On June 2, the WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026 opened at Zhongguancun International Innovation Center in Beijing. Themed “Smart Tourism Better Future”, the summit attracted representatives from 56 countries and regions and 73 cities across the globe, who discussed the transformation trends and development strategies of the global cultural and tourism industry in the digital and smart era.
Inbound Tourism Revenue Increased by 44.7% Last Year
The WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2026 was hosted by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and jointly organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and the Haidian District People’s Government of Beijing Municipality. The summit carefully arranged a series of activities at the opening ceremony including the General Assembly, Council Meeting, guest addresses, new member admission ceremony, and sci-tech innovation exhibition. It also released major achievements such as the 2026 Global Smart Tourism Destination Competitiveness Report and “Beijing’s Top 10 Technology Application Scenarios in the Culture and Tourism Sector”, and organized over twenty mayors of tourist cities from five continents to jointly release the Beijing Initiative.
At the opening ceremony, the summit released the 2026 Global Smart Tourism Destination Competitiveness Report, compiled by the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) in conjunction with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). From the perspective of digitalization and artificial intelligence development, the report conducted a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of key tourism cities worldwide from multiple dimensions including digital infrastructure layout, smart application implementation and data service construction. It released the Global Top 10 Digital Tourism Leading Cities (T10) list, with Beijing ranking first.
In 2025, Beijing achieved historic results in inbound tourism: the city received 5.48 million inbound tourists, representing a year-on-year increase of 39.0%; tourism revenue reached RMB 50.56 billion, rising by 44.7%. Both figures hit record highs. In the first quarter of this year, the number of inbound tourists maintained a strong growth momentum, with the year-on-year growth rate staying at a high level of 39%.
Foreign Visitors “Come with Convenience, Travel with Smoothness”
Drawing on practical cases of “Smart Tourism Better Future”, the summit released “Beijing’s Top 10 Technology Application Scenarios in the Culture and Tourism Sector”, deeply integrating cutting-edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. It covers diverse business forms including robotic smart services, AI residence butler, contactless and convenient access, digital revitalization of cultural relics, XR immersive performances and AIGC-powered personalized content customization, stretching through the entire cycle of tourist travel and the whole chain of cultural and tourism operations.
The summit also features a supporting exhibition themed Beijing Cultural and Tourism Technology Application, showcasing innovative achievements of technology empowering the integration of culture and tourism in Beijing. At the exhibition site, the 5G translation machine launched by iFLYTEK supports online translation in 85 languages. The AR translation glasses developed by LLVISION support real-time mutual translation in over 100 languages and dialects, with translated subtitles projected directly into visitors’ real field of view. A technical executive of Qunar Travel AI Lab stated that after AI empowerment, customer service has seen improvements in empathy, demand identification, commitment response and consensus building. Dong Qing, President of Beijing Silk Street Commercial Management Co., Ltd., introduced that from January to May this year, Silk Street received inbound tourists with a year-on-year increase of over 550%. Silk Street has established multilingual after-sales service stations and deployed multilingual smart terminals, effectively resolving communication and payment difficulties for foreign visitors.
Elizabeth, a travel merchant from New York, told the reporter that China’s digital development has significantly enhanced tourism convenience. In terms of language communication, translation machines, translation glasses and other devices have resolved the “language barrier” that has long troubled foreign tourists. Mobile maps provide clear and accurate English versions, and dining options have also achieved diversity between Chinese and Western cuisines. Elizabeth stated that these thoughtful services and digital technology applications allow foreign visitors to “come with convenience and travel with smoothness”.
The Federation’s “Friends Circle” Continues to Expand
Gloria Guevara, President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), stated that the global tourism economy grew by an average of 4% in 2025, while China led the world with a 9.9% increase. Behind such outstanding achievements is the expansion of the visa-free transit policy to 55 countries, which has driven the growth in international tourist numbers. Meanwhile, China has also invested in infrastructure, enhanced connectivity, and delivered the best performance. “If China continues to follow this path, it will maintain its leading position in the global tourism industry.”
During the summit, the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) held a new member admission ceremony. Eleven cities and institutions officially joined the WTCF, including Agnibilékrou, Aqaba, Bishkek, Brezno, Latacunga, Yichang, Ziguinchor, Shah Tourism Company of Tajikistan, Nordic Magic Travel, Tamitrip SL of Spain and Visa Inc. The newly admitted members jointly initiated the Beijing Initiative, which not only represents the continuous expansion of the Federation’s global “friends circle”, but also fully reflects the wide recognition and collective consensus of the global cultural and tourism industry on the development direction of “Smart Tourism Better Future”.
