Chongqing- The Parallel Session on Smart Tourism of the China-SCO Forum on the Digital Economy Industry was held at Chongqing Window of International Culture and Tourism on August 23. More than 150 guests from nearly 10 SCO countries were invited to attend the online and offline event. At the parallel session, the "China (Chongqing) - Shanghai Cooperation Organization Smart Tourism Center" and "Chongqing Window of International Culture and Tourism" were officially inaugurated, and Chongqing will join hands with SCO countries to build international smart tourism scenic spots.
Zhang Haizhou, Deputy Secretary-General of the SCO, awards the "China (Chongqing)-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Smart Tourism Center" to Liu Qi, Director-General of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development. (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development.)
Explore the implementation of "one-stop customs clearance" and other tourism facilitation initiatives
The establishment of the smart tourism center is a practical measure to accelerate the construction of Chongqing as a center of international exchanges in central and western China and actively build "a city strong on culture" and "a world-renowned tourist destination."
Cai Yunge, Vice Mayor of the Chongqing Municipal Government, delivered a speech, expressed that the center will construct the platform for culture and tourism exchange and cooperation for China and SCO countries to discuss new models and applications of smart tourism, showcase new achievements of smart tourism development, and promote the bilateral or even multilateral cooperation in a wide range of fields.
Cai Yunge, Vice Mayor of Chongqing Municipal People's Government, awards the "Chongqing Window of International Culture and Tourism" to Qin Dingbo, Deputy Director-General of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development. (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development)
Cai Yunge said the center would further improve the tourism cooperation mechanism, develop new space for cooperation, establish and improve the system of regular mutual visits and tourism liaison meetings, take advantage of the rich tourism resources of the SCO member countries, actively plan transnational tourism cooperation projects, explore the implementation of "one-stop customs clearance" and other tourism facilitation measures. Thus to jointly help tourism cooperation among the SCO member countries to get out of the epidemic and promote the international tourism industry recovery.
In addition, Deputy Secretary-General of the SCO Zhang Haizhou delivered a speech on the scenery. Vice Minister of Ministry of Culture and Tourism Zhang Xu, former SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov, Head of Directorate of International Cooperation of the Federal Agency for Tourism Demyan Smilevets, Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of Belarus Mikhail Portnoi, Mayor of Yerevan, Armenia Hayk Marutyan and Economic Minister-Counselor of Nepalese Embassy in China Chhabindra Parajuli delivered speech through video.
The center is equipped with online technologies such as online tourism and cloud-based exhibitions to provide comprehensive and detailed online advisory services to tourists, promote tourist attractions in SCO countries in various forms, and automatically plan travel itineraries. This way will continue to promote the development of smart tourism featuring digital, networking, and intelligence.
Chongqing to introduce smart tourism technology to create smart tourism scenic spots
Up to now, Chongqing has 95 international nonstop flights, implemented a 144-hour visa-free transit policy for 53 countries, established 17 overseas culture and tourism promotion centers around the world, implemented the global network marketing plan, and set up the "1+N+X" overseas publicity platform for Chongqing's culture and tourism with "iChongqing" at its core.
Chongqing, located across the mountains from the SCO countries, will next cooperate deeply with SCO countries in industrial investment, facility connectivity, humanities exchanges, tourist escort, and epidemic prevention and control in the scenic, to jointly promote global tourism recovery and prosperity.
Additionally, Chongqing will also support international cultural exchange activities such as art exhibitions, art performances, cultural relics, and archaeology with SCO countries to promote civilization exchange and enhance people’s feelings of both sides.
Chongqing should focus on developing tourist attractions and products with irreplaceable characteristics
"I have been to Chongqing many times and have been impressed by the richness, diversity, complexity, and uniqueness of its culture and tourism resources." In the Panel Discussion, Ding Peiyi, a member of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Expert Committee and a researcher at the Institute of Tourism Studies at Griffith University in Australia, suggested that Chongqing should give full play to its unique human and cultural advantages, and form a dislocated development that is different from other regions associated with the Belt and Road.
Panel Discussion themed on "Deepen the Cultural Tourism Exchange between Chongqing and SCO countries." (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development)
In his view, "Chongqing's culture and tourism industry should be directed to both domestic and international markets, including Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, especially the markets of the SCO member countries, focusing on developing the largest single scale, highest resource value and most highly 'monopolistic' cultural tourism resources, for example, the Famous Chinese Historical and Cultural City, as well as the Yangtze River Three Gorges International Golden Tourism Belt, etc."