Co-organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in collaboration with the SHTM and the People's Government of Guilin, the Fourth UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook was successfully held in Guilin, China, on 2-4 September 2010.

Already in its fourth year, the forum provided a platform for government officials, tourism authorities, industry practitioners and academics to share their perspectives, strategies and practices in relation to domestic and regional tourism during and after the economic crisis.

This year's forum focused on domestic and regional tourism as a mechanism in the resilience of destination and source-market economies. Coupled with regional tourism collaboration, domestic tourism holds enormous promise and has implications for economic and social development as well as policy orientation for an array of destinations.

The forum was officially open by Mr Marcio Favilla, Executive Director of the UNWTO. Mr John Kester, Director of Tourism Trends and Marketing Strategies Programme of the UNWTO, Mr Kris Lim, Director of Strategic Intelligence Centre of PATA and Professor Haiyan Song, Chair Professor of the SHTM updated the participants on the current trends and future prospects of both domestic and regional tourism. After the opening session, the country and regional representatives presented domestic and regional tourism trends with a specific focus on the economic recovery process.

The second day featured a plenary session open to a broad audience and devoted to discussing the strategies, practices and growth trends of domestic and regional tourism as methods of developing economic resilience. The keynote speakers included Professor Kaye Chon, Chair Professor and Director of the SHTM, and Professor Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy.