On December 20, 2007, the Unveiling Ceremony of the Guangzhou International Tourism Research Center & the First "Sino-US Tourism Development Forum" was held in South China University of Technology.  Wang Xiaoling, Member of the Standing Committee of Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Director of the Publicity Department delivered a speech at the ceremony. The Tourism Center has already set about the study of the service system and image planning for the 2010 Asian Games.

The Guangzhou International Tourism Research Center is an international tourism scientific research organization co-initiated and established by South China University of Technology and Purdue University. The aim is to strengthen the exchange of research and service information on the frontier fields of tourism between China and US, promote the international exchange and cooperation of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City and the two participating universities, improve the theoretical research level on tourism, advance the information exchanges and technical innovations in tourism, and drive regional tourism development and the internationalization of higher tourism education institutions.

After the unveiling ceremony, the first "Sino-US Tourism Development Forum" was convened.