EU and China to Discuss Tourism and Culture Cooperation in Brussels

Chinese premier and Li Kequiang and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

The 2018 EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY) initiative, which was officially launched last month in Venice, will be celebrated on February 28 through a dedicated Parliamentary Day and the EU-China Tourism and Culture Cooperation Summit at the European Parliament in Brussels.

The aim of the EU-China Tourism Year 2018 initiative is to promote lesser-known destinations, improve travel and tourism experiences, provide opportunities to increase economic cooperation and create incentives to make quick progress on EU-China visa facilitation and air connectivity.

During the EU-China Tourism and Culture Cooperation Summit, all parties will focus on the opportunities offered by the ECTY initiative to boost tourism flows for China and Europe.

Organized by the European Travel Commission, the European Parliament, the Europe-China One Belt One Road (OBOR) Culture and Tourism Development Committee and HiSEAS, a leading travel destination management specialist, the event will be attended by Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament and Zurab Pololikashvili, recently elected secretary general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Many esteemed diplomats and representatives of stakeholder organizations will also attend.

Among the participants will be Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union; Slawomir Tokarski, director of DG GROW — Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission; Pan Feng from the ministry of commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) and Duma Wang, CEO of HISEAS.

Furthermore, the summit will feature two panel discussions: In the first panel experts and representatives of European and Chinese Tourism Industries, government institutions, as well as journalists, will discuss on the role and the possibilities of the EU-China Tourism Year. In the second panel, the main subject will focus on how tourism and culture cooperation can be promoted between EU and China.