COTRI represented as key player at the foundation of Twin Cities World Tourism Association (TCWTA) in Langkawi, Malaysia

The foundation of the Twin Cities World Tourism Association (TCWTA) at the PATA Travel Mart 2018 in Langkawi, Malaysia on September 14, 2018.

The association aims to both uphold and foster tourism between twinned cities worldwide, as well as promote cultural understanding between members and establish advantageous commercial links between cities.

On the occasion of the TCWTA’s foundation, director of marketing and sales Enrique Lepehne explained: “We want to use this platform to bring twin cities together, to get them communicating, and show them the tourism possibilities and new ways to explore tourism in the cities.”

Planned activities would include joint tourism campaigns, as well as exchanges between groups such as senior travellers or educational bodies.

Newly-elected president Thomas-Peter Binder said: “We want to encourage people to travel to the twin towns. While contact through social media is all well and good, it is no substitute for real, personal and direct interaction between people.”

COTRI Director Prof. Wolfgang Georg Arlt was honoured with the position of being nominated as the head of the department responsible for the China region. Outlining the importance of the TCWTA’s work in the Chinese context, he offered that: “In China many cities have partnership relations with cities abroad and are very interested to use these partnerships in order to develop tourism activities on both sides. China is the biggest source for travel and tourism worldwide. As a member of the Beijing-headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation’s Expert Committee I will strive towards creating a good start for the TCWTA’s Department for the Chinese Region within the framework of its global strategy.”

The work of the association will see it represented at industry gatherings around the world, while also holding its own event in Zurich, Switzerland on January 18, 2019.

The board is made up of a total of 14 members, compromising 13 mayors from around the world, as well as General Secretary Hüseyin Baraner. Meetings are expected to take place on an annual basis, hosted in the city of the sitting president.

Sources: TTG Asia and Tourexpi

Image: OHM_0353 by PATA TV Source: Flickr Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)