UNESCO WorldHeritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme - Chinese Pilot Programme(here in after referred to as Chinese Pilot Programme) was held at WHITRAP Shanghai on 5th April, 2017. The ceremony was chaired by Han Feng. She is a professor at Tongji University, as well as member of Steering Group of the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme. Peter Debrine, Programme Specialist of UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme, ZhouJian, Secretary General of the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, HuXinhua, Director of the Office for the Conservation of Wulingyuan World NaturalHeritage, Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, Jiang Jiyi, Director of Cultural Heritage Management Bureau of Hailong Villiage, Zunyi, Guizhou Province were also invited to address at the ceremony.

During theceremony, Professor Han introduced the similarities, differences and characteristics of the two pilot heritage sites from the comprehensive perspective of Chinese Pilot Programme. She also pointed out that China possesses a wealth of heritage tourism resources. This programme aims to interpret, protect and propagate the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the heritage sites together with the in-depth cooperation and capacity building between the expert team and local administrators. Presenting the heritage and sustainable tourism operation schemes, improving the local general management standards, enhancing the right for China to speak louder in the protection andmanagement of heritage are also some of the aims. Meanwhile, the project can be showcased worldwide as a best-practicecase study in the field.

Fig 1:Professor Han

PeterDebrine introduced the birth of the project from a global perspective and acknowledged WHITRAP Shanghai for its commitment and promotion to launching the pilot programme of World Heritage and Sustainable tourism programme in China. He also underlined the possible positive and demonstrative influences to other heritage sites made by the pilot research in the two different sites, including Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage, Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, and Hailong Villiage, Zunyi, GuizhouProvince. Soon afterwards, Mr. Debrine presented visions on behalf of UNESCO World Heritage Centre. He also underscored the necessity of conservation among different stakeholders at the international level, hoping to fully tap the potential of the heritage sites and realize a responsible and sustainable development of tourism through a broader participation and a wider sharing of ideas.

Fig2: Mr.PeterDebrine

General secretary Zhou Jian reaffirmed the significance and objectives for WHITRAP Shanghai to undertake the Chinese Pilot Programme. He stressed once again that heritage protection should focus on the two main points, including promoting the sustainable development of local economy, culture and society and clarifying and spreading the values of sustainable tourism. Mr. Zhou reviewed the previous works and pointed out that this project should take actions specifically to solve the practical problems faced by the heritage sites.

Fig3:General secretary Zhou Jian

Director HuXinhua and Jiang Jiyi each presented the resource characteristics, historical origins, cultural values, achievements and status quos of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage in Zhangjiajie and Hailong Villiage in Zunyi. Both of them provided insight into the OUV of heritage sites. On the basis of it, they also pointed out the problems emerging during the development of heritage tourism and expressed a good prospect to this cooperation.

 

Fig 4 & 5：Director HuXinhua and Jiang Jiyi

UNESCO WorldHeritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme Chinese Pilot Programme is the first programme in the world which combines the capacity building with case study research towards this issue. The signing ceremony marked the officially launch of the pilot programme and provided a good chance for upgrading the strategies of world heritage protection and management, which is of great significance to achieving the win-win development between heritage protection and sustainable tourism. With the cooperation and contribution of all the parties, the two pilot cases will be promoted worldwide as a key demonstrative project.