IMTA annual conference held in Guiyang

Experts and academics attend a conference discussing ways to help tourism to prosper in the post-pandemic era. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

The 2021 Annual Conference of International Mountain Tourism Alliance, or IMTA, was held on-site and online in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, on Dec 21.

This year's conference theme was "how can international organizations play a leading role in global tourism recovery and reshaping governance".

Experts and guests discussed approaches and methods to help tourism to prosper in the post-pandemic era, as well as creating cooperation platforms and mechanisms for international tourism organizations in the future.

Dominique de Villepin, chairman of IMTA and former prime minister of France and Shao Qiwei, vice-chairman of IMTA, delivered speeches at the conference.

At the event, eight organizations from China, Cambodia and Denmark officially joined IMTA, taking IMAT's total membership to 189. These include 107 Chinese organizations, 73 overseas organizations and nine individual members.

The organization members include countries, tourism institutions, non-profit organizations, tourism companies and consulting organizations. They also include tourism-related colleges, airline companies, tourism equipment manufacturing companies and organizations involved in outdoor sports.

The individual members are experts, academics and entrepreneurs involved in mountain tourism.

Established in 2017, IMTA is the world's first international organization focused on mountain tourism. As such, it has received support from many domestic and international organizations, companies and individuals.

In recent years, the body has actively promoted cooperation in international tourism. With its increasing membership base, plans are for IMTA to continue to boost exchanges between all interested parties, promote information sharing and also play a key role in the global tourism recovery and in reshaping the sector's governance.