about us

The International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) is a non-government, non-profit international organization established with the approval of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, and voluntarily formed by destination management agencies, private tourism organizations, groups, enterprises and individuals of major mountainous countries and regions in the world. The IMTA is registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and administered by Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China. Established upon the initiative of the International Mountain Tourism Development Center in China’s Guizhou Province, the IMTA has its permanent headquarters (Secretariat) in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, and a liaison office in Beijing.

Guided by the vision of protecting mountain resources, preserving mountain civilization, promoting mountain economy and benefiting mountain communities, the IMTA is committed to improving the protection and utilization of mountain tourism resources, facilitating international tourism exchanges and business cooperation, reviewing and promoting the positive experience of mountain tourism development, enhancing the prosperity of mountain economy and promoting the sustainable development of mountain and eco-tourism.

The organizational structure of the IMTA includes the General Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat. The General Assembly, which is the deliberation and decision-making body of the Alliance, consists of all IMTA members. The Council is the decision-making and executive organ of the Alliance. The Secretariat is the day-to-day administrative body of the Alliance. The official languages of the IMTA are Chinese and English. A number of branch institutions have been set up under the Alliance.

During the first IMTA General Assembly, Mr. Dominique De Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, was elected the Chairman of the IMTA; Mr. Shao Qiwei, former Chairman of China National Tourism Administration, was elected the Vice Chairman; and Mr. He Yafei, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, was elected the Secretary-General (legal person representative). Currently, members of the IMTA include 181 groups and individuals from 31 countries and regions in all five continents, including 101 domestic institutions, 71 overseas institutions and 9 individuals. The group members include tourism institutions, non-profit organizations, tourism businesses, tourism-related consulting agencies, tourism colleges, airlines, tourism equipment manufacturers and outdoor sports organizations from countries and regions involved in mountain tourism. The individual members include experts, scholars and entrepreneurs on mountain tourism-related businesses.

Following the mandate of the Statutes, the IMTA is committed to providing professional services to all its members and building a platform for dialogue, exchange and cooperation among members. The Alliance will fully mobilize and leverage the resources, wisdom, ability and initiative of its members in keeping with the established goals of development, conduct research on the theories of mountain tourism development, and promote the sharing of experience in the development of mountain tourism; establish reciprocal tourism markets among members, and promote the sharing of resources, capital, market and talents across industries; exchange experience in the tourism management of mountain resources, and improve the ability and performance of member services; organize mountain tourism-related professional activities such as exhibitions, forums and outdoor sports programs; set up high-level research and consulting agencies on tourism economy, conduct tourism business training and certification, and provide intellectual support and advisory services for tourism development; organize tourism market surveys and outlook index forecasts, and publish information on comprehensive or specific mountain tourism indicators; promote mountain tourism-related international standards, build information database of mountain tourism resources, and provide information services to tourism operators. The IMTA will work with UNWTO and other important international organizations to establish broadly-based cooperative relations in mountain tourism development, and jointly promote the realization of sustainable tourism development goals.

IMTA Statute

Statute of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance

 

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article One Name

The name of IMTA is “国际山地旅游联盟” in Chinese and “International Mountain Tourism Alliance" (IMTA) (hereinafter referred to as "IMTA") in English.

Article Two Nature

IMTA is an international mountain tourism alliance, a non-governmental and non-profit International organization.

Article Three Purposes

IMTA pursues the goal of boosting sustainable tourism, protecting mountain resources, preserving mountain civilization, promoting mountain economy to the benefit of the people living in mountainous regions, as well as promoting international exchanges, experience sharing and business cooperation among members of IMTA (hereinafter referred to as the “members”).

IMTA shall abide by the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, which is the place of registration of IMTA, and observe laws, meet local ethical standards and respect local customs in the localities of the members.

Article Four Jurisdiction

IMTA is registered with and managed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and shall follow the business instruction and be subject to the supervision and administration of the National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China.

Article Five Address of the Headquarters

The permanent domicile of the Headquarters of IMTA is Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China, and the address of the Headquarters is: No.242-5 North Zhonghua Road, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province.

 

Chapter 2　Business Scope

Article Six Business Scope

1.IMTA provides professional services and builds a platform of dialogue, exchanges and cooperation for all members, and promotes business cooperation and experience sharing among members;

2.IMTA organizes and conducts theoretical research on mountain tourism development, popularize practical experiences and review cases relating to mountain tourism development, and assists in formulating the mountain tourism development strategy;

3.IMTA establishes the mutually beneficial mechanism among tourism markets of members, conducts tourism marketing and promotional activities, and promotes resource sharing and cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary cooperation;

4.IMTA promotes reasonable flow of mountain tourism resources as well as capital and human resources, exchanges tourism-oriented experiences in the field of mountain resources management, and improves the tourism service capabilities and level of members;

5.IMTA holds the annual conference, and hosts conventions, exhibitions, festivals and other events relating to mountain tourism;

6.IMTA sets up a high-level tourism economy research and consultancy institution, and provides business training and certification services, intelligent support and consultancy services to tourism developers;

7.IMTA conducts tourism resource assessment and tourism market surveys, forecasts the tourism prosperity index, and publishes comprehensive or specialized mountain tourism indicators as well as the annual report. IMTA also promotes International standards relating to mountain tourism, builds the database of mountain tourism resources, and delivers information services to tourism operators;

8.IMTA establishes cooperation with important International rganizations such as the World Tourism Organization in the development of mountain tourism;

9.IMTA participates in affairs relating to the International Mountain Tourism Conference.

 

Chapter 3 Membership

Article Seven The Range of Members

The members of IMTA are categorized as institutional members and personal members.

Institutional members refer to non-governmental tourism organizations, institutions, groups, enterprises and other entities from mountainous countries and regions across the world, the legal representatives of which participate in activities of IMTA as the delegates.

Personal members refer to natural persons engaged in the business activities relating to mountain tourism.

Article Eight Anyone applying for the membership of IMTA shall fulfill the following conditions:

1.Uphold the Statute of IMTA;

2.Have the intention to join IMTA;

3.An institutional member shall be an organization that has the capacity for civil rights and civil conduct, independently enjoys civil rights and bears civil liabilities in accordance with law. A personal member shall be a natural person who is aged 18 or older and has the full capacity for civil conduct and independent civil activities;

4.Have certain influence in the international mountain tourism industry.

Article Nine Membership Application Procedures

1.Submit a written membership application to the Secretariat of IMTA;

2.The Council of IMTA reviews the application;

3.IMTA issues the membership card.

Article Ten Members’ Rights:

1.The right to attend, and speak, vote and submit proposals at the General Assembly;

2.The right to elect, and be elected as, members of the Council;

3.The right to participate in the General Assembly and related activities of IMTA;

4.The right to put forward proposals on and conduct supervision over the annual conference and other activities of IMTA;

5.Have the right, when authorized, to use industry data and information provided by IMTA;

6.Enjoy the preemptive right to organize or sponsor various events of IMTA;

7.Use the IMTA logo as the member;

8.Enjoy various preferential treatments granted by IMTA; 　

9.Enjoy other rights conferred by the Council of IMTA.

Article Eleven Members’ Obligations:

1.Abide by the Statute of IMTA and resolutions of the General Assembly and the Council;

2.Safeguard legitimate rights and interests of IMTA;

3.Pay the membership fee pursuant to relevant provisions of IMTA;

4.Provide authentic, reliable data and information to IMTA;

5.Other related obligations prescribed by IMTA.

Article Twelve Withdrawal

1.To withdraw from IMTA, a member shall submit a written withdrawal application to the Secretariat of IMTA two months in advance, and through discussion with and based on the decision of the Council, the Chairman of IMTA shall affix his/her signature to the decision in writing and make relevant announcements;

2. In the case that a member fails to pay the membership fee or participate in activities of IMTA for one year, the said member shall be deemed to automatically withdraw from IMTA.

Article Thirteen Termination of Membership

In the case that a member commits any one of the following acts, the membership of the said member shall be terminated:

1.Commit an act which negatively affects and damages the reputation of IMTA;

2.Violate the Statute of IMTA;

3.Fail to perform the members’ obligations;

4.Commit materially dishonest acts;

5.Be out of contact with IMTA for 2 years or longer;

6.Fails to pay the membership fee for two consecutive years.

Before terminating the membership of the said member, the Secretariat shall report the matter to the Council to obtain the Council’s consent, and shall notify the said member in advance. The said member shall have the right to request a hearing. The procedural rules regarding the hearing shall be separately established by the Council and implemented after the rules are deliberated on and adopted by the General Assembly. The membership fee paid by the member whose membership is terminated shall not be refunded.

 

Chapter 4 Organizational Structure

Article Fourteen General Assembly

The General Assembly is the supreme authority of IMTA and is composed of all members.

