The WTCF Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2019 under the theme of "Smart 
Tourism-Road to City Innovation and Development" was held in Helsinki, Finland 
on September 2. Delegates of tourism cities from all over the world had an 
in-depth discussion of smart tourism and smart cities, and put forward 
constructive suggestions to advance city innovation and development.

Song Yu, Secretary-General of the WTCF and Director of the Beijing Municipal 
Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said in his keynote speech that 55% of the 
world's population currently live in cities, it is anticipated that by 2050, 
66% of the population will live in cities, and human society will enter the 
stage of city-dominated development in an all-round way. In the world tourism, 
tourism cities are not only major destinations and source markets, but also 
major tourism hubs and source, undertaking the function of service providing. 
With the extensive application of the Internet of Things, new models of tourism 
such as self-arranged tour, customized tour and family tour have emerged one 
after another, posing new challenges to the traditional models of tourism 
services, management and marketing. Smart tourism is having a major influence 
on innovation and development of the world tourism. It's hoped that the level 
of the world tourism service, management, marketing and experience will be 
further enhanced through the building of smart tourism cities, so as to 
contribute to the sustainable development of the world tourism.

The Global Report on Smart Tourism in Cities, an important academic achievement 
of the WTCF, was released at the Summit. According to the report, many cities 
attach great importance to the development towards smart cities, and they are 
using technologies to enhance their "livability" and "productivity". Helsinki, 
for example, has long ago set a strategic goal to make Helsinki the best 
digital city. The operation of Helsinki is based on its openness and 
transparency, with accessible electronic services and innovative use of mobile 
technology, artificial intelligence and automation. Beijing is developing 
towards data-driven "Smart Beijing" in an all-round manner and has made 
breakthroughs in information infrastructure and public services. Based on the 
intelligent management of big data, the tourism sector in Beijing has 
established and improved its e-government system, tourism business system, and 
service available on government websites, etc. Smart technologies are put into 
more extensive use in tourism administration to better satisfy the needs of 
residents and tourists.

The WTCF is the world's first international tourism organization focusing on 
tourism cities. It currently has 218 members, including 145 cities and 73 
institutions. Guided by the core vision of "Better City Life through Tourism", 
the WTCF aims to promote exchanges and cooperation among world tourism cities.

Source: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism