The First International Travel Services Conference will be held from Oct 16 to 19 in Sanya, Hainan province, its organizer, the China Association of Travel Services, announced on Wednesday at a news conference in Beijing.

The conference aims to establish a high-end exchange platform for international tourism services trade while driving innovation and development in the cultural-tourism sector. It will bring together global tourism leaders, experts and business representatives to advance tourism development, with events like forums, exhibitions and contract signings.

Sun Guizhen, vice-president and secretary-general of CATS, said in the event that tourism and travel-related services are a vital component of global trade in services and serve as a key driver of economic growth.

She said that under the Hainan Free Trade Port policies, the conference will leverage Sanya as a testing ground to build a global hub for culture and tourism services trade. This initiative will explore new ways to combine tourism with other industries, helping China's tourism brands expand worldwide.

Wei Jian, secretary-general of the Online Travel Service Branch of CATS, said that the conference will enable online travel agencies to integrate their resources and expand new travel service supply chains to cultivate a more robust industry ecosystem. They can also work with each other on innovative travel products and services. For example, online travel agencies are already using artificial intelligent assistants to offer personalized travel plans to cater to visitors' diverse needs.