IMTA 2019 Annual Conference Takes Place in Guiyang

From 27 to 29 October, the 2019 Annual Conference of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) took place at the newly-inaugurated headquarters building in Guiyang. Among over 400 attendees were members, new applicants, international organizations, destination administrations, relevant institutions, tourism experts and scholars, as well as journalists.

With the theme "Joining hands to build a community of shared future for sustainable mountain tourism", the conference will explore a path for the sustainable development of world mountain tourism in a global context, and provide case reference and theoretical guidance for practices of sustainable mountain tourism.

At 9 AM 28 October, the Inaugural Ceremony of the IMTA Headquarters took place. Leaders of Guizhou, Guiyang and IMTA, as well as the guest hosts jointly cut the ribbon for the ceremony.

At the ensuing Opening Ceremony, Dominique de Villepin, President of IMTA, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Economic Globalization and Prospect of World Mountain Tourism"; He Yafei, President of IMTA, delivered the IMTA 2019 Work Report.

The conference also includes the IMTA Council Meeting and the Theme Forum. The Theme Forum focused on the theme of "Joining hands to build a community of shared future for sustainable mountain tourism". At the conference, hot issues were discussed such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, poverty alleviation through mountain tourism, environmental protection and green development, and the new trend of integrated development of culture, tourism, sports and health preservation.

Other activities during the conference include the "Belt and Road" Mountain Tourism Exchange and Cooperation Conference, the IMTA Annual Exhibition and Walk across Shuanglong Ecological Park & Ecological Sports Park.

IMTA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization initiated by Guizhou Province, and constituted by tourism institutions, groups, enterprises and individuals in key mountain countries and regions in the world on a voluntary basis. Currently it has 155 groups and individual members from 30 countries and regions in five continents.

According to He Yafei, in 2020, with member service as the center and strengthening platform construction as the focus, IMTA will improve its professional and internationalization level, and provide members with services such as industry information, exchange & cooperation and platform integration.