Korea Tourism Organization to host investment meeting

By Lee Hyo-sik

The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will hold an international conference here later this month to promote tourism as a promising growth engine in the Asia Pacific region and attract investments from businesses.

The fifth Asia Pacific Tourism Investment Conference (APTIC) 2010 will be held at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul on Oct. 26-27, drawing over 3,000 participants from both home and abroad, including prospective investors, government officials, industry experts and the general public.

Under the theme of “Invitation of a New Growth Engine,” the meeting will deal with a wide range of issues covering tourism development and development in Asia, offering information and advice on how to attract investments and implement projects efficiently.

“In its fifth year running, the programs of the conference will be expanded to cover a wider range of topics than in past years in efforts to outline the new methods of financing in the tourism industry; manifesting successful green tourism, the prospect of convergence and integration tourism, the anti-aging market as well as ocean tourism,” said Kang Chul, head of investment support team at KTO.

In particular, the upcoming meeting will highlight green tourism, adding many cases studies will be presented, Kang said. They include the government and hospitality businesses constructing “lodging of the future” and managing it in an environmentally friendly manner, as well as utilizing waterfronts to promote green tourism.

The opening ceremony on Oct. 26 will include a keynote speech, titled “New Discoveries and Challenges for the Tourism Market in the Asia-Pacific Region,” by the CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Gregory A. Duffell.

“We hope that the conference will also help promote Korea as a premium tourist destination, and an attractive and viable location for tourism investment,” Kang said.

For more information, call ((02) 729-9635) or visit www.aptickorea.com.