Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, said that connectivity is key to development of global tourism. Rifai visited China's National Tourism Administration on Monday, where he praised China's contribution to world tourism market. 

"Now we are building coalition around the Belt and Road Initiative, that's the most important message I took from the forum," said Rifai. He noted that the "Silk Road Spirit" that Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum on Sunday is what the tourism industry wants to see, to enjoy the benefit of globalization.

"We've been working with the UNESCO on this concept of the Silk Road, trying to revive the old concept of the Silk Road. We feel the Belt and Road Initiative is very much the same, only looking into the future," he noted.

"Basically we want to use whatever opportunities and benefits we can get from this concept, to build on the initiative that we started over 20 years ago with the UNESCO, which now has 32 countries as members. I'm sure there will be more members," Rifai added.

He said the World Tourism Organization is working with countries including China, to facilitate travel, unify tourism rules and regulations while ensuring more countries are included and make joint efforts. 

Global tourism industry suffered a blow after the 2008 financial crisis. Now, global travelers and tourism income have seen a 40 percent increase. Rafai praised China's contribution to this growth, with its performances in both inbound and outbound tourism. He also foresaw that the focus of global tourism market will be shifted to the eastern and southern parts of the world in the decades to come.