 delegates from 51 countries and 87 cities, including 31 mayors or vice-mayors and more than 360 representatives from international organizations, such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Chen Jining, chairman of the WTCF Council and acting mayor of Beijing; Zhu Shanzhong, executive director of UNWTO; and Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles will deliver remarks at the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the panelists and speakers will discuss topics such as "solutions to challenges faced by tourism cities", "strengths and brand building of tourism cities", "policy environment promotes tourism investment" and "China's outbound tourism: new trend and market dynamics".

Mayors from tourism cities, executives from tourism institutions, and scholars were invited to discuss the most pressing topics, such as travel security, brand marketing, advantages of infrastructure and resources, and tourism investment.

Tripartite agreements are expected to be signed by WTCF and the city of Helsinki, Finland, Tencent, the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, the Qingdao Tourism Development Committee and Xiamen Airlines to promote growth opportunities among the members.

A tourism exhibition, a tourism trade and investment fair, and tourism promotion meetings will be held for cities to showcase innovative tourism products and explore market potential.

Seventeen of China's top 20 tourism companies, including China International Travel Service, China Youth Travel Service, China Travel Service, Ctrip and Tuniu will participate.

More than 20 major Chinese financial organizations and funds are expected to reach agreements on 30 travel-related projects, including real estate, Medicare and entertainment projects.

WTCF has been hosting investment fairs since 2014, and more than 5,800 business deals have been made at past fairs.