The 11th International Conference on Tourism and Hospitality between China and Spain (ICT2022) was inaugurated yesterday at the City University of Macau (CityU).
This year’s edition, themed “Challenges and Opportunities for Global Tourism Development in the Post-Pandemic Era,” aimed to bring together scholars from around the world to share insights on international tourism development and explore solutions to address current challenges. The two-day conference provided an opportunity for exchanges among higher education institutions and scholars. ICT2022 received 66 conference papers and was attended by over 200 in-person guests and virtual audiences from Spain, France, Portugal, Malaysia, mainland China, and Macao.
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At the opening ceremony, Rector Jun Liu of CityU, Executive Associate Dean Li Xi of the Faculty of International Tourism and Management, and Prof Luo Yuhua of the University of Balearic Islands, the founding university of the conference, contributed their welcome remark.
According to Rector Liu, tourism is the largest industry in the world, contributing about 10% of the world’s GDP and creating one-tenth of the world’s jobs. He said that tourism transcends borders, transforms regions and creates prosperity for communities worldwide; however, the pandemic has generated a devastating impact on tourism, causing a drastic decline in visitor arrivals and revenue. Rector Liu noted that how the tourism trade should cope with the current challenges in tourism is a key to driving future development. He hoped that the conference would have a positive impact and contribution to the industry and academia and wished the conference a success.
The conference invited eminent scholars to deliver a keynote speech. They included Prof Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Research Institute and member of the National Steering Committee for Postgraduate Education in Tourism Management; Prof Ma Yong, chief expert of Eco-tourism Research Base of the China Tourism Academy and deputy director of the Tourism Management Teaching Guidance Committee of Ministry of Education; Mr Bernardo Cabot Estarellas, managing director of Meliá Hotel Group in China, headquartered Spain.
Prof Dai Bin pointed out that the tourist demand shows diversified characteristics, and the market has accommodated new business trends over the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, micro tourism and mini trips would be popular in the post-pandemic era. Prof Dai also gave an outlook on the policy support for tourism development.
Prof Ma Yong presented three changes and three unchanged phenomena in the practice of nature of tourism in the post-pandemic era and provided strategies for the challenges.
Mr Bernardo Cabot Estarellas introduced the operation of the hotel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and the market changes from the perspective of business operation. He also highlighted measures adopted by the Meliá Hotel Group.
The conference continued with a panel discussion with five sessions on the second day. These sessions covered cultural and rural tourism, hotel and hospitality industry, sustainable tourism, smart tourism and future tourism development.
Source: Faculty of International Tourism and Management
