COVID-19 has certainly increased the vulnerability of all sectors of our society to rapid changes, or even a complete halt. One of those most heavily affected is the tourism sector, along with its multifaceted impacts, with loss of employment for tourism practitioners and thus local revenue of cities around the world – including the Asia-Pacific region.
Only with well-planned, effective, and resilient local governance can ensure the process of post-COVID-19 tourism recovery, which is strongly related to the achievement of SDGs as well.
In the spirit of recovery, awareness has been raised towards cooperation between local governments and relevant stakeholders for the task of pursuing global agendas deeply relies on united forces, such as through sustainable tourism governance at the regional and local level. This was reflected at the recent virtual launch of the UCLG ASPAC Tourism Committee held by UCLG together with Xi’an Municipal Government, and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPFFC) as part of the The Euro-Asia Economic Forum (EAEF)side event titled “Picturing the Future: Local Governance and Sustainable Development”. During the virtual launch, Xi’an Municipal Government hopes to build urban resilience alongside striving for tourism recovery by cooperating with other UCLG ASPAC member cities.
In the opening remarks, Mayor Ashok Kumar Byanju Shrestha from Dhulikhel Municipality, who is also President of UCLG ASPAC addressed thatDhulikhel focuses on tourism development which brings the city and its people prosperity, such as focusing on highlighting Dhulikhel’s cultural heritage and environment. “We are focused on tourism promotion activities, building cultural heritage, and promoting a green city,” he said. Further, Mayor Ashok also positively welcomes the launch of this committee and hopes for better cooperation among UCLG ASPAC member cities to drive sustainable and prosperous tourism in the context of COVID-19 recovery. “I hope that this new committee would provide a better environment for cities to share best practices regarding the tourism sector that can drive people’s prosperity.”
Datuk Mahadi Che Ngah as Mayor of Kuala Lumpur also echoed his appreciation for the committee as a knowledge sharing platform for local governments to proactively work towards improvements in tourism governance at the regional and local level. With post-COVID recovery in mind, he emphasised how combating the impact of COVID-19 tourism is a collaborative effort among local governments as key actors, even despite the challenges. This is important as tourism is a source of not only income, but also cultural exchange. “Tourism provides employment, lifts cultural and heritage sites. So, structural bridging among local government agencies and private businesses should be taken into consideration to improve tourism governance,”he said. Meanwhile, to tackle challenges, Datuk Sri Hadi suggested taking advantage of digitalisation in bringing tourism forward, as it could even contribute to the transition to low-carbon cities.
The drastic impact on tourism was also felt in Jambi City,in which a significant 30.75% of local revenue resulted from tourism activities, as stated by the Vice Mayor of Jambi City DR.dr.H.Maulana. However, the local government took strong measures in ensuring strict health protocols and pushed hard on vaccinations. Considering this, Jambi city is continuing to gradually provide ways to revive tourism, such as empowering small businesses relating to the tourism sector. “We prepared subsidies for small businesses to improve their capacity and skills with training through working together with the national government,” he said.
Furthermore, as highlighted by Mayor Datuk Mahadi Che Ngah, the tourism sector, and efforts to ensure its sustainability plays a vital role in uniting cities and its individuals through culture and heritage, to which Ms. Li Fang as Director of Zhengzhou Bureau of Culture agreed as she congratulated the establishment of the tourism committee. Secretary-General of UCLG, Ms. Emilia Saiz also found that sustainable tourism is an important aspect of the UCLG Policy Council on resilience, as a way for local governments to look into the future through a renewed lens of diversity. In other words, cultural exchange through tourism can contribute to social and economic development; paving the way for local governments to place empathy, care in public service provision so that cities can flourish and be resilient. “Culture is a changing concept that shapes our societies, encapsulating creativity and the capacity to adapt through uncertainties and we congratulate Xi’an for the technical representation of this idea,”she said.
Ms. Wang Qinghua, Director of the Xi’an Bureau of Culture and Tourism hopes that this Tourism Committee could promote mutual learning, understanding and benefits among member cities on infusing culture and tourism. Following that, Secretary-General of UCLG ASPAC, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi hopes that culture can be an asset to bring the SDGs into reality, connect us to one another and even create better communication among local leaders in the Asia Pacific. “Culture puts solace, interconnects us through various artforms and local governments could use culture to lift the spirits of people. It has also been a relevant factor on how we respond to COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific through various local wisdoms,” she said.
This virtual launch event was also an opportunity for the launch of the 7 Keys Workshop regarding culture and development, as well as the Introduction to United Cities and Local Governments video, which offers a clear and comprehensive overview to UCLG, allowing the practices in urban governance to be shared and appreciated.
