The Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), Mr. Shao Qiwei, and UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, have agreed to strengthen cooperation between both organizations as a key step towards advancing China's tourism development objectives. On the occasion of his visit to Spain to receive the UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement, Mr. Shao also met with the Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism of Spain, Mr. José Manuel Soria (Madrid, Spain, 15 January 2013).

Meeting Mr. Rifai, Chairman Shao stressed the importance of collaboration with UNWTO in achieving the new objectives of China's tourism policy, a sector identified by the Central Government of China as one of the pillars of the country's economy. "The focus in China is now on quality and sustainability. That is, while the tourism sector has grown significantly over the past years in terms of volume, the future of the sector should focus on the diversification of tourism products, on environmental protection, on the quality of the workforce and overall quality over quantity. In this respect UNWTO support and guidance is of the utmost importance," said Chairman Shao.

"UNWTO is very supportive of China's tourism strategy and is committed to supporting its tourism administration," said Mr. Rifai. "There can be no tourism growth without responsibility and sustainability and thus we are extremely pleased to see that China, one of the world's major tourism destinations and source markets, is putting quality and sustainability at the heart of its tourism policy objectives."

Since 2006, UNWTO has supported the establishment of five Sustainable Tourism Observatories in China which are at the forefront of efforts to convert UNWTO theoretical criteria on sustainable tourism into practice at the destination level.

Meeting with Minister Soria of Spain, Mr. Shao further stressed that in spite of the current deficit in China's tourism balance due to slower growth in inbound tourism compared to outbound in 2012, the Chinese Government has not changed its strategy of encouraging outbound tourism. "With 148 countries now included in the list of 'Approved Destination Status' (ADS), the Government, and particularly CNTA, will continue to promote the traveling of Chinese people abroad as we believe in the mutual benefits of collaboration – by continuing to send Chinese travellers to Europe, the benefits will eventually flow back to China." In 2012, 80 million Chinese travelled abroad, while 2.9 billion domestic trips were registered.

Attending the historic meeting, Mr. Rifai highlighted the role of UNWTO in bringing together two world tourism leaders. "Spain is a reservoir of tourism experience and know-how built over more than 150 years of tourism history and China is an emerging tourism 'giant'. Spain can share its knowledge and experience with China and China can share its opportunities with Spain and through its tourists benefit not only Spain, but the entire European region," he said.

About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

Rut Gómez Sobrino
Principal Media Officer
(+34) 91 567 81 60
UN Tourism