Experts and scholars in Xiamen discuss China-ASEAN tourism security governance

China News Service, Xiamen, November 14 (Wu Guanbiao) The "China-ASEAN Tourism Security Academic Symposium (2026)" was held on the 14th at the Xiamen Campus of Huaqiao University. Experts, scholars and people in the tourism industry at home and abroad conducted exchanges around the theme of "deepening cross-border cooperation and jointly building a security line of defense" to jointly explore new paths for regional tourism security governance.

According to statistics, in 2025, the number of mutual tourist visits between China and ASEAN will exceed 45 million; Chinese citizens will make more than 25 million first-stop trips to ASEAN countries, becoming the main source market of ASEAN countries.

"Tourism is a bowl of food that depends on scenery to be able to hold it, and safety to hold it securely." Bao Yixiong, permanent honorary president of the Malaysian Chinese Tourism Industry Association, said that a safety incident may destroy the reputation of a tourist route and tourists' confidence in a destination. He believes that cross-border tourism safety requires the joint efforts of systems, technology and practitioners to win the trust of tourists.

Lin Zhibin, a professor at Durham University Business School in the UK, pointed out that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an important travel assistant for tourists. He suggested that China and ASEAN cooperate on tourism safety, develop common standards for tourism safety information, provide verified safety warnings in major regional languages, connect AI services to official warning and emergency hotlines, and coordinate human trafficking warnings, victim referrals, and cross-border emergency drills.

At the event site, the "China Tourism Safety Report (2026)" released by Huaqiao University recommended that through the co-construction, co-governance and sharing of the government, enterprises, society and tourists, the tourism safety defense line should be built to ensure the high-quality development of the tourism industry with high-level security.

Wu Jianping, President of Huaqiao University, said that as an overseas Chinese school, the school has unique advantages in connecting overseas and connecting ASEAN. It is willing to use this seminar as an opportunity to continue to deepen academic exchanges and scientific research cooperation with ASEAN universities, research institutions, and cultural tourism authorities, and jointly promote the high-quality and safe development of the cultural tourism industry in China and ASEAN.