【Record】Mr. Chen Jining, Chairman of the WTCF Council and Mayor of Beijing delivers a speech at the opening ceremony

Mr. Chen Jining, Chairman of the WTCF Council and Mayor of Beijing, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony

Mr. Chen Jining:

Honorable Minister Hu Heping, Honorable Deputy Secretary-General Jonon Sherali, distinguished envoys, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

The World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development on the theme of Rebuilding World Tourism for Prosperity is held today to discuss cooperation and development of global tourism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. First of all, on behalf of WTCF and the Beijing Municipal People's Government, I’d like to extend my warmest welcome to the guests and friends from the press who are offline or online from all over the world. I’d like to express my heartfelt appreciation to international organizations, envoys and relevant institutions that have strongly supported the preparation for this conference!

COVID-19 has been ravaging across the world since the beginning of 2020, wreaking havoc on the global economy in which tourism is one of the most severely impacted industries. According to UNWTO, global tourists would be reduced by about 80% in 2020 compared to 2019, and the loss of tourism revenue will exceed USD 1 trillion.

More difficulties should be met with stronger determination, confidence, unity and cooperation. President Xi Jinping addressed the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services by remarking that the sudden attack of COVID-19 may have prevented us from meeting face to face, but it cannot block the growth of trade in services; nor will it affect our confidence and action as we pursue shared progress and mutually beneficial cooperation.

In review of the development history of human society, every time of suffering and hardship is often followed by progress. Tourism is an integrated industry full of resilience in which profound changes in tourism consumption and service are often triggered by epidemics. Since the 1970s and 1980s, legionella repeatedly caused community-acquired epidemics of pneumonia, deepening people’s understanding of propagation and transmission of this ancient pathogen, and thus helped form a new paradigm for public health. Monitoring and disinfecting public water system in hotels and other public buildings has so far become the standard of tourism industry.

Drawing from historical experience strengthens our confidence in dealing with challenges we are facing today, and helps us seize opportunities out of this pandemic. COVID-19 has not changed people's passion for tourism; on the contrary, it has given birth to a new model of tourism that is decentralized, personalized, customized and appointment-based, opening up new opportunities for a tourism restart and economic recovery. Tourism practitioners in all countries should take active actions and promote innovation, jointly creating favorable conditions for the recovery of tourism industry.

On behalf of WTCF, I’d like to make three proposals for tourism cities and tourism practitioners around the world:

Firstly, we have to effectively strengthen international cooperation in pandemic prevention and control. As an important hub for tourists and other people, tourism cities play an important role in global pandemic prevention and control. They should actively establish a mechanism to rapidly collect information and share feedback concerning pandemic prevention and control, in response to potential long-term risks of COVID-19. Tourism cities are expected to introduce strict screening and control measures, promote a convenient and efficient system to share information of personal health and safety, and promulgate safer and more convenient border inspection measures to build up the control of risk points. Tourism cities in particular should enhance cooperation, by jointly formulating risk evaluation standards that are mutually recognized, conducting objective and fair evaluation of tourism risk levels and establishing bilateral or multilateral information exchange and collaboration mechanisms to share data and experience in a timely manner.

Secondly, we have to advocate green and healthy tourism. COVID-19 has made people value health more. All tourism cities should follow this trend, formulating tourism codes of conduct in line with requirements of pandemic prevention and control and guiding tourists to protect the environment and recycle resources, focus more on their own health and public safety, and pursue greener and healthier tourism consumption. Tourism companies should make full use of modern technologies to actively promote innovation in tourism products, with a focus on the development of new formats including cultural and experiencing tourism, health and sports tourism, and digital and virtual tourism. The development of smart tourism and smart cities should also be encouraged. Meanwhile, we have to strengthen industrial standards in terms of market competition and food safety, and jointly create a tourist ecosystem of harmony covering all regions even the whole world, so as to comprehensively promote green, healthy and sustainable development of the global tourism industry.

Thirdly, we have to actively help tourism enterprises and practitioners. Restarting tourism industry is not simply a do-over, but transformation and upgrading that constitute a general trend. We encourage governments of all countries to take active measures to facilitate the transformation and development of tourism enterprises, support the application of new technologies and methods, improve operational efficiency, pay more attention to personnel training, and provide tourism practitioners with strong assistance so as to adapt to requirements of new formats as soon as possible.

Beijing, where the headquarters of WTCF is located, is a famous historical and cultural city with remarkable heritage. It is also a modern international metropolis that is full of vigor and vitality. When struck by COVID-19, the local authorities of Beijing resolutely implemented all requirements of the Central Government on pandemic prevention and control, advanced all sorts of prevention and control efforts in a science-based, strong and orderly way with precision. As a result, Beijing quickly put the pandemic under control, creating favorable conditions for tourism restart and economy recovery.

Personal experience of coordinating pandemic prevention and control, and promoting economic and social development has strengthened our belief that unity and wisdom of mankind will eventually overcome difficulties and challenges. As long as tourism cities and the vast number of practitioners actively take joint actions, the global tourism and economy will definitely usher in a more promising tomorrow!

Finally, I wish the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development a complete success, and guests and friends from all countries great health! Have a good day!

Thank you very much!