The General Assembly exercises the following functions and authorities:

1.Deliberate on the proposal on the Statute of IMTA or the amendment of the Statute;

2.Elect or change members of the Council;

3.Deliberate on the work report, financial budget report and final account report submitted by the Secretariat and reviewed by the Council;

4.Discuss other matters prescribed in the agenda of the General Assembly meeting;

5.Discuss proposals submitted by members;

6.Discuss and decide on the venue of the next General Assembly meeting;

7.Decide on other major issues.

Article Fifteen Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly

The General Assembly shall be held only when it is attended by more than two thirds of the members, and any resolution of the General Assembly shall take effect only when more than half of the members vote in favor of the resolution.

Article Sixteen Time and Venue of the General Assembly Meetings

The General Assembly meeting shall be held once every four years. The Secretariat of IMTA shall convene and prepare for the General Assembly meeting and notify, in advance, participating members of relevant issues to be discussed at the meeting. In the case that it is necessary to convene the General Assembly meeting earlier or later than scheduled for special reasons, the Council shall decide on the matter (i.e. the meeting time) through discussion, and report the matter for approval according to relevant terms of reference and procedural rules. The General Assembly shall also decide on the venue of the next General Assembly meeting.

Article Seventeen Council

The Council serves as the decision-making and executive agency of the General Assembly, leads IMTA in performing the day-to-day work during the inter-sessional period of the General Assembly, and reports to the General Assembly. The members of the Council shall be elected by the members of IMTA, through public voting and by simple majority, at the General Assembly meetings.

The Council shall be composed of no more than 30% of all members, with an odd number of members, and every member shall serve a term of four years with possible extension upon re-election. The composition of the members of the Council shall reflect the principle of regional balance, and the number of members of the Council can be increased or reduced upon the approval of the General Assembly.

Article Eighteen The Council’s Functions and Authorities

1.Implement resolutions of the General Assembly; 2.Elect and dismiss the Chairman, the Vice Chairman, the Secretary-General and the members of the Council;

3.Accept new members, and decide on the withdrawal of members or termination of the membership of members;

4.Decide on the establishment of administrative offices, branches and representative offices;

5.Decide on the appointment of the Vice Secretary-General and major leaders of the above said offices/branches;

6.Interpret the Statute;

7.Establish the internal management system and lead IMTA in performing work;

8.Review the annual work report, annual budget report and annual final account report of IMTA submitted by the Secretariat to the General Assembly;

9.Review the proposal on the amendment of the Statute of IMTA, and deliberate on the annual financial audit report;

10.Approve policies and rules of IMTA;

11.Approve the proposal on convening General Assembly meetings and deliberate on the agenda of the General Assembly meetings;

12.Other functions delegated by the General Assembly.

Article Nineteen Rules of Procedure of the Council

Unless otherwise stipulated in the Statute and relevant rules, any meeting of the Council shall be held only when the meeting is attended by more than two thirds of the members of the Council, any resolution of the Council shall take effect only when more than two thirds of the members vote in favor of the resolution, and every member of the Council present at the said meeting shall have one voting right. In special circumstances, the Council can make resolutions on major issues or urgent issues of IMTA by means other than holding meetings.

Article Twenty Time and Venue of the Council Meeting

The Council shall hold one meeting every year, and can hold the meeting at the venue of the General Assembly meeting or the Annual Conference of International Mountain Tourism or in the city where the Headquarters is based. The Chairman of the Council or more than half of the members of the Council can propose holding a temporary meeting of the Council, which shall have the same effect as that of the regular meeting of the Council.

Article Twenty-one The Chairman, the Vice Chairman and the Secretary-General of IMTA shall meet the following conditions:

1.Have considerable influence in the business area of IMTA;

2.In principle, the maximum age of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General shall not exceed 70, and the Secretary General shall be full-time;

3.Have full capacity for civil conduct.

Article Twenty-two In the case that the Chairman, the Vice Chairman or the Secretary-General of IMTA exceeds the maximum age, the said positions shall not be assumed before the Council votes in favor of and approve the appointment.

Article Twenty-three The Chairman and the Vice Chairman of IMTA shall serve a term of 4 years. In the case that it is necessary to extend the term for special reasons, the extension shall be approved by more than two thirds of the members at the General Assembly meetings and be reported to the National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China for examination and to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for approval before the said positions are assumed.

The Chairman and the Vice Chairman shall serve a maximum of two terms.

