7th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism and 1st Tourism Ministerial Meeting on the Silk Road Economic Belt
Reflecting on over 20 years' of tourism development along the Silk Road, the 7th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China on 18-20 June 2015.
Attended by over 25 Silk Road countries, in addition to the presence of major institutions such as UNESCO, the UNWTO ST-EP Foundation and a wide range of public and private stakeholders from the tourism industry and beyond, such as China Chamber of Tourism, BBC Worldwide, University College London, TripAdvisor, Ctrip, Finnair, HNA Aviation Group and the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA), the joint conference provided an important forum for Ministers, high level officials and experts to debate challenges and accord opportunities for successfully developing tourism along the maritime and continental Silk Road.
An integral part of the event programme was the Tourism Ministerial Meeting of Countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt. This milestone event brought together Ministers from Europe, Asia and the Middle East to discuss key issues facing tourism development along the Silk Road Economic Belt. At this high-level meeting, the Xi’an Initiative was endorsed, an initiative that declares the Silk Road a treasure to be shared by all countries along the Silk Road, and an important resource for tourism development.
As to the 7th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism, experts from the fields of tourism, marketing, investment and heritage management convened to discuss how to raise the profile of Silk Road tourism and drive develop that is sustainable, responsible and internationally competitive.
Topics addressed at the Meeting included, among others:
- World tourism trends and outlook for the Silk Road region
- Creating a stronger environment for business growth and investment
- Transboundary routes across the Silk Road regions, as recently discussed at the 5th UNWTO Silk Road Ministers' Meeting at ITB Berlin 2015
- Developing and enhancing Silk Road products
- Facilitating travel to strengthen the Silk Road's extensive network of destinations
- Addressing environmental concerns and safeguarding heritage
NEW: Access the meeting presentations here
Watch the videos from the sessions here -youtube.
Minutes and summary from the Silk Road Economic Belt Ministerial Meeting are available here.
Photos of the meeting available here - flickr
Additional Meeting Information:
- Programme
- программа / Programme (Russian)
- UNWTO Press release dated 25 June 2015
- Information on our Speakers
- Mr. Tim Cope, renowned adventurer, to speak at the 7th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism
- General Information Note
Additional Information
- Save the Date - 7th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism
- Information on Xi'an - BBC Travel: The Eastern Promise of Xi'an
- Meeting Information - 6th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism
This meeting was jointly organized by UNWTO, China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the People's Government of Shaanxi Province.
Documents
- save_the_date_xian_no_logos.pdf
- 7thunwtointernationalmeetingprogramme.1206.pdf
- russian_7_unwto_international_silk_road_meeting_programme_0.pdf
- general_information_note_-_english_rev12june.pdf
- speakers_7th_unwto_international_meeting_on_silk_road_tourism.pdf
- sreb_meeting_xian_initiative.pdf
- minutes_unwto_xian_silk_road_meeting_0.pdf
- sreb_meeting_xian_initiative_0.pdf
