UNWTO Welcomes 2018 EU-China Tourism Year Amidst Strengthening of Ties with the European Union

While visiting Brussels, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), welcomed the forthcoming 2018 EU-China Tourism Year amidst wider discussions regarding enhanced relations between the UNWTO and the European Union (EU).

Speaking on the first anniversary of the establishment of the Europe China OBOR Culture & Tourism Development Committee of the Europe-China One Belt One Road initiative, Rifai placed particular emphasis on the role of tourism and culture in enhancing the links between the EU and China. This strongly reflected the wider global tourism trends covered in discussions between Rifai and EU Commissioners on matters including the EU Blue Growth Agenda, the 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and the Sustainable Tourism Goals.

Highlighting the importance of China to the European market, István Ujhelyi, President of the Development Committee stated: “The Committee works to ensure that the tourism sector within the European Union responds with a unified voice to the immense potential of the Chinese tourism market and the One Belt One Road initiative, one of the largest ever investment plans. The support of UNWTO to the Committee and to the EU-China Year of Tourism in 2018 is of critical value”.

Having been officially launched in 2016, the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year will be marked by a number of events taking place throughout 2018. For more information, please visit the official 2018 EU-China Tourism Year website.

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of regions, providing detailed insights and analysing visitor behaviour.

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Source: UNWTO

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