【Record】Mr. Hu Heping, Minister of Culture and Tourism of China delivers a speech at the opening ceremony

Mr. Hu Heping, Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony

Mr. Hu Heping:

Honorable Chairman Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Jonon Sherali, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

It’s my great pleasure to meet you online and offline. COVID-19 is still spreading globally,posing severe challenges to the world tourism. Against this background, WTCF has joined hands with many important international organizations to organize the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development during 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) to discuss the development of world tourism amid COVID-19, which is quite fitting in times and necessary. It has demonstrated firm determination from the global tourism industry in unity against hardship and is crucial to the restoration, revitalization and prosperity of global tourism as it contributes wisdom, experience and strength. On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, I’d like to extend my warmest congratulations on the convening of the conference and my sincerest greetings to the Chinese and foreign guests participating in the conference!

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe public health emergency of international concern since the end of the World War II, posing unprecedented threats to human life, delivering a heavy blow to the global economy, and presenting a stern challenge to governance capabilities of all countries. The Chinese government has attached great importance to these issues. President Xi Jinping personally issued instructions and made deployments in response to these challenges. People of the whole nation are united to take the most comprehensive, thorough and strict prevention and control measures. We have introduced policies and measures to coordinate pandemic prevention and control at a fast speed, with great strength and humanity caring. Major strategic results have been achieved in economic and social development.

During this process, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has taken solid measures in pandemic prevention and control, and steadily promoted the resumption of work and production under the unified leadership of the Central Government. This has not only effectively prevented disease spread via tourism activities, but also supported the recovery and development of tourism industry. I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you our main practices.

Firstly, we have always been placing the highest priority on people's health, life and safety. After the COVID-19 outbreak, we immediately closed scenic spots, paused the organization of group activities by travel agencies, actively coordinated the return of outbound tourists, and issued overseas travel tips, which has effectively prevented COVID- 19 from spreading in the tourism sector.

Secondly, we have made every effort to help tourism companies and practitioners overcome difficulties. In response to difficulties of the tourism industry, we have introduced a series of relief measures, such as temporarily reimbursing deposits of tourism service quality, coordinating ticket refunds, introducing policies of financial support and fees and taxes reduction, protecting labor rights of tour guides, and maintaining the stability of tour guide team. We have striven to minimize the losses caused by COVID-19.

Thirdly, we have actively and steadily resumed tourism operation and activities. We have acted according to different regional ratings, issuing working guides, offering appointment services, restricting traffic and people flow in scenic spots and advocating for peak shifting in traveling so as to reopen scenic spots, restart tourist restaurants and resume business in travel agencies in an orderly and gradual way. We have marketed discounted air tickets and admission fees, handed out consumption vouchers and increased publicity to stimulate tourism consumption and restore confidence in the tourism industry.

Fourthly, we have planned to promote the high-quality development of tourism after the pandemic. When we were effectively coping with the pandemic, we have carried out large-scale and free online training and digital upgrading projects for cultural and tourism companies, vigorously promoting smart tourism, strengthening tourism market management and industrial consolidation, and continuously improving development capabilities of tourism industry. We are now studying and formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan in which high-quality development will be the major task supported by numerous policies, projects and measures.

Ladies and gentlemen, tourism is one of the largest industries in the world. It is a pillar industry of the national economy for many countries, playing an irreplaceable role in promoting economic and social development and enhancing people’s sense of happiness, security and gain. As tourism is highly sensitive to external environment, it is also one of the most severely hit industries by the pandemic. Previous speakers have mentioned that OECD estimates a drop of 60-80% in international tourism revenue this year. UNWTO forecasts that global tourism output would fall by 70% in 2020. Against this background, it is of particular importance to restart tourism and recreate prosperity. China would like to enhance cooperation and share experience with other countries to jointly promote the prosperity and development of the tourism industry. For this purpose, I’d like to propose several initiatives:

Firstly, the government should strengthen overall planning and provide targeted assistance. Tourism industry is a typical integrated industry with wide coverage and of high relevance as problems in one link would affect the entire industrial chain. It is recommended that governments of all countries should strengthen top-level design, coordinate and utilize resources from all departments, and introduce overall measures to help tourism companies overcome difficulties, with a key focus on travel agencies, aviation companies, hotels, restaurants and other relevant business formats to maintain a good industrial ecosystem.

Secondly, enterprises should seek opportunities from this crisis and reserve energy. As the core of tourism industry, they should take the initiative to incubate opportunities from crisis and create new landscapes in the changing environment. It is recommended that, during disease prevention and control, we should focus on capacity building, planning for the development, promoting R&D of new products, and exploring new models. At the same time, the tourism market could be restored in an orderly way when safety is ensured in accordance with the evolving pandemic situation. It is necessary to adapt to the requirements of informatization in particular, tapping the potential of new technologies such as 5G, big data, cloud computing and AI to develop smart tourism, promote appointment scheme, limit tourist quantity and shave the peak of tourism activities for the benefit of high-quality tourism.

Thirdly, tourists should change their concepts and pursue healthy travel. During the pandemic, many people quarantined at home re-examined their original lifestyle and traveling concepts. We encourage Chinese and foreign tourists to establish a concept of scientific tourism, voluntarily engaging in safe, green and civilized travel. When you are a responsible tourist, a better tourism experience is yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Xi Jinping pointed out at the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services that such an international economic event could only be organized thanks to China’s efforts in overcoming many difficulties for the purpose of cooperating with all countries hand in hand to rise above hardships and promote the development of global trade in services as well as the recovery of the world economy as soon as possible.

President Xi Jinping has advocated on many occasions that the international community should step up effective cooperation in joint prevention and control, and pull together a strong joint force to fight the pandemic. Responding to the impact of COVID-19 and promoting tourism recovery require unity and joint force of the global tourism industry. I sincerely hope that international tourism organizations will continue to build platforms for exchange and cooperation. Governments, tourism authorities, associations, companies, experts and scholars from all over the world should pursue the same goal, overcoming difficulties and creating a better future together!

Finally, I wish the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development a complete success!

Thank you!