Report on Recovery and Development of World Tourism amid COVID-19 Officially Published

Du Yili, Expert of World Tourism Cities Federation releases the Report on Recovery and Development of World Tourism amid COVID-19

On September 5, World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) held the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development themed “Rebuilding World Tourism for Prosperity”. At the conference, Du Yili, Expert of WTCF, released the Report on Recovery and Development of World Tourism amid COVID-19 (hereinafter “The Report”). The Report, as an important research result of the WTCF, is to provide strategic and trend analyses for global urban tourism recovery.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow at the global tourism industry. To facilitate a successful recovery and prosperity of the tourism sector, the WTCF, world’s first city-based international tourism organization, actively responded to its members’ requirements and carried out a special research program. On the basis of the research, WTCF, joined by the world’s top-notch research institutes for the tourism hospitality industry, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of North Texas, compiled the Report on Recovery and Development of World Tourism amid COVID-19. The Report, featuring studies on typical and representative cases, will play a positive role in promoting its members to work together in fight against the pandemic, and join effort to accelerate the recovery of the tourism industry.

In The Report covers 16 cases for study including six countries – Argentina, China, Morocco, Spain, the US, and Uzbekistan, six member cities – Barcelona, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Los Angeles, and Samarkand, and four tourism companies – Air China, Ctrip/Trip.com, Disney, Marriott Hotel. From the perspectives of the country, the city and the industry, The Report provides the analyses of and strategies for crisis response and recovery of the tourism industry. The Report comprises four parts: 1) Foreword: Fighting the Pandemic Hand in Hand; 2) Tourism Industry’s Countermeasures and Recovery at the Country Level: Precondition and Cornerstone; 3) Tourism Industry’s Countermeasures and Recovery at the City Level: Nodes and Keys; and 4) Tourism Industry’s Countermeasures and Recovery at the Industry Level: Impetus and Engine. The Report reaches the following conclusions: with regard to tourism recovery, 1) at the country level, there should be a phased recovery plan, ensuring traveling safety, stimulating traveling consumption, and reflecting reforms in tourism; 2) at the city level, there should be a phased action plan based on data, promoting traveling technology innovation, rebuilding traveling industry’s confidence, and providing sustainable financial support and incentives; 3) at the industry level, tourism companies should formulate recovery plans, innovating business models, raising safety standards, providing great values, and supporting cooperation partners to revive hand in hand.

In face of the current difficulties, it is necessary to build a consensus among countries, cities, governments of traveling destinations, as well as enterprises and tourists, and formulate a new tourism cooperation mechanism with shared responsibilities and interests, so as to lift the industry out of crisis and make it prosper again. Du Yili said, “We hope that this report can be ‘a light at the end of the dark tunnel’, leading us to win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. We are convinced that as long as we work together, the tourism industry will see recovery and prosperity very soon.”