The Council shall have a chairman and two vice-chairmen elected by the council.

In the case that the Chairman is unable to assume the position, the highest-ranking Vice Chairman shall serve as the Acting Chairman until the next Council elects a new Chairman, and the term of the Acting Chairman shall be the residual term of the former Chairman.

Article Twenty-four The Chairman and the Vice Chairman of IMTA shall exercise the following functions and authorities:

1.Convene and preside over meetings of the Council;

2.Inspect implementation of resolutions made by the General Assembly and the Council;

3.Sign relevant legal documents on behalf of IMTA.

The Vice Chairman shall exercise the following functions and authorities:

1.Assist the Chairman of IMTA in exercising relevant functions and authorities on the basis of the division of responsibilities;

2.Be authorized to exercise the functions and authorities of the Chairman of IMTA when the Chairman of IMTA cannot exercise his/her functions and authorities;

3.Exercise other functions delegated by the Council of IMTA.

Article Twenty-five The Honorary Chairman and the Honorary Vice Chairman

With the consent of the Council, IMTA can invite celebrities to serve as the Honorary Chairman and Honorary Vice Chairman of IMTA with the term of the said positions being the same as that of the incumbent member of the Council.

Article Twenty-six The Secretary-General and the Vice Secretary-General of IMTA shall exercise the following functions and authorities:

The Secretary-General serves as the legal representative of IMTA, leads the Secretariat and serves a term of four years with possible extension upon the approval of the Council. The Secretary-General shall be nominated by members residing in the locality of the Headquarters, recommended by the Council after deliberation and appointed by the General Assembly. The Secretary-General shall not simultaneously serve as the legal representative of any other group. The Vice Secretary-General shall assist the Secretary-General in performing work. Candidates may be nominated by the Secretary-General for appointment by the Council as Vice Secretary-General. The Vice Secretary-General shall serve a term of four years with possible extension upon the approval of the Council, and shall report to the Secretary-General. When the Secretary-General cannot perform his/her responsibilities, the Vice Secretary-General can be authorized to perform the responsibilities on behalf of the Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General shall exercise the following functions and authorities:

1.Lead IMTA in performing day-to-day administrative work;

2.Organize implementation of the annual work plan;

3.Coordinate the work of the administrative offices, branches and representative offices;

4.Nominate candidates for the positions of Vice Secretary-General and Persons-in-charge of the administrative offices, branches and representative offices, and submit the nomination to the Council for decision making;

5.Preside over all meetings of IMTA, except for meetings of the General Assembly and the Council;

6.Engage, promote and dismiss employees of the Secretariat;

7.Submit proposals on the adjustment of the functional departments of the Secretariat or regional offices to the Council for deliberation and approval;

8.Conduct other work assigned by or with the authorization of the Council.

Article Twenty-seven Termination of Employment of Secretary-General and Vice Secretary-General

In the case that any of the following circumstances occurs, the employment of the Secretary-General or the Vice Secretary-General shall be terminated:

1.Have submitted a written letter of resignation to the Council and obtained the approval;

2.Have committed acts that constitute a serious dereliction of duty or become unable to perform his/her responsibilities, and have been removed from the position after the Council has adopted a relevant resolution.

Article Twenty-eight Secretariat

The Secretariat is the organ managing the day-to-day administration of IMTA and is composed of one Secretary-General, a number of Vice Secretaries-General and different departments with a number of employees. It consists of a number of departments, and the Secretary-General can submit proposals on the establishment of these departments to the Council for approval.

The Secretariat shall exercise the following functions and authorities:

Prepare for and organize all meetings and activities of IMTA, and implement resolutions made by the General Assembly and the Council; draft the annual work report, annual budget report and annual final account report of IMTA, accept the annual financial audit report and submit various reports to the Council for review; be responsible for financing and operation of IMTA, draft or amend policies and rules of IMTA and submit the policies and rules to the Council for approval; deal with matters relating to members’ admission and withdrawal and perform daily liaison work; coordinate and handle relevant legal affairs on behalf of IMTA; draft and publish action plans, industrial standards and economic reports relating to the businesses of IMTA; organize relevant exhibitions or events; provide human resource training for members and other partners; establish the business network and information exchange centers worldwide; deal with other work assigned by the Council.

 

Chapter 5 Asset Management and Use

Article Twenty-nine Funding sources

1.Membership fees;

2.Social donations;

3.Government aid;

4.Income generated from events or services which fall into the approved business scope;

5.Asset interests and incomes;

6.Other legal incomes.

