Confidence in culture the focus of Golden Keys conference

The Golden Keys China Winter Conference held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, earlier this month attracted more than 800 participants from China and abroad.

Experts and scholars from such countries as Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom, as well as industrial insiders in the hotel, logistics and service sectors from across China, exchanged insights into a variety of topics related to the event's theme of cultural confidence and a global perspective on Dec 5-8.

Those attending included presidents of the societies of the Golden Keys of Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, as well as the former heads of the Golden Keys' branches in Denmark, Switzerland and Singapore.

Representatives of the World Tourism Cities Federation, the China Tourism Leisure Association, the Tourism Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other trade groups also joined in the industrial gathering.

The Society of the Golden Keys, or Les Clefs d'Or, was founded in Paris in 1929 to develop friendship among concierges worldwide.

Since the organization was introduced to China in 1995, its membership has expanded to more than 4,000 in 290 cities and it has formed a widespread service network in the country covering the hotel, property, tourism and other high-end service industries.

The society's members served the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, the Shanghai World Expo and the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in 2016, and the Boao Forum in Hainan province and a meeting of the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in Fujian province this year.

(China Daily 12/23/2017 page10)