By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

Tourism ministers from 20 major countries will gather in Korea to discuss how to boost the industry later this year.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced last week that Korea is going to host the second T-20 meeting in November.

T-20 is a meeting of tourism ministers of the G-20 major economies, including the United States, Japan and France. The conference aims to emphasize the importance of tourism as a driving force for worldwide economic growth.

The forum's launch was agreed upon at last year's meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), a specialized agency of the United Nations and a global body for tourism policy issues, which is a practical source of international tourism know-how.

The first meeting was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Feb. 22 to 24, where Korea was appointed as the host of the second one.

The Ministry of Tourism said the T-20 meeting will be held ahead of the G-20 summit scheduled in November. Exact dates and the venue will be decided later, it added.

Korea is also to host the 19th UNWTO meeting next year.

Tourism is expected to power Korea's economy and the government is putting a lot of effort into attracting more visitors and stimulating the industry.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the tourism industry is estimated to account for 11 percent of the world's GDP later this year.

The KTO is currently promoting the "Visit Korea 2010-2012" campaign to draw 10 million overseas visitors annually. A record high of over 7 million overseas tourists visited Korea last year, despite the global economic slump and the spread of swine flu, and it indicates the possibilities for Korea tourism.

The convention industry is growing larger in Seoul as it attracted 230,000 convention-goers to 120 meetings last year. The capital raised the target to host 150 conventions and draw 300,000 visitors in 2010.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr