BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Officials and experts have called for greater cooperation to spur the recovery of the global tourism industry, which has been battered by COVID-19, at the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development held Friday in Beijing.
Currently, many countries are considering introducing a system of "vaccine passports," in the hope that a wide system of mutual recognition of personal health information could be constructed to provide technical support for the recovery and development of world tourism, said Du Yili with the World Tourism Cities Federation.
Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque expressed his high expectations for exchanges between China and Pakistan in the field of tourism, adding that the two sides have signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation, and Pakistan is developing a Chinese tourism website and striving to provide tailored services for Chinese tourists.
The pandemic had a huge impact on the development of global tourism last year, with tourism investment decreasing by 29.3 percent year on year, said Du, adding that the revenue of global tourism-related accommodation and catering shrank by 46.3 percent and 28.2 percent, respectively.
While COVID-19 has caused a great impact on global tourism, it has also accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the industry. Beijing mayor Chen Jining said the wide application of smart technologies featuring 5G plus artificial intelligence and 5G plus virtual reality is essential to revitalizing tourism.
Chen said he hopes countries and enterprises stay informed about these new changes and promote the digital and intelligent development of tourism.
More than 360 officials, international organization representatives and entrepreneurs from over 40 countries and regions participated in the conference, a summit of the ongoing 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services. Enditem
