Esencan: Sustainable Tourism is the Engine of Prosperity

As people's material life picks up in level, we turn to pursue spiritual satisfaction. Tour, among others, has become a common choice of relaxation. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the total number of tourists in 2018 across the world has reached 1.4 billion, and the figure is expected to rise to 1.8 billion by 2030, with 1.7 trillion of export commodities. Among them, 57 percent tourists of all intern travel by plane, 55 percent for leisure, and 13 percent for business.

In the process of developing tourism, I come to realize that sustainable tourism is the primary driver for economic prosperity. It has numerous advantages, and I want to share some with you. First, it stimulates economic growth and creates more jobs. Second, it develops a value chain in tourism, and has significant potential to poverty alleviation. Third, it reduces resource leakages and improves the country's competitive advantages against other brands and in other sectors at global levels through building linkages with other departments (like agriculture and public utilities). Finally, it contributes to rural development, agricultural transformation, community prosperity, social entitlement and gender equality. Sustainable tourism, besides, is also conducive to the protection of cultural heritage and tradition, the spread of expertise and management skills, as well as the development of remote regions.

When studying and summarizing the experience of tourism growth, I find some elements that cannot be overlooked. The first is the role that governments play in fostering tourism. They advocate and give priority to tourism, focusing on creating a safe and stable environment for it. In detail, they draw up strategies to promote investment, provide convenient and appropriate incentives for private companies. They also set up legal and financial frameworks, as well as civil aviation policies and infrastructure so as to enable tourists to tour around more places. In the meantime, they ensure the safety of local resident and tourists, and work out planning for the long-term policy-making.

Next, at the early stage, we should draw up a framework of development strategies, including situation assessment, vision, comprehensive implementation schedule, and governance. The elements for success are as follows,. firstly, focusing on the Silk Road and developing ecotourism; secondly, enhancing tourism by concentrating on local characteristics in terms of cultural heritage, local products, traditional life style, and local gastronomy.

In my view, the reason why sustainable tourism can serve as the engine for economic boom is that it can facilitate poverty alleviation. In the process of poverty alleviation through tourism, however, we should follow some key rules. First, we need to evaluate and monitor the impact of tourism development on environment. Second, we encourage supply chains to source locally, and reduce import products. Third, we must clarify fund ownership by means of credit and loan to poor people. Fourth, we support local employment, and carry out training in skills and tourism. Fifth, we must strengthen cooperation and communication between tourism and local community to provide food, commodities and service. Sixth, we need to solve the problems in employment sector. Last but not least, we should broaden public private partnership (PPP) between different sectors.

Furthermore, we should hold a sustainable and competitive vision to achieve genuine sustainable tourism, as well as economic and cultural prosperity. For that, we need to position our products, make relevant innovations by the use of new technologies, and understand our target market as well as the needs of “new tourists”. We must work to create a legal framework and incentives, and improve infrastructure, service and expertise of human resources management. On top of that, we must emphasize the synergy of all stakeholders in creating a good vision for sustainable tourism, manage PPP in key sectors, and constantly adapt to the dynamically changing macro, competitive and market environment.