Leaders from the tourism industry gathered in Seattle this week to kick-off a five-year plan to cultivate international tourism to the region.



Visit Seattle hosted the Global Tourism Summit on Tuesday, bringing together local business partners and community leaders to learn about the latest tourism trends and research.



Leaders also got tips on how to best market our region abroad and to engage visitors once they arrive.



National tourism leaders say Seattle has a lot of potential as a tourist destination.



“Seattle is a phenomenal representative,” says Roger Dow, President and CEO of the US Travel Association. “You have a strong mayor here, you’ve got a great port, you’ve got one of the few airports in America that has the capacity to grow, it’s growing like crazy, you’re bringing in new flights. You’re the gateway to Asia, so Seattle has a lot of things going for it.”



The city unveiled a new WeChat CityExperience program for Chinese visitors at the summit, becoming the second US city to offer a curated guide for Chinese visitors on the social media platform.



Last year, Seattle welcomed more than 196,000 visitors from China.