On the morning of June 19, the Silk Road Tourism Ministerial Meeting and the Seventh UNWTO Silk Road Tourism International Conference was held in Xi'an.

The meeting was cosponsored by UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), and the People's Government of Shaanxi Province. Zhao Zhengyong, secretary of CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee, Li Jinzao,

director of CNTA, and Taleb Rifai, secretary general of UNWTO, attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches. Also attending the ceremony included Lou Qinjian, governor of Shaanxi Province, Nikolina Angelkova, tourism minister of Bulgaria, Aliyev Yahaya, tourism minister of Indonesia, Nayif Fayez, tourism and heritage minister of Jordan, and Owen Haorile, green development tourism minister of Mongolia.

In his speech, Zhao Zhengyong said that the meeting serves as an important channel for the countries and regions along the Silk Road to learn from each other and deepen their mutual understanding and an important platform for their interconnectivity and greater cooperation. Now, China is implementing the “one belt and one road” strategy, which not only opens a brand-new field of vision on co-building and sharing for the countries along the Silk Road, but profoundly changes the opening up layout of China’s western region and puts Shaanxi on the center stage of the “one belt and one road” and the front of the westward opening up. Shaanxi will take the initiative to merge into the“one belt and one road” construction, firmly implement the reciprocal win-win opening up strategy, constantly vitalize its commercial logistics, cultural tourism, advanced manufacturing, science, technology, education, and modern agriculture, and build itself into a new starting point of the Silk Road economic belt and a new highland for inland development and opening up.

 Zhao Zhengyong called tourism the sunrise industry that never falls and also the natural bridge for spreading civilization, exchanging culture, and enhancing friendship. Shaanxi will draw from others the advanced experience, strengthen its communication and coordination with the countries and regions along the Silk Road, make tourism products focus simultaneously on sightseeing, leisure spending, and vacationing, promote tourism towards intensive complex development, promote the turn of tourism economy into a complete industry chain, constantly upgrade tourism infrastructure and services, quicken the building of the Silk Road custom experiencing tourism corridor, and work hard to build itself into a first-class tourist destination in the world.

In his speech, Li Jinzao said that for millennium, the Silk Road spirit featuring “peaceful cooperation, open accommodation, mutual learning, and reciprocal win-win result” has made the glorious history of the Silk Road. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the “one belt and one road” strategic proposal. In the “one belt and one road” interconnectivity, tourism has natural advantage as the first means for connectivity. In 2014, the two-way tourism exchange between China and the countries along the Silk Road involved 25 million person-times of people flow. In the coming five years, the countries along the “one belt and one road” will receive 150 million person-times of Chinese tourists, whose tourism consumption will exceed 200 billion USD. We are confident in attracting from the countries along the “one belt and one road” 85 million person-times of tourists, whose tourism consumption will reach 110 billion USD.

This will greatly promote tourism development in the countries and regions along the Silk Road.

Rifai said that as an important event, the meeting manifests Chinese Government’s great emphasis on tourism and fully demonstrates the important role of tourism in socioeconomic development. For the countries along the Silk Road, it is not enough to only possess cultural and historical heritages and natural landscape. Their governments should be strongly willing to promote the heritages into tourism industry so as to push forward international tourism, create consumption, and stimulate employment. The successful practice of China in tourism development displays Chinese Government’s confidence and future leadership and influence in the world. He hopes that the countries along the Silk Road seize the opportunity to carry out cooperation, carry on the Silk Road spirit, seek innovative development, and benefit from tourism development. Li Shihong, vice director of CNTA, presided over the opening ceremony. Also attending the opening ceremony included Wei Minzhou, member of the standing committee of CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and secretary of CPC Xi'an City Committee, Liu Xiaoyan, member of the standing committee and secretary general of CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee, Wang Lixia, vice governor of Shaanxi, Zhu Shanzhong and Sodan Somogy, executive directors of UNWTO, and chiefs of tourism administrations of the countries along the Silk Road such as Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Romania, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, and Sri Lanka, chiefs of tourism administrations of Chinese provinces, regions, and cities, and representatives of large-scale tourism enterprises of China, all circles of Xi’an City, and media at home and abroad.

On the afternoon of June 19, the Seventh UNWTO Silk Road Tourism International Conference was held. Explorer Tom Cope gave a keynote speech entitled “Following in the Footsteps of Genghis Khan” and the attendees had group discussions on “Future of Travel: Social Communication Media, Mobile Technology, and Predetermined Revolution.”