The 10th Cross-Straits Seminar on Tourism and the Summit Forum on Guesthouse Development was held in Mentougou district, Beijing on August 24. It was hosted by Beijing International Studies University (BISU), Xiamen University, Jishou University, Beijing Cross-Straits non-governmental exchange promotion association, Beijing Mentougou district tourism industry association, among many organizations. Officials, experts, teachers, students and media representatives from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan attended the forum online or on site. 

The site of the 10th Cross-Straits Seminar on Tourism and the Summit Forum on Guesthouse Development. [Photo by BISU]

Liu Guiming, chairman of Beijing Mentougou District Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said in his speech that participants at the seminar discussed the construction of beautiful villages and the upgrading of the guesthouse industry in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. He said participating experts learned about the boutique guesthouses in Mentougou district online and on site, analyzed the bottleneck restricting Mentougou guesthouses from flourishing, and provided suggestions for the development of its cultural and tourism sector. 

Ji Jinbiao, president of BISU, noted that BISU is one of the earliest universities in China to establish the discipline of tourism. It has trained a large number of high-end talents and industrial elites. 

The seminar put the academic community, cross-Straits scholars and postgraduate students in an important place. The seminar has been held for 10 sessions, soliciting a total of more than 3,000 high-quality articles. This year, 20 outstanding papers have been selected.  

Zhang Tianzuo, chief economic manager of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs gave a keynote speech on the development of rural tourism. Liu Bin, deputy director general of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, shared his thoughts on rural tourism as a new engine of rural revitalization. Attending scholars and experts shared their ideas on guesthouse development. 

Zhong Lina, executive dean of Big Data Research Institute of BISU, released the 2022 Chinese Mainland Guesthouse Development report, which was compiled based on more than 3 million comments for 60,000 guesthouses in 325 cities of 31 provinces, analyzing the guesthouse development trends in the Chinese mainland. 

On Aug 25, experts inspect Mentougou district’s Cuandixia village and Ziyang villa.[Photo by BISU]

Attending experts focused on "guesthouses promoting the realization of ecological value and the protection and development of ancient villages", "creativity energizing guesthouse development," and "Internet+ and entertainment shows energizing guesthouse marketing". 

Participating experts inspected Mentougou's Cuandixia Village and Ziyang villa on August 25, analyzing the development status of local guesthouses and giving suggestions on the development of local tourism. 

The seminar is a summit forum jointly held by the academic and the industrial circles of tourism in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Initiated by BISU in 2008, the forum aims to provide a quality platform for discussing the topic of cross-Straits tourism industry. 

Over the past 15 years, the seminar has also discussed cross-Straits rural tourism and guesthouse development in the post-pandemic era.