On 17 September 2017, the Opening Ceremony of the 4th Sichuan International Travel Expo (SCITE) was held in Leshan. Mr. Yin Li, Governor of Sichuan Province announced the opening of SCITE, which was moderated by Mr. Yang Hongbo, Vice Governor of Sichuan Provincial People’s Government. More than 700 delegates, including Mr. Du Jiang, Vice Chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), Mr. Gan Lin, Member of Standing Committee of CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Director-General of Publicity Department of Sichuan Provincial People’s Government, Mr. He Xian, Chairman of China Talent Research Association, the leadership of municipalities and prefectures of Sichuan and Chinese side of sister cities, Mr. Zhu Shanzhong, Executive Director of World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Mr. Dale Lawrence, Special Adviser to CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), H.E. Mme Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), Mr. Randy Durband, CEO of Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Consul Generals of Australia, New Zealand and Thailand in Chengdu and delegates from Chinese and foreign tourism organizations, enterprises and media attended the event.

Mr. Peng Lin, Party Secretary of CPC Leshan Municipal Committee, delivered welcome remarks. He said that Leshan is a city of warm hospitality. As the host of SCITE, Lehsan will try its best efforts to make SCITE distinctive, influential, and satisfactory to all, and show the beautiful scenery of Jiazhou and rapid development of Leshan tourism. In this regard, he hoped to make every guest feel at home and sincerely welcomed more friends from all circles to Leshan for sightseeing, vacation and investment.

Mr. Christopher Lim, Consul General of Australia in Chengdu, thanked the host to invite Australia as the Guest Country of SCITE. He said that Australia also has a wealth of tourism resources and welcomes more Chinese tourists. He hoped to strengthen tourism exchanges and cooperation between Australia and Sichuan to promote common development.

Mr. Zhu Shanzhong said that UNWTO has maintained good cooperation with Sichuan and CNTA, and has paid great attention to the development of Sichuan tourism. The theme of SCITE, “Tourism Trade, Open Cooperation - Tourism Leads Green Development” matched perfectly with the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development designated by United Nations. He hoped Sichuan could continue to adhere to the spirit of openness, innovation and win-win results to jointly promote inclusive and sustainable development of the global tourism industry.

Mr. Gan Lin said that Sichuan is rich in tourism resources. The provincial party committee and the provincial government attach great importance to the development of tourism, and tourism has become an important pillar industry in Sichuan. Since its establishment, SCITE has been expanding its brand influence and attracted greater attention from the international community. Sichuan would take SCITE as an opportunity to deepen its cooperation with all sides, seek mutual benefits and win-win results, and contribute to the development of world tourism industry in Sichuan.

Mr. Du Jiang said that to develop the tourism industry is an important decision made by the Chinese government to adapt itself to the new normal of economic development, promote the transformation and development, and improve the well-being of the people. In 2016, China’s tourism contributed more than 10% to the number of international tourists and international tourism spending, and China will remain the world’s largest outbound tourist source country and the fourth largest inbound tourist host country. He hoped that all guests will take SCITE as an opportunity to further accumulate wisdom, conduct practical exchanges and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.

At the Opening Ceremony, Leshan City was awarded by Mr. Dale Lawrence Sustainable Development Demonstration Base of PATA.

The 4th SCITE was held from 17 to 24 September 2017 with 12 events, including the Opening Ceremony, the tour of main venue, Emei Global Summit, ASEAN-China Tourism Festival, Tourism Investment Salon, Tourism Talents Salon and a series of publicity events organized by the Guest Country and the Theme City.

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