APEC Tourism Working Group Meeting
to Be Held in Songdo Convensia, Incheon, July 28-31
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that, together with the Korea Tourism Organization, it will host the 65th APEC Tourism Working Group Meeting at Songdo Convensia in Incheon from July 28 to 31.
The APEC Tourism Working Group is an official body under the APEC Sub-Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE), established in 1991 with the aim of promoting economic growth and social development in the Asia-Pacific region through tourism cooperation. The meeting is attended by tourism ministries from 21 APEC member economies, international organizations, and invited stakeholders in the tourism sector.
The main sessions, to be held on July 29 and 31, will bring together around 80 participants, including Chun Hua Chua, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia, Seksan Ngowsuwan, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, and officials from the tourism ministries of 18 economies. The discussions will focus on the three core agendas of APEC for 2025?Connectivity, Innovation, and Prosperity?and will explore the direction of tourism cooperation within APEC through digital transformation and sustainable growth.
In particular, this meeting will adopt the APEC Tourism Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2029 and review the joint action items of the Tourism Working Group in four priority areas: digital transformation, human resource development, travel facilitation, and sustainable growth. The future direction of the working group’s operations will also be discussed.
Prior to the main session, an 'APEC Workshop' on tourism and AI will be held on July 28. This workshop, co-hosted by Korea and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a follow-up to the 'Korea-OECD Tourism and AI Forum' held in Gyeongju in February. It aims to further develop and implement, at the APEC level, the potential of AI technology in tourism and related policy issues discussed at that time.
In the first session, speakers will include Jane Stacey, Head of the OECD Tourism Policy Analysis Team, as well as representatives from major technology and tourism companies such as Expedia Group, Booking.com, Agoda, Google, and Microsoft, along with leading Korean tourism ventures like Globaleur and Tripbtoz. They will present case studies of AI applications in the private sector. In the second session, tourism policy officials from APEC member economies will share their experiences with AI adoption and discuss public-private cooperation and inclusive innovation strategies.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also plans to provide participants with opportunities to directly experience the appeal of Korean tourism. On July 30, participants will visit the National Museum of Korea and Seongsu-dong?recently popular among foreign tourists?to showcase and promote the diverse aspects of Korean tourism linked to K-Content.
During the 3rd APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (July 26 to August 15), the Ministry and the Korea Tourism Organization will also operate a Korea Tourism Promotion Center at Songdo Convensia. The center will offer experiential content and local tourism information to approximately 4,000 participants, actively promoting Korea as a tourism destination.
A policy official from the Ministry stated, "As the host of the 1st APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting, Korea has led APEC tourism cooperation thus far," and added, "The Ministry will continue to take the lead in discussions on innovative and sustainable economic growth through tourism as vice-chair of the Tourism Working Group."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
