The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) general assembly will go ahead as planned in China this Autumn.
The WTO leaders have decided to stick with Beijing as a location for the meeting following the decision by the World Health Organisation to remove travel restrictions on the city. The assembly will be held from 17 October to 24 October and the main topic of discussion will be the transformation of the WTO into a specialised agency of the UN.
Hong Kong also received a boost last week when representatives from tourism ministries around the world descended on the city for the Conference on International Cooperation for Tourism Development. The topic under debate was “Revitalising Asian Tourism”.
WTO secretary-general, Francesco Frangialli said the conference could not have come at a more opportune moment. He added: “The convening of the event indicated that Hong Kong, China and the entire Asian region have overcome the worst impact of SARS and that tourism will not wither from SARS.”
