Performances at the welcome dinner
The Global Tourism Economy Forum‧Macau 2016 (“GTEF” or “the Forum”) was inaugurated splendidly this afternoon (15 October). As the host of the Forum, the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government specially hosted a grand welcome dinner at Grand Hyatt Macau, City of Dreams tonight (15 October) as a warm reception for the guests, and to extend wishes that the discussions tomorrow (16 October) will inspire more creative ideas and innovations for fostering global tourism cooperation. The dinner was attended by prestigious guests and speakers including Mr. Ho Hau Wah, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and GTEF Chairman; Mr. Wang Qinmin, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce and Honorary Chairman of GTEF; Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Honorary Chairman of GTEF; Mr. Li Jinzao, Chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and Honorary Chairman of GTEF; Mr. Matthias Fekl, French Minister for Tourism, etc. Dr. Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government and Executive Chairman of GTEF, stated in his welcome message that, the Global Tourism Economy Forum is stepping into its fifth year as a prominent meeting for global tourism leaders with a far-reaching impact across the region and the international community. Their gatherings have generated a widening network for co-operation and an efficient platform for discussions on future tourism landscape. He mentioned that the Asia-Pacific region has become one of the regions in the world showing the fastest tourism growth and a burgeoning consumer spending. Through the Forum, he hopes to foster industry leaders to grab the trend of global consumption patterns and create more new tourism products, leading the tourism industry to march forward. Secretary Tam also remarked that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, in his visit to Macao a few days ago, announced that the Central Government will support the Macao SAR Government in hosting the Global Tourism Economy Forum. Secretary Tam believes that the Forum will help broadening co-operation among all parties and the collaborations will certainly create synergy in promoting the global tourism development and contribute to the socio-economic interests of individual destinations. To showcase the rich cultural and arts heritage of China and France, the dinner was decorated with magnificent performances blended their distinctive cultural characters, including Chinese traditional dance and opera in contemporary style as well as French opera performance, enhancing participants’ cultural experience with a compilation of lasting cultural and arts essence. Themed “The Growing Consumer Class – Rethinking and Reshaping the Future Tourism Landscape”, the fifth anniversary edition gathers over 120 ministerial officials from different countries, leaders from globally‐renowned private corporations, as well as experts and scholars to zero in on how this rising resourceful and tech-savvy group is more than ever the increasingly influential force in the tourism industry. The fifth edition of GTEF will resume its comprehensive programme tomorrow (16 October) with eight in-depth topical panels. The Forum will also continue to reinforce its sought-after function as a networking platform and include business matching and networking sessions, providing ample opportunities for attendees to exchange ideas with ministers and officials of tourism and economy from different countries, as well as decision-makers of leading global tourism-related corporations, so as to establish networks and explore innovative business opportunities and cooperation.
