The 16th UNWTO Asia/Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and Strategy is to be held from November 7 (Mon) to November 11 (Fri) at the grand ballroom of  the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square in Seoul.

Jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST) and the UN World Tourism Organization (Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO), and organized by the Korea Tourism Organization (President KIM Jang-sil, KTO), the event will be attended by 20 executive-level public officials from 20 Asian and Pacific member states of the UNWTO, who will share cases of public-private cooperation towards greater resilience and digital transition of the tourism industry and discuss the future of tourism in the Asia-Pacific region under the theme of “Investing in a Sustainable Tourism Industry.”

The UNWTO Asia/Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and Strategy has been jointly organized by the MCST and the UNWTO since 2006 and held every year. In particular, the program has been held every three years in Korea, where it originated. For the past 16 years, approximately 300 executive-level public officials have participated in the program, indicating recognition of the need for this program, which has become a representative cooperative project between the Ministry and the UNWTO.

During this year’s Training program, the MCST will share Korean government’s leading strategy for sustainable tourism and propose the future of digital tourism. A variety of policy methods will be discussed to help the industry recover more quickly and make it stronger than ever. Currently, tourism is recovering more slowly in Asia and the Pacific region than on other continents. 

The event will begin on November 7 (Mon) with the opening ceremony followed by tourism policy presentations by different countries. Miguel Figueroa, the UNWTO’s Director of Innovation, Education and Investments, will present on investing in tourism, and host a Q&A session on practical  investment in international tourism.

On November 8 (Tue), Kyunghee University’s professor PARK Sang-won will present on “Investing in the Transition to an Eco-friendly and Digital Tourism,” and on November 9 (Wed), Sofia Gutierrez, Deputy Director from UNWTO will address on “Public investment on small and medium sized tourism companies for sustainable growth” and discuss ways for public and private partnership. On November 10 (Thur), the MCST and UNEP will co-lead “2022 Sustainable International Tourism Forum”. On November 11 (Fri), program participants will pay a visit to actual sites where the K-culture and smart tourism policies have been implemented, including HiKR Ground (Seoul), a publicity and promotion center for Korean tourism making immersive experiences possible, and Suwon, a smart tourism city.

An MCST policy official stated, “Through the program, the MCST intends to share the Korea’s leading strategy on smart tourism combined with K-culture and contribute to the development of tourism in the Asia-Pacific region.”