Xingyi welcomes global guests at mountain tourism and outdoor sports conference

The opening ceremony of the 2023 International Conference of Mountain Tourism and Outdoor Sports, or MTOS, in Xingyi city on Saturday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Global guests involved in mountain tourism and outdoor sports met in China's mountainous rich Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture to unveil the 2023 International Conference of Mountain Tourism and Outdoor Sports, or MTOS, in Xingyi city on Saturday.

This year's meeting aims at exploring the deep integration of mountain tourism and multi-industries, promoting the high-quality development of mountain tourism, and providing high-quality tourism experiences for tourists.

Nearly 700 guests from culture, sports and tourism authorities and enterprises, mountain and outdoor sports organizations, and investment and finance institutes from home and abroad attended Saturday's opening ceremony, including those from France, Nepal, Portugal and Laos.

Li Bingjun, deputy secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and governor of Guizhou province, said the province will make sustainable efforts in building a better mountainous park province to facilitate the tourism industry to serve people's welfare and the province's development at the opening ceremony. The province is aiming to become a world-class destination by improving local tourism resources and services and exploring more visitor sources to achieve high-quality tourism development, according to Li.

Data shows Guizhou's tourism industry has welcomed as many as 464 million visitors and earned 534.5 billion yuan during the first eighty months of 2023, reaching 109.2 percent and 117.7 percent respectively as that of 2019.

Members of the China Storyteller Partnerships Tour of Amazing Guizhou have group photos during the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Conference of Mountain Tourism and Outdoor Sports, or MTOS, in Xingyi city on Saturday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Dominique de Villepin, chairman of International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA), said the recovery of the tourism industry after the pandemic will be a process of transformation from quantity to quality. Tourism is related with health in many ways and mountain tourism boasts great potential to develop. As a mountainous park province, Guizhou has built itself into a model of combining mountain tourism and other industries with its rich and unique natural resources and is set to become a world-class destination.

IMTA was initiated by China and founded in Xingyi in 2017 with Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, as its headquarter and secretariat.

A report on mountain tourism cooperation and development under the framework of RCEP co-compiled by International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) was released and 14 mountain and spring resorts nationally and internationally were honored as pilot models by the IMTA during the ceremony.

The conference is formed of a complex of activities and events with the theme of "integrate sports and tourism, enjoy a high-quality life". The five events include the annual meeting of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance and the Dialogue of World Famous Mountains held on Friday.

Another major event saw more than 10,000 runners enjoying a half marathon race along the karst scenery route with Bouyei ethnic culture in Wanfenglin scenic spot on September 10.

Supporting activities like a softball competition, a summer camp, a triathlon competition, a wild fishing competition and a half marathon run had been held in Xingyi before the opening of the conference while a sport climbing competition and a cycling race will be held during the conference.

Xingyi, capital city of Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province, has been the permanent venue for the conference since 2015. The city boasts China's largest artificial lake and fifth largest freshwater lake – Wangfeng Lake, known as paradise for water sports – and Wanfenglin scenic spot, a tour area featuring dense and bizarrely shaped karst peaks extending for hundreds of kilometers and ranked by Chinese National Geography as one of the five most beautiful peak forests in the country.