Chen Dong, Secretary-General of WTCF and Director-General of Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau: Tourism will Remain the Most Attractive Sector for Investment During the Post-epidemic Era

Chen Dong, Secretary-General of WTCF and Director-General of Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau delivers a speech

On the morning of September 5th, the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development commenced at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. Themed “Rebuilding World Tourism for Prosperity”, the conference is being held by the WTCF. During the Tourism Investment and Financing Conference, Chen Dong, Secretary-General of WTCF and Director-General of Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, delivered a speech. Secretary-General Chen stated that Tourism Investment and Financing Conference, was held with several aims including the discussion of investment and financing issues for global tourism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the boosting confidence in the recovery and development of the sector, and invigorating the reboot of the industry, which represented an important element of the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development.

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the world economy. Data in Report on World Tourism Economic Trends indicate that in 2019, world travel arrivals exceeded 12 billion; and total global tourism revenues exceeded 5 trillion US dollars, contributing over 5% to global economic growth, with jobs in the tourism industry accounting for 1/10 of all jobs worldwide. However, due to the COVID-19 epidemic, global tourism has almost come to a halt.

Chen Dong said that, consistent with trends in the global situation since the outbreak of COVID-19, some countries had engaged in unilateralism, instigating backward relocation of industries. Competition among major powers had intensified as a result, with globalization encountering serious setbacks, and the international order facing adjustment. The impact of COVID-19 on the world travel had led to wider adoption of cutting-edge technologies including the Internet, big data and artificial intelligence, while small, customized, and low-density travel had become the most important module of travel during the post-epidemic era. International tourism’s organizational models, business activities and modes of management are set to undergo dramatic changes. Tourism investment trends in the post-epidemic era reveal that although the industry has been heavily impacted, core products, service systems and the basic need for global tourism remain. In other words, it’s apparent that the sector’s long-term flourishing trend has not reversed, and that tourism will remain the most attractive sector for investment during the post-epidemic era.

Global tourism investment has been growing rapidly, at annual rates as high as 13%, since 2005. In the Asian-Pacific region in particular, total tourism investment in 2019 reached 120 billion US dollars, accounting for 38% of global tourism investment and greatly contributing to the industry’s rapid development. “A favorable investment environment is key to promoting the revitalization of tourism,” Chen Dong said in his speech. “Increased investment is a critical measure for achieving this revitalization.” Chen also called on government and global cities to implement more favorable and supportive policies, such as tax reductions, exemptions, financial subsidies and financing guarantees, to formulate more specific tourism market access standards, and to create better external conditions for tourism investors’ participation in the creation and development of relative resources, markets, and products. Tourism enterprises should strengthen international cooperation, establish mechanisms via which upper and lower streams of the sector could share risks and benefits across regions and cities, while creating an ecosystem in which sector players could cooperate to ensure their survival during the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic. Facing world travel’s post-pandemic developmental needs, global cities should facilitate technology-tourism integration, and drive innovation with relative products, business activities, and models, to become major driving forces in the post-epidemic era’s iterative evolution.

In 2019, 300 tourist cities attracted total tourism investment in excess of 500 billion US dollars, accounting for 51% of total global tourism investment. During the current session of investment and financing, 21 projects are to be proposed for signing into action, representing total investments of 15.71 billion yuan. Chen Dong said, “WTCF is headquartered in Beijing, and as the Secretary-General of WTCF, I welcome global cities and enterprises from all over the world to communicate and cooperate with Beijing, to invigorate the recovery of world tourism.” WTCF is willing to work with other international organizations, to deeply analyze the opportunities for, and challenges to, sector investments created by this epidemic. Moreover, it also looks to establish multilateral cooperation and service platforms for global tourism, to help the industry shrug off the effects of COVID-19 as rapidly as possible.”