(Yicai Global) Dec. 18 -- The World Tourism Alliance will officially establish headquarters in Xiaoshan in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, after striking a deal with the provincial government yesterday, state-owned news agency Xinhua reported.

Founded in September in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the alliance is the first non-government, non-profit global tourism organization that China has set up. It met with Zhejiang government in Beijing yesterday to sign the agreement.

The World Tourism Alliance will actively organize major international tourism activities to help Zhejiang recruit high-end talent in the sector, support tourism in the region and develop its inbound tourism market, said Duan Qiang, president of the alliance.

China had 69.5 million inbound tourists in the first half up this year, up by about 2.4 percent from the same period last year, according to data from the China National Tourism Administration. New visa policies and the Belt and Road Initiative were strong drivers in tourism growth.

Set up under the China National Tourism Administration, the alliance plans to usher in a new stage of development in China's tourism sector and create a platform for exchanges. It will also play a role in drawing up standards for travel services and issuing reports on tourism research, said Song Rui, director of the Tourism Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.