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Macao to host Global Tourism Economy Forum in Oct.

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Global Tourism Economy Forum ( GTEF), an annual mega event for the tourism industry, will be held here from Oct. 12 to 14, according to a press conference Thursday.

As a platform for high-level international exchange and cooperation, the forum, themed "Belt and Road Initiative: Unleashing the New Dynamics of Cultural Tourism" this year, will gather ministerial officials and tourism leaders from different destinations to contribute ideas for fostering global tourism and economic development.

GTEF 2015 is hosted by the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Macao's capacity of hosting mega international events as well as its function as a platform for diverse cultural exchanges will be showed, the chief of Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR government, Lai Ieng Kit said at the press conference.

The Macao SAR government will actively support the Belt and Road initiative and grasp this golden opportunity for development, he said.

As the Belt and Road initiative advocates openness, inclusiveness and mutual learning, GTEF hopes that the countries and regions along the Belt and Road can transform their unique cultural heritage into contemporary tourism resources through developing cultural tourism, so that there can be a deeper understanding as well as closer exchanges and collaboration, said Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of GTEF Pansy Ho.

The Global Tourism Economy Research Center and UNWTO will release their second joint research project, UNWTO/GTERC Annual Report 2015 on Asia Tourism Trends during the forum, which will provide an in-depth analysis of the latest development in Asia tourism trends so as to supporting strategy researches for tourism and economic development.

The GTEF will collaborate with UNWTO to present the face to face, ministers and private sector CEOs session, as well as business matching and networking programs. In addition, three panel discussions on pressing global tourism issues will be organized. Endi