China International Travel Mart (CITM) 2022 will be held from July 22 to 24 in Kunming. Exhibitors from 71 countries and regions, including Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, etc. attend the event online or offline, to negotiate and seek cooperation.
Launched in 1998, China International Travel Mart is an international platform to showcase the achievements of Chinese culture and tourism development and to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the world. This year is the 11th time CITM is held in Yunnan.
Exhibitors from 71 countries and regions attend CITM to seek cooperation
The CITM exhibition area is about 80,000 square meters, with 8 exhibition halls and about 4,200 standard booths. Exhibitors from 71 countries and regions, 31 provinces of China, as well as 261 independent groups participate in CITM.
7 major exhibition areas, including destination exhibition area, cultural tourism enterprise exhibition area, cultural exhibition exhibition area, intelligent tourism exhibition area, international exhibition area, the new forms of tourism exhibition area and Yunnan exhibition area, are set up at the fair site. In addition, “East Asian Cultural Capital” exhibition area and “Lancang-Mekong Tourism City Cooperation Alliance” exhibition area are added.
The Kunming Dianchi International Convention and Exhibition Center, where the CITM is held, is quite lively. In front of the exhibition area of Yunnan prefectures and cities, ethnic groups happily perform folk songs and dances; in the Malaysian exhibition area, Musang King durian, coffee, satay kebab and pandan cake steamed with sticky rice attract many exhibitors and visitors; in the Yunnan exhibition area, thousands of photos taken during the migration and return of Asian elephants are so eye-catching that many people linger here.
Digital smart tourism technology is giving rise to new forms of tourism
Smart tourism is at the heart of the CITM. At the Smart Tourism Innovation and Development Forum, experts from countries such as China, Tanzania, Israel and Switzerland had a lively discussion on smart tourism and believed that digital technology is giving rise to new new forms of tourism and stimulates the efficiency of innovation in the tourism industry.
Wang Hao, a member of the Yunnan Provincial People’s Government Party Group, said promoting smart, high-end and personalized tourism is not only a practical necessity for the high-quality development of the tourism industry. tourism, but also an inevitable requirement for the revaluation of the consumption of cultural tourism. He introduced the development of a smart tourism platform – “Travel to Yunnan with a mobile phone”, saying that “Yunnan will accelerate the application of new technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality metaverse and robotic tour guides to improve the smart tourism industry”. .
Mbelwa Kairuki, Tanzania’s Ambassador to China, said Tanzania is implementing smart tourism innovations, including a Tanzanian digital booking platform to be established in China in the near future, cooperation with Chinese technology companies in the QR code payment and cooperation with various digital media. platforms to promote Tanzanian tourism to Chinese tourists.
Dacheng Tao, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences, pointed out that the industrial metaverse integrates the experience of digital content with physical objects and provides new opportunities for tourism. It can break through the digital islands of tourists, scenic spots and scenic spots, innovate digital collections as the engine of digital cultural tourism, and finally realize the intelligent service, management and operation of cultural tourism products.
“New axes” for cultural and tourism development along the China-Laos railway
The “China-Laos Railway Forum Helps Build a Community of Shared Future in Asia” was held on the opening day of CITM. A number of experts, scholars and representatives of related tourism and transportation enterprises attended the Forum, to discuss the future potential of markets along the China-Laos railway and explore a new development model. integrated culture and international tourism in the Lancang-Mekong. River basin and other regions.
Daopai Chanthanathin, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of Laos in Kunming, said that the operation of the China-Laos railway transforms Laos from a landlocked country into a land hub, which offers unprecedented development opportunities and promotes exchanges and cooperation between Laos and China in sectors such as economy and culture. According to statistics, in just 7 months of its operation, more than 4.11 million passengers (540,000 passengers in the Laos section) and 780,000 tons of goods were transported cumulatively.
Liu Yingkui, deputy director of the Council of the China Academy for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the operation of the China-Laos railway effectively promotes the formation of large regional tourism and commodity markets, stimulates trade unimpeded and accelerates the flow of factors. and the development of regional trade in services. In this context, efforts should be made to further improve the China-ASEAN railway and tourism cooperation mechanism, promote the integration of industrial and supply chains and unblock channels through various means, strengthen the construction of the Pan-Asian Railway and infrastructure in the west. and border areas, and accelerate the formation of a large unified regional market.
During the Forum, the Yunnan Initiative on China-Laos Railway International Tourism Cooperation was released, in order to better develop tourism products, build a tourism economic belt, properly manage and operate brands. international tourism along the China-Laos Railway and fully play the unique role of international tourism along the China-Laos Railway in building a community with a shared future in Asia.
