Xi'an mayor addresses global tourism meeting

A major international meeting on global tourism was addressed recently in South Korea by Li Mingyuan, mayor of Xi'an – capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

The event was the meeting of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) ASPAC Tourism Committee, which was held in Daejeon, South Korea, on Oct 10.

UCLG was established in 2004, with its secretariat in Barcelona, Spain. It is currently the largest and most representative international organization of local governments in the world, and Li Mingyuan is co-chairman of UCLG and chairman of the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee.

Representatives of the member cities of the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee met in person for the first time and exchanged views – on the theme "Hand in Hand for Cultural Tourism Development and Cooperation into the Future" – to jointly promote the vigorous development of the tourism industry.

The Xi'an mayor said in a keynote speech that in the future tourism would become a driving force for the global economic recovery, bringing with it a multitude of employment opportunities.

He added that it was necessary to give full play to the role of the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee as a platform and strengthen learning and mutual learning. It was also important to provide a new model of immersive, experiential and interactive tourism and jointly promote the vigorous development of tourism.

The UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee was initiated by Xi'an in October last year. Since its establishment, it has attracted 39 members from 12 countries to join the body.

Over the past year, a number of conferences and activities under the framework of the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee have been held. The committee has gradually become an important platform for inter-regional cultural and tourism exchanges and cooperation.