Article Thirty Membership fee

IMTA collects membership fees pursuant to relevant provisions of the country where the Headquarters is based.

Article Thirty-one Use of funds

All the funds of IMTA shall be used to realize the purpose of IMTA and to the extent as prescribed in the Statute and relevant detailed rules.

Article Thirty-two No organization or individual shall encroach on, secretly distribute or embezzle assets and properties of IMTA.

Article Thirty-three IMTA observes the generally accepted international accounting standards and financial regulations, establishes the rigorous financial management system and ensures its accounting materials are legal, authentic and intact.

Article Thirty-four IMTA is staffed with accountants with proper professional qualifications. No accountant of IMTA shall simultaneously serve as the cashier. The accountants of IMTA shall conduct accounting work and implement accounting supervision. In case of accountants’ job changes or absence of work, the accountants of IMTA shall properly perform the handover procedures with their replacements.

Article Thirty-five IMTA shall manage assets in compliance with the financial management system specified by the country where the Headquarters is based, and be subject to the supervision of the General Assembly and the relevant fiscal authorities. In the case that any assets are derived from the government appropriation or social donation or aid, IMTA shall be subject to the supervision of relevant auditing agencies, and disclose relevant information in an appropriate manner to the society.

Article Thirty-six Before any re-election or replacement of the legal representative, IMTA shall accept the financial audit organized by relevant business supervisory authorities or the social group registration authorities. Every year, IMTA’s accounts shall be subject to the audit by an accounting firm which holds the internationally recognized certification qualification, and the audit report shall be submitted to the Council for review.

Article Thirty-seven The insurance, welfare and other treatment of IMTA’s official staff members may refer to relevant regulations of the country where the headquarters is based.

Chapter 6 Procedures for Statute Amendment

Article Thirty-eight Amendments of the Statute of IMTA shall be considered and adopted through voting by the Council and then submitted to the General Assembly for deliberation.

Article Thirty-nine The amended Statute of IMTA shall, within 15 days after being adopted through voting by the General Assembly, be submitted to relevant business supervisory authorities for examination and approval and also to relevant social group registration authorities for approval. The amended Statute shall take effect upon the approval of the said business supervisory authorities and social group registration authorities.

 

Chapter 7 Termination and Asset Disposition

Article Forty In the case that IMTA is deregistered as a result of the fulfillment of its purpose, voluntary dissolution, split or merger, the Council shall submit a termination proposal.

Article Forty-one The proposal to dissolve IMTA shall be reported to relevant business supervisory authorities in the country where the Headquarters is based for review and approval.

Article Forty-two Before the termination of IMTA in accordance with law, IMTA shall set up a liquidation committee according to the international practice and relevant laws of the country where the Headquarters is based, and liquidate assets and liabilities of IMTA. During the liquidation period, IMTA shall not engage in any activity other than liquidation.

Article Forty-three IMTA shall be terminated immediately after the deregistration formalities are completed with relevant social group registration authorities in the country where the Headquarters is based.

Article Forty-four After termination, IMTA can dispose of its residual properties according to the termination resolution and under the supervision of relevant registration authorities, or donate the said properties to promote the cause related to the purposes of IMTA pursuant to relevant legal provisions.

 

Chapter 8 Supplementary Provisions

Article Forty-five The working languages of IMTA are Chinese and English.

Article Forty-six The Statute was adopted through voting by the General Assembly on 23 March,2017.

Article Forty-seven The right to interpret the Statute shall be reserved by the Council of IMTA.

Article Forty-eight The Statute shall take effect as of the date of approval by the social group registration authorities in the country where the Headquarters is based.

Board of Directors

  Chairman – Dominique de Villepin

  Vice Chairman – Shao Qiwei

  Secretary General – He Yafei

Contact Us

IMTA Headquarter(secretariat)

International Mountain Tourism Alliance, Headquarters Building, Longteng Road, Nanming District,

China,550005

TEL: +86-851-85557227

MB: +86-851-85558225

Email: info@imtaweb.org

Website: www.imtaweb.net

 

Beijing Liaison Office

No.1 Zhenwumiao Road (Zhenwumiao Lu), Fuxingmenwai Street (Fuxingmenwai Dajie) China Palace Hotel Buiding C Room1610、1612,100038

TEL：+86-010-68561006

TEL：+86-010-68576699 to 1612