On June 6-7, the 6th edition of the World Leisure Expo and Forum took place in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, organized every two years in partnership with Hangzhou Municipal Government. This biennial event is a major exhibition showcasing some of the most innovative businesses in the leisure sector at different levels. This edition was celebrated in parallel to the 15th China (Hangzhou) Urban Exhibition Development Conference.
On this occasion and after three years with a lack of WLO high-level face-to-face events in China, a delegation formed by WLO Chair, Prof. Joanne Schroeder; WLO COO, Dr. Cristina Ortega; WLO Board members, Dr. Jane Zhou, Prof. Dr. Ling Ping and Dr. Lucetta Tsai, attended this event which gathered Chinese and international high-level speakers, including authorities, practitioners and academics.
WLO Chair, Prof. Joanne Schroeder, Deputy Director of the Economic Committee of the 13th CPCC National Committee and Former Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr. Fang Aiqing, and Mayor of Hangzhou, Mr. Yao Gaoyuan opened the Expo and delivered welcome speeches to the international audience gathered at Hangzhou International Expo Center.
This event was also taken as an opportunity to acknowledge almost twenty years of close relationship and collaboration between WLO and Hangzhou Municipal Government. The city received a very special, significant and unique recognition by WLO as the World Leisure Innovation City for many reasons.
First, Hangzhou was acknowledged as one of the largest and leading digital cities in the world since this was recognized as the “Oriental Leisure City” in 2006, when the World Leisure Congress and the first World Leisure Expo were celebrated there. Since then, Hangzhou has been the first and unique city to hold this highlight event every two years and has become one of the world’s most renowned international convention, conference, and exhibition centers at the forefront of the highest level of innovation.
In fact, the venue of the World Leisure Expo & Forum, Hangzhou International Expo Center, is one of the most pioneering exhibition centers in the world and has unveiled a new era of the sixth generation of exhibition venue in China from hardware facilities to software service and from operation pattern to profit pattern. It is located closed to the city’s West Lake, a UNESCO World Heritage site immediately west of the city, which is among its best-known attractions. Additionally, in September 2015, Hangzhou was awarded with the Asian Games 2022, which will be celebrated in September 2023.
In the framework of the World Leisure Expo & Forum, the WL Executive Committee has the opportunity to hold a meeting at the beautiful location of West Lake International Expo Museum. They also visited some closed municipalities within the outstanding Zhejiang Province, such as Suichang, Keqiao and Sangyu.
