Recently, the three-day 2015 Chi-na International Travel Mart (CITM) was successfully concluded in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province. As the largest professional travel mart in Asia, CITM has provided an opportunity for industry players to exchange information and generate new ideas,  kindling a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship and enhancing their con?dence in tourism diplomacy. “In the next ?ve years, the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ are expecting 150 million Chinese tourists spending of over 200 billion US dollars,” said Li Jinzao, director of the China National Tourism Administration. He made the comment during his speech at the opening ceremony of the China International Tourism Symposium cum the China-India Tourism Forum on the morning of November 13, 2015. His speech greatly inspired travel agents at home and abroad.

In the afternoon, many attendees “flew” from Kunming all the way south to Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture to participate in the “Travel + Internet” Summit Forum. This is the ?rst time China International Travel Mart set up a sub-venue outside Kunming. The Forum assembled nearly 300 VIPs in the Wanda Xishuangbanna International Resort. Xishuangbanna is an important node in the implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative, as well as the frontier in Yunnan’s participation in the China-Laos Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone. Going further south, the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway will lead into the territory of Laos and Thailand. At the “Travel + Internet” Summit Forum in Xishuangbanna, participants saw more clearly the prospects depicted by Li Jinzao.

“It will significantly promote tourism diplomacy to build Yunnan into a self-driving tourist destination. Yunnan can collaborate with GMS countries in opening a golden trans-national self-driving tourism route,” said Li Keqi, founder and CEO of Shanghai-based iDriver Media. In fact, there are not only bound-less business opportunities in the GMS, China and South Asian countries can also expand mutually bene?cial cooperation.

India was the “guest of honour” country at this year’s International Travel Mart. On the opening day, Indian Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mahesh Sharma, was busy from morning till night. His schedule was fully packed, as he made every effort to promote “Incredible India.” Statistics show that in 2014, 170,000 Chinese tourists visited India and 710,000 Indian tourists visited China. In 2015 and 2016, the two countries will take turns to promote a “Year of Tourism,” and a series of promotional events will activate the vitality of the China-India market, which has a combined population of 2.5 billion. Mahesh Sharma hopes that China and India will enhance interconnectivity, simplify visa procedures, increase exchanges of tourists and organize various tourism fairs and exhibitions to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in tourism, culture and other mutually bene?cial aspects.

The implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative is bringing such great business opportunities for regional cooperation in tourism; this has generated a host of new ideas in industry players. At the Travel Mart, the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Committee signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Synergetic Collaborative Innovation Fund Management Co., Ltd and the Yunnan Ningkang Asset Management Co., Ltd. According to the agreement, they are going to jointly establish the Yunnan Tourism Industry Innovation and Development Fund and the Yunnan New Tourism Internet Bank, so that the ?nancial capital can better support the tourism industry in Yunnan.