Background - Event Tourism & Destination Management Conference - 29-29 Sept 2003

Return to IGU Tourism's
Forthcoming Conferences

Event Tourism & Destination Management
An International Conference
Yichang / Three Gorges, China - 28 to 30 November 2003 (REVISED DATES)

CONFERENCE BACKGROUND

Since the adoption of its of modernization and open door policies in early 1980s, China’s economy has developed rapidly and people’s living standards have improved enormously. This has resulted in a boom in China's tourism industry, both domestic and international. Tourism has come to play an important role in developing and promoting local economies, and China's ideological progress. Tourism's social and economical benefits in China have been remarkable. With ever increasing numbers of tourists and increasing competition between destinations, event tourism and destination management have become growing areas of interest within China. These are now hot issue in tourism development and research. The goals of this international Conference are to share and promote research on event tourism and destination management that can address growing issues in China's tourism development.

The City of Yichang (along with Hubei Province) has drawn the world’s attention in recent years because of its proximity (40 km) to the Three Gorges Dam Project. With Three Gorges as its major attraction, Yichang serves as an ideal destination for research related to event tourism and destination management. During the conference, Hubei Province and Yichang will provide excellent opportunities to show their newly developing image, and to consult with experts on how to best develop tourism in Yichang and three Gorges. Yichang hopes to become a model of well planned and developed “event tourism & destination management”.

Zhongshan University's Center for Tourism Planning and Research, the principal conference organizer, completed the Hubei Tourism Master Plan in 2001 and has a good understanding of tourism throughout the province. While doing research for this plan, it established extensive relations with domestic and foreign tourism research institutions. The Center for Tourism Planning and Research has previously successfully organized international conferences on “Urban Tourism” in Zhuhai (1999) and “Tourism Planning and Management in Developing Countries” in Guilin (2001). The Tourism Commission of the International Geographical Union was a cosponsor of the 2001 meeting in Guilin.