On the evening of September 19, local time, Li Jinzao, director of the Organizing Committee of the World Tourism Alliance and CNTA chairman, held a meeting with Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California and Ernest Wooden Jr., president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism), in Los Angeles to discuss issues of common concern.

 

Li spoke positively of the tourism exchange between China and the U.S. since the 2016 Tourism Year program. He pointed out that California played an indispensible role in Sino-US tourism exchange, fully recognized Visit California and L.A. Tourism in their contacts made with the Chinese tourism industry in recent years, and hoped to carry on the sound momentum and create a more convenient, safer travel environment for Chinese and American tourists. Li welcomed American tourism organizations and companies to join the newly-born World Tourism Alliance to allow the latter to play an active role in promoting bilateral tourism cooperation.

 

Ms. Beteta congratulated on the founding of the World Tourism Alliance and expressed strong interest in joining it. She then thanked CNTA for supporting her organization’s marketing efforts in China for all the time and said her organization highly valued the Chinese market and was willing to work closely with the Chinese side to expand two-way personnel exchange. Mr. Ernest Wooden Jr. said his organization was also interested in becoming a member of the World Tourism Alliance and would continue to work with the U.S. Department of Commerce in simplifying the visa policy and customs clearance formalities and creating a more comfortable and convenient travel environment for Chinese tourists.

 

Also present at the meeting were secretary general Liu Shijun of the World Tourism Alliance and departmental heads of CNTA.