A new tourism body, the Twin Cities World Tourism Association (TCWTA), will be launched at PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2018, which will take place in Langkawi from September 12-14.
Twin cities, also known as sister cities, are collaborations between two cities to foster friendship and understanding between different cultures, and to form strategic international business links between them.
TCWTA aims to support and increase tourism and travel between the two cities, support and increase the exchange of ideas and concepts related to tourism and travel, and enhance and strengthen relations between the two destinations through tourism and travel.
The association’s founding president, Thomas Binder, mayor of Gossau-Zurich in Switzerland, will formally make the announcement at the Twin Cities World Tourism Forum during PTM 2018.
The board will comprise 14 members, including 13 mayors from countries worldwide while Hüseyin Baraner, the only non-mayor member, will be appointed general secretary. The board is expected meet once a year in the city of the president to exchange ideas, concepts and plans. A board meeting will also be held in Zürich or Gossau at a later date in order to sign the TCWTA charter.
TCWTA also plans to publish a Twin Cities Almanac to be presented at ITB Berlin, which will include an editorial note of the president, reports on the tourism and travel activities of twin cities, and interviews with mayors of twin cities on topics like desiderata, plans, projects and the tourism development of twin cities.
The TCWTA president is expected to visit a developing country in Africa or Asia once a year in order to research opportunities to take part in projects to further and support tourism and travel in twin cities located in regions without large financial funds.
