ACC Attended 2022 China-ASEAN Expo Tourism Exhibition

On 19 September 2022, the 2022 China-ASEAN Expo Tourism Exhibition (the Tourism Exhibition) was unveiled in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Tourism Exhibition was co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Mr. Hu Heping, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Lan Tianli, Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Mr. Zhou Jiabin, Secretary of CPC Guilin Municipal Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, representing the Guest of honor, delivered an online speech. Mr. Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of Thailand to China, and the representatives from Embassies and Consulates of Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam in China attended the opening ceremony. The ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) is the supporter of the Tourism Exhibition. Ms. Li Yaying, Deputy Director of the Education, Culture and Tourism Division (ECTD) of ACC, attended the opening ceremony and related activities.

At the opening ceremony, Hu Heping noted that this year is the first year for building the ASEAN-China comprehensive strategic partnership and implementing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). The Tourism Exhibition will strongly enhance the brand influence of the exhibition and the radiation power of the platform, create an energetic engine for RCEP countries to expand tourism communication and cooperation, and lay a solid foundation for Guangxi to build a world tourism destination and Guilin to build a world-class tourism city.

In his speech, Lan Tianli said that Guangxi is looking forward to working with ASEAN Member States (AMS) to strengthen cultural heritage protection and inheritance, deepen cooperation in the creation of cultural tourism routes, promotion, investment, resource sharing, product development and other aspects of culture and tourism, making contributions to the integrated development of culture and tourism, and the high-quality development of China and ASEAN tourism industry.

The Forum of Cooperation and Prospects for Tourism Recovery was successfully held in the afternoon of 19 September 2022. As an important supporting activity of the Tourism Exhibition, the forum was co-hosted by the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the China Tourism Academy, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Guilin Municipal People's Government. The forum was themed “Continuing to promote tourism recovery and creating a better future for tourism together”. The guests discussed and offered advice on promoting people-to-people exchanges and tourism cooperation in the BRICS and AMS and helping international tourism recovery despite the continued impact of the epidemic. Ms. Li Yaying attended the forum and delivered a speech. In the evening, representatives of ACC were also invited to attend the culture and tourism promotion activity held by the theme province of Tourism Exhibition -- Gansu.

The Tourism Exhibition was held both online and offline. The offline exhibition area was about 25,000 square meters. Nearly 50 countries and regions abroad and more than 300 organisations and enterprises from more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China participated in the exhibition. ACC set up special booth to promote ASEAN tourism destinations, which were well received by the organisations and the public.