ASEAN-Korea Centre seeks sustainable tourism as some pandemic restrictions are lifted

Kim Hae-yong, secretary general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, delivers opening remarks during the "Seminar on ASEAN-Korea Culture and Tourism" at Westin Josun Seoul, April 26. Courtesy of ASEAN-Korea Centre

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The ASEAN-Korea Centre hosted a symposium called "Seminar on ASEAN-Korea Culture and Tourism 2022," seeking to rekindle tourism in ASEAN member states as well as Korea as the world finally starts to see some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

The two-day seminar, which started on April 26, consisted of an online discussion about ways to develop sustainable tourism through digitalization in a post-pandemic era. This was followed by a group workshop on April 27 focusing on the metaverse and digital marketing.

"COVID-19 has made an unprecedented impact on not only the world but also the travel industry. While the past two years of the pandemic have involved much hardship, lessons were learned and the global community has sought ways to adapt and pave the road to recovery," ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary General Kim Hae-yong said in the opening remarks of the seminar.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expects a rebound in global tourism by the third quarter of this year. In fact, international tourist arrivals around the world have more than doubled in January 2022, compared to the same period of 2021.

With increases in travel so far this year, ASEAN is taking the initiative and reopening borders and revitalizing tourism in the region. Most member states have opened their doors to vaccinated visitors. ASEAN and Korea had over 12 million people traveling back and forth in 2019. This gradual reopening of the region is a welcome sign displaying a partial return to normality.

"To steer a new course in the post-pandemic era, it is important that ASEAN and Korea look beyond recovery and build resilience and sustainability. Therefore, digitalization as the transition into smart tourism is the way forward... Establishing the foundations of sustainable tourism will play an important role in the opening phase of the (ASEAN) region," Kim said.

Experts discuss sustainable tourism through digitalization during the "Seminar on ASEAN-Korea Culture and Tourism" at Westin Josun Seoul, April 26. Courtesy of ASEAN-Korea Centre

Sergio Guerreiro, OECD Tourism Committee chairman, gave a keynote speech on "Smart Tourism: A path forward for a resilient future." Guerreiro noted several trends accelerated by the pandemic, including digitalization.

"We saw, in every economic activity and in any segment of the tourism sector, an increased demand for contactless services for online purchasing, for online payments, for visitor tracking and management processes," Guerreiro said.

"The second point is there was a huge adoption of new digital practices by SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), which take up 98 percent of our (tourism) sector worldwide... Almost all governments worldwide invest significantly in different types of approaches to accelerate the digital agenda in our sector."

Since the tourism sector largely consists of SMEs and workers with relatively lower digital skills than the tech sector, one of the key challenges is to extend the use of digital technologies throughout the tourism workforce.

"We've been trying to analyze and prioritize policies that can actually close the gaps in terms of digital skills in infrastructure. One lesson that we have is don't look at the present, but look at the future because things are moving at such a speed and it is important to understand what is ahead in terms of digital revolution," he said.

The first session dealt with "Coping with COVID-19: Journey to digital transformation," presenting topics such as ASEAN hygiene standards in the with-COVID era by ASEAN Secretariat senior tourism officer Carla Budiarto, digital transition of tourism destinations and trends in Korea by Kim Min-hye of the Incheon Tourism Organization and developing promotional materials with local content creators by Unique Good Company CEO Song In-hyuk.

In the second session centering on "Sustainable Tourism: Effort to build a more resilient future," Hoy Phireak, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Tourism in Cambodia, shared tourism standards for a sustainable and resilient ASEAN, while a Korean Air deputy general manager presented the airline industry's sustainability strategy for digitalization. Jeju Olle Foundation Managing Director Lee Young-il introduced sustainable tourism in local destinations with the example of the Jeju Olle Trail created for hikers throughout the southern resort island.

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