From 7th to 9th of September, the 14th European Geoparks Conference was held in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal. Seven Representatives from Zhangjiajie UNESCO Global Geopark attended the conference and learned a lot on how to achieve sustainable tourism for development in geoparks. During the conference, communications were made with many experts and geopark managers, including Mr Patrick Mckeever, Prof. Nickolaos Zouros, Prof. Artur Sa and Mr Antonio Duarte and a field investigation was paid to the Azores UNESCO Global Geopark.
Importantly, a wide-ranging publicity and promotions for Zhangjiajie Geopark were presented during the conference. These activities impressed considerably international community on the scientific, aesthetic, ecological and socio-economic values of Zhangjiajie Geopark as well as the tourism resources and facilities developed in the geoaprk. In addition, detailed discussions were made with the representatives of the Arouca UNESCO Global Geopark of Portugal and both sides agreed to establish sister geoparks in the near future.