國際華商觀光協會於一九七六年於中區文華酒店舉行第一屆執行委員會就職典禮，並由鍾士元爵士主持監誓儀式。協會當時只得三十多名會員，全部均為業內精英，發展至今已經擁有超過四百間會員旅行社，佔全港領有旅行社代理商牌照機構約四份之一，其中八成以上的會員專辦票務及外遊業務。
國際華商觀光協會每年均舉辦各項大型活動，例如: 國內及海外年會、考察團及新春聯歡晚會等。而每年的考察團、國內及海外年會都極受當地旅遊局、酒店、景點及接待單位的歡迎。歷年來，協會會員足跡遍佈天下，先後遠赴中國、新加坡、馬來西亞、泰國、韓國、日本、台灣、印尼、菲律賓、尼泊爾、英國、德國、瑞典、瑞士、意大利、澳洲、紐西蘭、杜拜、美國、加拿大、巴西、墨西哥等地舉行年會及考察團，籍此促進香港與世界各地的旅遊業務拓展和合作。
國際華商觀光協會成立迄今四十多年，全賴會員萬眾一心，同心協力，創造出一個接一個的旅遊商機，令會務蒸蒸日上，成為香港旅遊界的傑出商會。

The International Chinese Tourist Association held its first executive committee inauguration ceremony at the Mandarin Hotel in Central District in 1976, and the oath-administration ceremony was presided over by Sir Sze-yuen Chung. At that time, the Association had only more than 30 members, all of whom were elites in the tourism industry. So far, we have more than 400 member travel agencies, accounting for about a quarter of the licensed travel agencies in Hong Kong. More than 80% of our members specialize in ticketing and outbound business.
The Association organizes various large-scale activities every year, such as annual conventions held both overseas and Mainland China, familiarization tours, and Spring Festival Gala. The annual conventions and familiarization tours are extremely popular with local tourism bureaus, hotels, scenic spots, and host organizations.
Over the years, members of the association have traveled all over the world which included China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Nepal, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, The United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and other places to hold annual conventions and familiarization tours. The purpose of these events is to promote the cooperation and development of tourism business between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
Since its establishment for more than 40 years, the International Chinese Tourist Association has relied on the concerted efforts of its members to create tourism business opportunities one after another and becoming an outstanding association in Hong Kong’s tourism industry.