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From October 15 to 20, 2006, over 3000 participants from more than 40 countries came together for the 9th World Leisure Congress. In a variety of formats, they examined critical issues and trends related to the Congress theme “Leisure … Integral to Social, Capital, and Economic Development.”
Held in Hangzhou, China – the Oriental Leisure Capital – the 9th Congress was jointly organized by the World Leisure Organization and the Hangzhou Municipal Government. It took place in the World Leisure EXPO Garden, a billion dollar leisure development and the setting for the first ever World Leisure EXPO, [ADD LINK TO EXPO 2006 HOME PAGE] a six-month extravaganza of exhibitions, festivals, cultural performances and entertainment.
The Congress was supported by UNESCO, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), World Travel and Tourism Organization (WTTC), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP). Media sponsors were Leisure Media (UK) and Zhejiang-on-Line (ZJOL)
 The Congress brought together senior international leaders and specialists from the United Nations, major international leisure and tourism organizations, the leisure industry, the leisure services community, academia, representatives from international cities, and organizers of large scale events
The five-day Congress program was comprised of plenary sessions with key international speakers, panels with debates on critical leisure issues, round tables for sharing ideas and best practices, workshops and training sessions, and over 250 presentations by leisure specialists.
Among the keynote presenters were Jack Ma, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba.com; Maurice Strong, the principal organizer of the major United Nations Environmental initiatives and co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Earth Council Alliance; Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley, Minister of Home and Cultural Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan; Francoise Rivière, Assistant Director-General for Culture UNESCO; and Geoffrey Lipman, Vice Secretary General of UNWTO, President of ICTP Green Globe 21.
Delegates also heard presentations by John Helliwell, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of British Columbia, Canada; Wei Xiao An, Senior Research Fellow, Tourism Research Center of China Social Science Academy; Avi Lewis, Documentary Film Maker, Broadcaster and Television Host; Pang Xue Quan, Vice Party Secretary of Zhejiang University and Director of World Leisure Asia Pacific Centre for the Study of Leisure; Huang Qiaoling, Chairman of Song Dynasty Group. by Mr. Jean-Pierre Bastien, Assistant Deputy Minister of Tourism for the Government of Quebec, Canada; Trevor Sofield, Professor of Tourism, University of Queensland, Australia; Susan Brownell, Chair, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-St Louis, USA; and many other leaders in the leisure world. Speakers addressed such topics as leisure and the city, theme park development, Africa in transition, leisure and tourism in China, leisure and the environment, sport leisure and the body: East vs. West, sustainable leisure development, Gross National Happiness as an alternative to Gross National Product, and many others.
 A special feature of the Congress was the release of the Hangzhou Communiqué. This document contains a summary of the key findings of the World Leisure Consensus Project. Led by Ed Jackson, the ambition of the project was to produce and transfer significant knowledge regarding those issues, trends, processes and mechanisms most critical for leisure development and quality of life. The complete Project report, Leisure and the Quality of Life: Impacts on Social, Cultural and Economic Development is available from Zhejiang University Press and the World Leisure Secretariat.
In addition to organized Congress sessions and themes, throughout the week Congress delegates were afforded the opportunity to experience the special Hangzhou ‘leisure lifestyle’. Traditional tea ceremonies, cultural performances, theme park and museum excursions, and tours of the scenic West Lake provided rich leisure experiences as well as opportunities for networking among delegates. Imaginative social events, extraordinary programming, and Hangzhou’s idyllic leisure environment moved Derek Casey, World Leisure Board Chair, to declare the 9th World Leisure Congress “best ever”!
Special Note: The full Congress program with speaker details and topics discussed are available on the Congress Program Pages, together with and Index of Presenters, and the numerous oral and poster presentations organized by Session topics.
See also:
- A collection of the major keynote presentations, Leisure in Context: Implications for Human Development and Wellbeing, published by Zhejiang University Press will be available from the World Leisure Secretariat, April 2007.
- Web casts of selected Congress Sessions are available elsewhere in this site
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Leisure services, travel and tourism, sport, arts and culture, health and fitness, festivals, theme parks, play and free time. |
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The Congress was assembled within in the heart of the new World Leisure EXPO Garden, a billion dollar leisure development and the setting for the first ever World Leisure EXPO a six-month extravaganza of exhibitions, festivals, cultural performances and entertainment, from April to October, 2006. |
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- Plenary sessions with top international speakers
- Panels with debates on critical leisure issues
- Round Tables for sharing of ideas about best practices
- Presentations by leisure specialists from all parts of the world
- Workshops and training sessions
- Special exhibitions and performances
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The program was extraordinary, not only because of its format and diversity, but also by the presence of a number of senior international leaders and specialists from the United Nations, major international leisure and tourism organizations, the leisure industry, the leisure services community, academia, representatives from international cities, and organizers from large-scale events such as the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the 2008 Olympiad (BOCOG) and 2010 Shanghai World Expo. |
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In addition to having ready access to the displays and events of EXPO 2006, delegates were able to take advantage of extensive tour programs, lasting from several hours to several days. In addition, daily social programs for both delegates and their accompanying persons were designed to provide networking opportunities and leisure experiences. |
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- Professional practitioners: Managers, program directors,
- Academics: University/College researchers and instructors
- National Government, Provincial and Municipal policy makers and politicians
- National sport, leisure, health and tourism agencies
- Private sector Owners and Investors: Theme parks and commercial leisure sites and facilities, tour operators
- Representatives of the travel and leisure industry
- International and National NGO Representatives from the health, tourism and development sectors
- Students: Leisure studies, leisure and tourism management, sport and cultural studie
- Persons accompanying the above
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Context: The Congress theme, “Leisure as integral to social, cultural and economic development,” provides opportunity to examine the objectives, processes, contexts and consequences of leisure programming, where… |
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- Social Development means enlarging access and choice
- Cultural Development means affirming and enriching cultural identities
- Economic Development means achieving sustainable and well distributed growth
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Although such goals are laudable, can they be achieved? In both the developed and developing world, there are a number of forces preventing their realization. Thus we need to identify such barriers and constraints and explore how best to overcome them. The question becomes what socially and culturally situated leisure polices and practices will create liveable communities and healthy citizens?
Persons interested in participating in the debate and sharing their experience with practices and programs, ideas and research findings submitted proposals to the Congress Program Committee. Over 370 proposals were submitted and approximately 300 presentations were delivered to the Congress, in addition to the invited keynote and panel speakers. |
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All EXPO facilities met barrier free standards as required by the Chinese Central Government’s Municipal Road and Building Barrier Free Design Regulations: JGJ50-2001, and by the City of Hangzhou’s "Non-Barrier Facilities Construction and Management Regulations," of 2004, and monitored by the City’s Planning Bureau, Public Security Bureau, and the Civil Affair Bureau. Additional monitoring was provided by the Environmental Protection Department of the EXPO 2006 Organizing Committee. |
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The notable historical
and cultural Chinese
city of Hangzhou,
capital of Zhejiang. |
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Click here to view
the bulletins from the
9th WL Congress. |
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Click here to learn
about our previous
Congresses. |
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