Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
T20 promotes tourism as sustainable growth tool
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By Lee Hyo-sik
By Lee Hyo-sik
Tourism ministers from the world’s 20 largest economies will gather in Buyeo, an ancient capital city of the Baekje Kingdom (18BC-660AD) in South Chungcheong Province, from Oct. 11 to 13 to discuss ways of turning tourism into a new growth engine for the global economy.
The so-called T20 ministers will explore potential for the tourism sector to support the world’s long-term transformation to a “green” economy, while promoting the cultural and societal diversity across the globe. They are also expected to touch on the role of the tourism industry in helping developing countries achieve a sustainable growth.
The participants of the 2nd Tourism Ministers’ Meeting will issue the “Buyeo Declaration” on Wednesday, calling for the T20, the issue-driven initiative supported by the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), to play a greater role in economic development and narrow the widening gap between rich and poor countries through tourism.
The joint statement will also include a range of detailed action plans to realize T20 initiatives.
The meeting will take place at the Lotte Buyeo Resort, which just opened its doors in September. Its seminar rooms, each with a 40-seat capacity and convention hall with a 350-seat capacity, are located on the 1st floor of the 11-story, hotel-inspired condominium, making them easily accessible. The state-of-the-art audio/video system and presentation equipment will help in facilitating the smooth operation of the meeting.
The 1st meeting of the T20 ministers was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Feb 22 to 24 this year, dealing with a wide array of issues. Among others, they discussed the role of tourism and travel as stimuli for the global economy, and ways of building resilience in the sector.
“Tourism has played a crucial role in helping the world economy bound back from the unprecedented downturn by boosting cross-border movements of people and goods. Now, countries should work together to achieve a sustainable growth and reduce the wealth gap between the haves and have-nots,” said a spokesman at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The main slogan for the Buyeo meeting is “Tourism, the Key Driver of Shared Growth.” Participants will deal with four main sectors and a number of related issues for three days. The major items include how to position tourism as a driver of economic, social and environmental changes.
He said the ministers will discuss ways to share growth among both developed and developing countries, and make the global economy more environmentally-sustainable, stressing tourism should be the foundation for the upcoming green economy.
“By fostering tourism in the developing world, the international community can help poorer countries benefit from economic growth, while preserving their tradition and cultural diversities,” the spokesman said.
Tourism high-value-added industry
These days, both advanced and developing countries are paying a greater deal of attention to the tourism industry, seeing it as a potential sustainable growth engine. It is largely pollution-free and high-valued added if well managed, and creates large numbers of high-quality jobs.
Following the worldwide economic meltdown in late 2008, many countries are suffering from the so-called “jobless growth” because their industrial structures have become more capital-and-technology intensive, and less labor-intensive. Additionally, Korea and many other economies have been pursuing “low-carbon and green growth” as main development strategies to cope with the global warming and other environmental degradation.
“Korea decided to host the second T20 Ministers’ Meeting to raise its profile in the international tourism sector. The hosting of the meeting will enable us to take the initiatives in the tourism-related global agenda and promote our tourism assets,” another ministry official said. The T20 meeting will take place just days before the crucial Seoul G20 summit and is expected to provide the much-needed boost to the “2010-2012 Visit Korea” campaign.
He said tourism is a balanced and sustainable growth driver, adding Korea needs to expand its travel infrastructure to foster the so-called “MICE” — Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions — if it wants to achieve high growth and create jobs.
“Through the ministers’ meeting, we will be able to increase the public awareness that how important the tourism is to spurring growth and job creation. Korea will emerge as a leader in the global tourism industry by bridging the gap between advanced and development countries through tourism,” the official said.
Korea will continue to make an effort to boost the profile of the travel industry among policymakers around the world and increase international cooperation among tourism authorities.