The Pacific Asia Travel Association has signed a four-party agreement to establish a permanent tourism research forum for the Asia Pacific region in Guilin, China (PRC).

The agreement was struck this week in Guilin at the UNWTO/PATA Forum on ‘Tourism Trends and Outlook’. Signatories to the agreement are PATA CEO Greg Duffell, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, Mayor of Guilin Li Zhigang and Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) Director Kaye Chon.

The agreement states that the Forum will ‘provide an opportunity for policymakers, senior officials, researchers and industry representatives to take stock of the global and regional trends in tourism and the broader environment impacting upon tourism’.

The proposed structure of this permanent Forum in Guilin is a two-day conference and a technical tour. Themes will vary annually and will be decided jointly by the four organisations (as named above). PATA and the UNWTO are to continue as joint organisers of the Forum, working closely with the HKPU on all technical matters relating to each event. The city of Guilin, as the permanent sponsor and host, is to provide the venue and agreed logistical support. A Forum Secretariat is to be established within the Guilin Municipal Tourism Administration headquarters.

“This Forum, held in Guilin for the past three years, has an impressive track record in covering relevant issues of substance. It attracts high ranking delegates and an impressive cross-section of speakers from the public and private sectors as well as from academia. The creation of a permanent home in Guilin will do much to enhance the value and importance of the Forum,” says Greg Duffell. “This is a major step forward."