The 17th UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook was held in Guilin, China from 26 to 28 October 2023. Jointly organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the forum was co-organised by the Guilin Municipal People's Government and the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in collaboration with the SHTM.
With the theme
"Transforming Tourism for People, Planet and Prosperity", the forum served as a knowledge platform for national tourism administrations, national tourism organisations, destination management organisations, government officials, NGOs, industry practitioners and academics to share trends, insights, research findings and best practices.
Following a series of technical sessions on 26 October, the forum was opened on 27 October by Mr Jiabin Zhou, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Congress and Secretary of the CPC Guilin Municipal Committee; Mr Beka Jakeli, Director of External Relations, UNWTO; Mr Peter Semone, Chairman, PATA; and Professor Kaye Chon, SHTM Dean, Chair Professor and Walter and Wendy Kwok Family Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management. The opening session was moderated by Mr Chu Li, Mayor of Guilin.
The keynote speeches and panel sessions that followed gave both practitioners and
academics opportunities to exchange views on topics connected to the theme of the forum. The first keynote speech was delivered by Professor Jigang Bao, Director of the Monitoring Centre for UNWTO Sustainable Tourism Observatories in China; Professor, Deputy Director of the Economics and Management Department and Director of the Center for Tourism Development and Planning Research of Sun Yat-sen University; and Winner of the 16th UNWTO Ulysses Prize. Professor Bao gave a talk entitled "Changes
in Supply and Demand Development, and Innovation in the Guilin Tourism Industry". The second and closing keynote speech, "Sustainable Travel Behaviour of Chinese Tourists", was delivered by Professor Haiyan Song, SHTM Associate Dean, Chair Professor and Mr and Mrs Chan Chak Fu Professor in International Tourism.
The first of the two panel sessions – "How to Work Together to Prepare for a Better Future?" – was moderated by Mr Michel Julian, Senior Officer of Tourism Market Intelligence
and Competitiveness, UNWTO. Joining the panel were Dr Fency Sivadasan, Senior Manager-Research, Sarawak Tourism Board; Ms Akiko Hagiwara, Principal Country Specialist, Asian Development Bank; Ms Lyublena Dimova, Senior Research Manager, European Travel Commission; and Mr Kanan Aliyev, Officer, Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness Department, UNWTO.
The second panel session – "Empowering Local Economies: Financial and Digital Literacy for Sustainable Tourism" – was moderated by
Mr Pavnesh Kumar, Director of Sustainability, PATA, with the participation of Mr Peter Wong, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Visa; Ms Ida Ayu Danik Suardhani, BA Manager SUSTOUR Project, Sustainable Tourism Destination Development-SUSTOUR; and Ms Eunji Tae, Officer of Regional Department for Asia and the Pacific, UNWTO.
The forum's closing ceremony was led by Mr Beka Jakeli, UNWTO; Mr Peter Semone, PATA; Professor Kaye Chon, SHTM; Mr Yi Zheng, Deputy Director of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Department of Culture and Tourism; and Mr Xuewen Han, Standing Committee Member of the CPC Guilin Committee and Vice Mayor of Guilin. The SHTM is privileged to be playing a pivotal role in embracing the development of tourism and will continue its efforts to lead the sector into a sustainable future.
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