IIPT Founder and President, Louis D’Amore was a featured speaker at the recent Pu’er Green Forum on Tourism and Ecology held in the beautiful city of Pu’er and the Pu’er Sun River National Park immediately following the UN World Tourism Organization General Assembly in Chengdu. The Forum, organized by the China Chamber of Tourism, featured the Pu’er City Green Development Strategy, being implemented by the Yunnan Mekong Group, as a model for the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and Peace, particularly in terms of its harmonious co-existence between man and nature.
The Yunnan Mekong Group has established 14 green ecotourism projects in Yunnan each driving transformation towards sustainable socio-economic development of local communities; protection of forests and wildlife; enhancing cultures – particularly minority ethnic cultures; and increasing levels of income for local residents while providing memorable and inspirational travel experiences for visiting tourists and conserving natural and cultural resources for future generations.
In his address, D’Amore gave a brief history of IIPT and its achievements and proposed further collaboration between the China Chamber of Tourism and IIPT that includes:
- A Title Sponsorship Role in the UNWTO-IIPT Global Summit in 2018
- China Chamber of Tourism members participating in the “IIPT Travel for Peace Campaign
- Promoting Peace, Harmony and Development through Partnership in:
– IIPT Peace Parks across China and
– IIPT Peace Parks in the Southern Silk Road
China Chamber of Tourism members participating in the “IIPT Travel for Peace Campaign”
Other Speakers in the Forum included Peter Wong, Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism (photo on left); Madame Wang Ping, Founding Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism; Yu Jinfang, Chairman, Kingland Group and Yunnan Mekong Group; Carlos Vogeler, Executive Director for Member Relations and Regional Director, Americas, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); Madame Liu Ting, Chairman, China Women’s Chamber of Commerce ; and Mr. Xu Jing, Executive Secretary and Regional Director for Asia and Pacific, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The Forum also included two panel discussions, the first on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development focusing on the Pu’er City Green Development Strategy in the context of 2017 being the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and Peace. Led by the Mekong Group, Pu’er City has been preserving its biodiversity together with an emphasis on the co-existence of humanity in harmony with wildlife and nature as a model for the entire world.
Theme of the second panel discussion in which IIPT President D’Amore participated was “Regional Collaboration for Sustainable Tourism Development in the South Silk Road.” Collaboration is based on the “Belt and Road Initiative” which received considerable attention during the previous week at the UNWTO General Assembly in Chengdu. Regional collaboration for the South Silk Road is based on the five South Asian economies and five southwestern provinces of China collaborating together with the private sector of tourism in the interest of achieving a green and sustainable tourism economy along the South Silk Road in a manner that benefits each nation, lifting people out of poverty and promoting harmony and mutual understanding among its people.
About China Chamber of Tourism
The China Chamber of Tourism was formed in 2002 to include all sectors of the travel and tourism industry and related industries throughout China. It is based on a concept of “Pan Tourism” with the belief that tourism as a bond could connect and lead industries to develop co-operatively. Its core beliefs are “tourism is peace” and that world tourism calls for world peace; tourism is culture and the improvement of life quality. China Chamber of Tourism has achieved fruitful co-operation with UNWTO, WTTC, PATA – and now IIPT – enhancing the co-operation and exchange of Chinese and tourism enterprises of other nations.
