Tourist cities must work together, officials told

"The cities have a long history and rich cultural resources, like Beijing and many other cities in China. We have several travel agencies to provide services for Chinese visitors, including language and catering, and we will promote our tourist attractions to China in the future to tap into the huge market."

Amraoui Allal, deputy mayor of Fez in Morocco. Rabat and Fez jointly won the bid to host the 2015 Tourism Summit of the World Tourism Cities Federation

"Xi'an government will devote its efforts to establishing an intelligent tourism platform and build the Silk Road economic belt.

"As the beginning of the Silk Road, Xi'an is a city facing Central Asia and Europe's economic areas and is backed by China's vast central and eastern economic landscape. The city plays an important role as an economic bridgehead to implement China's 'Go West' strategy.

"Tourism resources in Xi'an have inherent advantages and international influence. These enabled tourism to become a leading industry in the construction of the Silk Road economic belt, and they provide an important opportunity for further development of the industry.

"The city's next goals are to form a Silk Road economic belt tourism alliance, open related train routes and operate 72-hour visa-free policies to integrate tourism and economic development and enhance the city's image."

Wu Yiqin, deputy mayor of Xi'an

"What is the most important quality of a tourism city? First of all, people make the city. If you give the chance to the world to see its people, to feel the atmosphere, I think it will be great. This includes making a lot of procedures easier, presenting cultural exchanges and events like this.

"In the 21st century, I think every minute has a challenge. There are a lot of destinations and great offers around the world. So we have to be very attentive to target the specific customer. And we have to build the brand, through which people can associate Sofia with a desire to go there."

Adriana Momchilova, head of the International Affairs, Marketing and Promotion Department of Sofia, Bulgaria