I am honored and delighted to announce today that the International Organization of Inland Waterways has approved and granted Guilin the hosting rights for the 2026 World Canal Conference. On October 26th, Rudy Van der Ween, Chairman of the International Organization of Inland Waterways, came to Guilin to attend the 17th United Nations World Tourism Organization/Asia Pacific Tourism Association Tourism Trends and Prospects International Forum, bringing the good news of the landing of the 2026 World Canal Conference in Guilin. He sincerely congratulated Guilin on winning the hosting rights and looked forward to future cooperation.

        The International Organization of Inland Waterways is the organizer of the World Canal Congress. This year, the International Organization of Inland Waterways received an application from Guilin to host the World Canal Congress. At the end of May, Rudy Van der Ween was invited to conduct on-site inspections in Guangxi and Guilin. During this time, he took a boat tour of the Li River, conducted on-site inspections of the Lingqu Canal, and participated in the expert symposium for Guilin's bid to host the 2026 World Canal Conference. After returning, Rudy Van der Ween compiled a report on the inspection results and submitted it to the International Council of Inland Waterway Organizations. "We believe that Guilin is a very good venue for the 2026 World Canal Congress," he said.

        Rudy Van der Ween has been to many places and visited many canal cities, and Guilin and Lingqu have left a deep impression on him. "There are unique karst landforms here, such as Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave, which are not found in other parts of the world and have great international appeal. He said that Lingqu is the pearl on the crown of nature, and Guilin is a place that everyone must come to in their lifetime. The 2024 World Canal Congress will be held in Petrograd, Poland, and in Buffalo, USA in 2025. This year's World Canal Conference does not have an offline meeting, but the International Organization of Inland Waterway will hold a series of online seminars, one of which is about Guilin and Lingqu. In addition, they will extensively promote and report on Guilin and Lingqu on social media platforms, and the website and magazine of the International Organization for Inland Waterway Navigation also have introductions.

        Rudy Van der Ween not only serves as the President of the International Inland Waterway Organization, but also holds positions in various regions and international inland waterway organizations such as the European Inland Waterway Network and the International Shipping Association. He has rich experience in organizing the World Canal Congress. He led the Flemish Navigation Company Association to host the 2015 Ghent World Canal Congress, which achieved great success. How will Guilin better host the 2026 World Canal Conference and what aspects need to be further optimized during the conference? You can increase multilingual promotion, such as Spanish, French, etc., to let more people in the world know about Lingqu and Guilin. This is very important, "Rudy Van der Ween gave his suggestion and said," I am looking forward to closer cooperation with Guilin in the future