Beijing, Nov 8 — With 38 days to go before the opening of the 13th Belt and Road International Day (Silk Road Festival) and the Global Belt and Road New Year Cultural Festival, the 9th Belt and Road Tourism Forum will be hosted by Beijing International Studies University. Chen Entian, Chairman of the Silk Road International Guild Alliance, extended his congratulations on the forum and expressed the hope that Silk Road News Agency would establish a partnership with Beijing International Studies University.
The Belt and Road Tourism Forum serves as an important academic platform for cultural and tourism exchanges, tourism cooperation and mutual learning among civilizations under the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the years, it has gathered experts, scholars and tourism representatives from home and abroad to discuss topics including Silk Road tourism, heritage conservation, cultural-tourism integration and people-to-people bonds. It has built a bridge for coordinated tourism development and cultural exchanges among countries and regions along the routes.
Chen Entian stated that tourism is the most vivid carrier for dialogue between civilizations and a warm bond for people-to-people exchanges. He expected that this forum would give full play to the strengths of Beijing International Studies University in foreign languages as well as cultural and tourism disciplines, further explore the cultural and tourism value of the Silk Road. He hopes countries along the routes will deepen cultural exchanges and folk friendship through tourism, boost high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative via cultural-tourism cooperation, and add splendor to the upcoming Belt and Road International Day (Silk Road Festival).
It is learned that the forum will carry forward the academic tradition of previous sessions. Domestic and international cultural-tourism scholars and industry practitioners will hold online and offline dialogues to share experience of Silk Road tourism and explore innovative paths for cultural-tourism integration, consolidating the foundation of people-to-people connectivity along the Silk Road. Chen Entian also called on young student volunteers to take an active part in the Belt and Road New Year Cultural Festival featuring joint celebrations of five festivals: the Silk Road Festival, Christmas, New Year’s Day, the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival.
