In the Chinese capital, UN Tourism Secretary-General Pololikashvili met with China's Minister of Culture and Tourism Sun Yeli to advance critical priorities across the global tourism agenda. These include positioning tourism within international development cooperation to promoting tourism education.

Additionally, the bilateral meeting also focused on advancing the sector’s key role in rural development. The UN Tourism leadership acknowledged that the Chinese government actively participates in the Best Tourism Villages initiative by UN Tourism. In 2024, a further 7 villages were selected as the Best Tourism Villages, taking the total in China to 15. This makes China the country with the most villages given this recognition by UN Tourism.

UN Tourism also recognized China’s decision to extend the visa-free policy for citizens of 38 countries until the end of 2025 and to strongly promote the measures for the convenient payment services for foreign visitors. This policy is anticipated to further promote the development of Chinese inbound tourism.

Advancing the Global Tourism Economy Forum

The official visit coincided with the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) Council Preparatory Meeting, held to chart a strategic roadmap for the Forum's future. Since its establishment in Macao SAR in 2012, the Global Tourism Economy Forum has been a vital bridge connecting tourism stakeholders from China and around the world, fostering dialogue between policymakers, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs to advance sustainable tourism development.

The Preparatory Meeting, brought together leaders from GTEF's long-standing Partners and Supporting Units including UN Tourism, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), European Travel Commission (ETC), World Tourism Alliance (WTA), World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), the International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA), the China Chamber of Tourism, and the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO). UN Tourism's participation reflects its continued commitment to GTEF, a partnership that began with the Forum's establishment in 2012 and was strengthened in 2023 to expand GTEF’s global reach and influence.

Building on GTEF's decade-long legacy of fostering meaningful dialogue in the global tourism economy, participants laid the groundwork for the GTEF Council, which will serve as the Forum's permanent governing body for strategic leadership and decision-making. The GTEF Council aims to establish a strategic vision to position GTEF as the 'Davos of Tourism,' creating a dynamic platform where public and private stakeholders converge to shape the industry's future. Through this enhanced governance framework, GTEF will strengthen its role as a catalyst for innovation and cross-sector collaboration in global tourism.

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About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

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