The Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) – Macao 2020 will be held in a hybrid format on December 9, with a focus on the strategies for restoring travellers’ confidence and reinventing the tourism industry devastated by the pandemic.

Under the theme of Solidarity and Innovation: Reshaping Tourism in the New Global Economy, this year’s edition of GTEF will lead a confluence of online and offline engagement for the first time.

Into its ninth edition, GTEF will bring together some 30 mainland, local and international government and industry leaders as well as international tourism organisation leaders to proffer creative insights and strategies on tourism development, tourism and economic recovery, destination marketing and business operation, and more.

The Forum’s programme will encompass special keynotes, sessions and dialogues alongside featured interviews. Topics include Public Private Partnerships for Restarting Tourism Economy, Air Travel under the New Normal and Solidarity to Reshape the Tourism Economy. The session on Public Private Partnerships for Tourism Economic Revival will highlight Macau’s success story.

Held in partnership with the Pacific Asia Travel Association, a special session will feature the best practices from across the Asia-Pacific region to drive the recovery of the global tourism economy. During this session, the best practices collected will showcase optimal crisis communication plans, strategies to support SMEs, as well as strategies adopted by tour operators and hospitality businesses to achieve sustainable business renewal. The session will also feature a discussion with experts on the sentiment of Chinese outbound travellers and how a greater understanding of this market’s preferences can help in global tourism’s recovery.

The World Tourism Organization and GTEF’s coordinator, the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre, will deliver the 7th joint report on Asia Tourism Trends. The publication not only analyses the latest tourism trends and outlook in Asia-Pacific, but also unveils how countries in Asia have adopted various measures to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and stimulate economic recovery, including a special case study on Macau. The report also highlights the significance of tourism and community development and points to the potential of rural tourism.

The Forum will also feature a special keynote session, titled China Story: This is Hubei; This is Wuhan, where Hubei will share the heartening story of the province’s road to recovery in the wake of the pandemic.

Another highlight of GTEF is the Business Matching Session hosted by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. The session will debut its one-stop online business matching platform that enables business introduction, matchmaking, appointment making and meeting online.