During 6th-9th Nov 2008, professor Bihu Wu hosted the 2nd ITSA Bi-annual Conference “Mega events and Urban tourism”in Shanghai. The conference is organized by International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA)、East China Normal University、Shanghai Normal University、Sheffield Hallam University (UK)、University of South Carolina (USA) and The George Washington University (USA), sponsored by Center for Recreation and Tourism Research (CRTR)、The Hong Kong Polytechnic University、Tongji University、Tourism College of Central South University for Forest and Technology、Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)、Tourism Tribune、Cotsa.com、BES Tourism International Consultancy Group and Unitenix company, and achieved great success.

More than 150 delegates from USA、Canada、UK、Poland、Finland、Belgium、Italy、Portugal、New Zealand、South Korea、China、Thailand、South Africa、Malaysia、Hong Kong、Macau、Chinese Taipei attended the conference。Topics on the conference cover a variety of fields including MICE Planning & Management、Beijing Olympics & Urban Tourism、Urban Tourism & City Development、Attitude, Perception and Motivation: Residents’ Perspective、Impact of Mega Events on Destinations、MICE Tourism Development、Hospitality and Service、Urban Tourism、Social and Cultural Impacts of Events、Shanghai EXPO & Urban Tourism、MICE and Tourism Education、Economic Impacts of Events、Sustainable Tourism and Motivation and Behavior: Tourists’ View. Mr. John Koldowski, Director of Strategic Intelligence Centre for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)、Mr. Mike Weed, Professor of Sport in Society and Director of the Centre for Sport, Physical Education & Activity Research (SPEAR) at Canterbury Christ Church University、and Mr. Haiyan Song, Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University gave keynote speech on the conference.

During the conference, most delegates attended the tour visit to the Exhibition Center of EXPO 2010 Shanghai.

International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) is the first China-based global academic association on tourism research in the world. The Association is founded in Hangzhou on August 15th 2006 by 19 founding members all over the world, and headquartered at Peking University in Beijing. ITSA got registered as a non-profit organization in Hong Kong in March 2008.As a nonprofit organization, the objectives of ITSA is to bridge the gap between West and East in tourism and hospitality research, to provide a forum for exchange of research ideas and good research practices in tourism studies among scholars around the world with a particular focus on the developing countries and cross linguistic tourism facts, and to diffuse research findings for the benefits of the tourism industry.