The 2021 Boao Tourism Development Forum with the theme of "Share new opportunities at free trade port and seek a new chapter in tourism" opened on Sept 11 at the Boao Forum for Asia International Conference Center.

More than 1,000 representatives from all walks of life in China attended the on-site forum, and the number of online views exceeded 20 million. More than 60 booths were set up during the event with an exhibition area of 1,000 square meters, showing 60 items such as tourism products, specialties and health care products.

The forum is the first international conference with a scale of 1,000 people held in China since August.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, many guests participated in the forum online. Geoffrey Lipman, former deputy secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization, Barack Hersowitz, chairman of the International Luxury Hotel Association and Ricardo Castorri, executive vice president of the Brazilian Media Institute delivered inspiring online speeches at the forum.

At the opening ceremony, guests delivered speeches focusing on 17 topics, providing suggestions for the development of the domestic and foreign tourism industry.

Meanwhile, the "Boao Times Think Tank Center," "Boao International Sports and Health Technology Forum," "Boao Internet Celebrity Economic Forum" and "Boao Global Digital Economy Forum" were officially established during the forum.