Discussion on Future Strategies through Open Tourism and Regional Tourism... Forum Held in Seoul and Jeju

November 11-12 '2023 International Open Tourism Forum'
November 13-15 'International Regional Tourism Revitalization Forum'

A series of forums will be held to explore future strategies for Korean tourism.

Andong Seonseonghyeon Cultural Complex, selected for the '2024 Open Tourist Sites' project by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization.
[Photo by Andong City]

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 10th that they will hold the '2023 International Open Tourism Forum' in Seoul on the 11th and 12th to explore diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the 'International Regional Tourism Revitalization Forum' in Jeju from the 13th to the 15th.

The theme of the 'International Open Tourism Forum' is 'The Future of Tourism for All.' Over 100 participants including government officials from Korea, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Australia, Thailand, Spain, experts from Malaysia and Japan, the European Union (EU) Accessibility Tourism Center, architects of open tourism sites, developers of travel applications for the visually impaired, Lonely Planet travel writers, disability influencers, and the Korea Disabled Tourism Association will engage in lively discussions.

Igor Stefanovic, an open tourism expert from the UNWTO, emphasized the value and future of open tourism in his keynote speech, stating, "Tourism accessibility directly concerns about 1.3 billion people worldwide and is a matter of social inclusion." In accordance with the UNWTO accessibility guidelines, the event applies barrier-free principles throughout, including site selection, installation of stage ramps, securing wheelchair routes, providing sign language interpretation, and pre-training of event staff.

On the 12th, participants will visit sites such as the Samaksan Lake Cable Car and the Animation Museum in Chuncheon, which were selected as open tourism destinations for 2024, to explore and discuss improvement measures.

Following this, the 'International Regional Tourism Revitalization Forum' held in Jeju will discuss the role of tourism in addressing regional disparities and population decline faced by Korean society. Experts and academics from Korea, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNWTO, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, as well as various regional tourism stakeholders from Jeju, Jeongseon-gun, Gochang-gun, and Yangyang-gun will participate.

On the 15th, forum attendees will visit Dongbaek Village and Sehwa Village in Jeju, which were selected as the 2023 UNWTO ‘Best Tourism Villages.’

Park Jong-taek, Director of Tourism Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, "Since COVID-19, major international organizations such as the UNWTO and OECD have been actively discussing sustainable and resilient growth of the tourism industry. In line with this, we will share diverse and inclusive perspectives on open tourism and regional tourism with the international community and further expand policy support in these areas.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.