DgcityMore than 300 tourism officials, executives and researchers from nearly 30 countries and regions gathered in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province in eastern China, on Wednesday for the opening of the 2026 Xianghu Dialogue. Organized by the provincial culture and tourism authority, the annual flagship forum of the World Tourism Alliance set “Digital Intelligence: Shaping the Future of Tourism” as its theme, reflecting an industry convinced that artificial intelligence and big data now touch every stage of a trip, from the first spark of inspiration to the journey home.
In his opening address, WTA chairman Zhang Xu said global tourism had moved past its post-pandemic rebound and entered a phase of steady, normalized growth. The figures support that view: the latest World Tourism Barometer from UN Tourism puts international arrivals at roughly 1.52 billion in 2025, up 4 percent year on year and nearly 60 million above the 2024 total. Zhang argued that the sector now needs stronger governance and more cooperative rules so that growth is shared rather than concentrated in a handful of destinations.
The clearest shift on display was the speed at which AI has moved from novelty to everyday tool. A new WTA report on cross-border tourism consumption found that about 64 percent of travelers worldwide now use AI to pick destinations, compare prices and sketch out itineraries, while companies lean on the same technology to design products and refresh their services. Visitors, the report noted, increasingly want participatory, personalized experiences over standardized package trips, putting a premium on creative content and carefully designed scenes rather than one-size-fits-all sightseeing.
China’s inbound market provided much of the optimism. Restored international flights, simplified visa rules and the viral “China Travel” trend on overseas social platforms have quickened the recovery of European and American source markets, now described as a core engine of growth. Spending via foreign bank cards in physical stores has risen more than 70 percent for two years running, helped by instant tax-refund services for departing travelers. Separate WTA reports rated China’s inbound market for the second half of 2026 as “highly prosperous” and its outbound and domestic markets as relatively upbeat, with cultural heritage, local food and city walks leading the China Travel checklist.
The alliance also signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Travel Commission, and a China-Europe session explored the practice of regenerative tourism, while a China-U.S. dialogue and business matchmaking sessions for travel firms were scheduled to follow. For a forum hosted in a city best known as a rising technology and AI manufacturing hub, the subtext was hard to miss: the next contest between destinations will be decided less by their scenery than by how smartly they run it.