[Photo by Ju Huanzong from Xinhua News Agency]

On June 2, the 2026 Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit of the World Tourism Cities Federation opened at the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center in Beijing. The World Tourism Destination Digital and Smart Competitiveness Report (2026), which was released at the summit, revealed that Beijing ranks number one on the global list of leading digital tourism cities.

Compiled by the World Tourism Cities Federation and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, this report presents a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of major global tourism cities across multiple dimensions, including digital infrastructure deployment, smart application implementation, and data service development. It also notes that Beijing holds a global leading position in digital tourism, smart governance, AI-driven visitor services, and large-scale platform integration.

Based on the theme of "Smart Tourism Better Future", this year's summit featured a series of events, including a general assembly, a board meeting, an opening ceremony, and an exhibition for guests to check out. The summit attracted representatives from 73 cities across 56 countries and regions worldwide, bringing together two vice ministers of tourism from foreign countries, five heads of international organizations, and 23 mayoral-level guests from overseas cities in Beijing to explore the transformative trends and development strategies for the global cultural and tourism industry in the digital and smart era.

(Source: Xinhuanet)