Suzhou Opens 2017 National Travel Market Workshop
On July 11, the 2017 National Travel Market Workshop was convened in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. CNTA vice chairman Du Jiang attended and addressed the opening ceremony which was presided over by Liu Shijun, director of CNTA Tourism Promotion and International Liaison Department.
The workshop was aimed to honor the decisions made at the 2017 National Work Meeting on Tourism Affairs, and discuss approaches, countermeasures and methods for tourism development under new circumstances. According to Du Jiang, the tourism industry has been earnestly implementing the decisions made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, accelerating transformation and upgrade, steadily adjusting the structure and development mode and stimulating development, and the travel market has maintained rapid, healthy growth. All the work has been going on smoothly and has achieved desired effects. Tourism year programs between China and Australia, China and Switzerland, China and Denmark, China and Kazakhstan, and China and ASEAN have been launched one after another, efforts have been intensified to explore markets in major tourist sources, and the image of China as an international destination has been greatly enhanced. In the next year, the tourism industry shall work together to ensure the success and effect of a series of marketing activities under the 22nd UNWTO General Assembly and the tourism year program, and start to plan the work for the next year as soon as possible.
Du suggested, “Local governments should keep improving the work of promotion alliances and give full play to their role as a channel. In recent years, a total of 18 tourism promotion alliances have been formed across the country under the guidance of CNTA, covering all mainland provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, Hong Kong, Macao as well as Russia and Mongolia. These alliances have scored exciting achievements, with a bettering organizational mechanism, increasingly active joint promotion, and more and more diversified tourism products. Alliances should continue to share information and join hands in marketing products, building brands, exploring the market, and promoting the overall image of China as an international destination overseas.”
The three-day workshop attracted more than 200 participants from CNTA departments concerned, provincial-level commissions for tourism development and tourism bureaus. Valuing both theoretical knowledge and practical experience, the workshop invited experts from prestigious universities, research institutes and major tourism companies to share their knowledge and experience in the construction of holistic tourism destinations, the formulation of marketing strategies, the development of tourism products, the application of smart tourism and outbound travel safety, etc. from different perspectives.
