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"Sustainable Tourism: Policies for Delivering
Social, Environmental and Economic Benefits in the Asia-Pacific Region
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Jeju, Republic of Korea, 17-20 November 2015 (Tues - Fri)
Background
“[O]ver the past years, tourism has proven to be a surprisingly strong and resilient economic activity and a fundamental contributor to the economic recovery by generating billions of dollars in exports and creating millions of jobs.” ? Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General
In 2014, international tourist arrivals recorded 1,138 million with a 4.7% increase compared to the previous year . It has occupied 9% of global GDP, creating one in every 11 jobs worldwide . Particularly, Asia and the Pacific region showed the strongest growth in tourism population, welcoming 263million international tourists in 2014. The region’s major destinations including Japan, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, China, India and Australia are expected to continue the firm growth by 5% average and the increasing trend also applies to sub-regions such as South East Asia .
As tourism has gained more importance and popularity within the economic, social and political arena, however, some negative consequences and problems have emerged. Ecological degradation and loss of cultural heritage are among its threats. Also, people started to realize the colossal investment in tourism facilities could not be equated with the success of tourism industry and the tourists’ fulfillment.
In this sense, tourism has become internationally recognized within the UN dialogue like the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (1999) for the question of ‘quality tourism’ rather than its quantifiable volume. The dominant agenda on tourism development has moved its focus from ‘how much developed’ to ‘how well developed’ and the need for sustainable tourism comes to the front. Finally, sustainable tourism has been positively and clearly adopted in the final draft of the Post-2015 Development Agenda as articles of sustainable development goals for poverty alleviation.
In this regard, the workshop will raise awareness on sustainable tourism and entails a solid grasp of its principles, strategies, some challenges and financial cooperation by looking at case studies through the live voices of the international/national/local practitioners. It will help local actors effectively develop relevant policies to conserve and promote their natural and cultural heritage for the communities’ social, environmental and economic benefits.
Event Objectives
The capacity building workshop, whilst promoting awareness and recognition on the importance of sustainable tourism, will:
- Provide an opportunity for local governments and cities in the Asia-Pacific region to exchange their tourism policies and best practices throughout city-to-city cooperation.
- Promote a learning atmosphere between cities and establish a strong network that they can utilize after the workshop.
- Offer a venue of knowledge transfer and discussion and inspire a healthy motivation to participants for implementing sustainable tourism policies in practice.
Learning objectives
The workshop aims to:
- Provide an overview of tourism trends and policy development to local authorities, experts and practitioners in the context of 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
- Demonstrate lessons learned from the cases of tourism policy implementation in the Asia-Pacific region and internationally.
- Introduce methodology and a checklist needed for policy development and action plans to identify stakeholders, considering both challenges and advantages.
- Help participants effectively promote and optimize the benefits of sustainable tourism policies through the following sectors: promotion, financing development, sustainable procurement in cooperation with the private sector and civil society.
By the end of the workshop, through the action plan session, the participants will be able to:
- Identify stakeholders and prioritize actions, targets, indicators and measures of progress and success.
- Analyse the persistent barriers to sustainable performance at destinations as well as the unique assets of local communities.
- Facilitate collaboration and consensus-building among all stakeholders for the equitable sharing of social, environmental and economic benefits of tourism.
Methodology
The training will be comprised of:
- Lectures by experts
- Simulation of policy implementation
- Self-assessment exercise
- Group work and discussion
- Action plan presentation
- Study visit to tourism project sites
Contents and Structure
The training will include the following:
- [Session 1] Sustainable tourism overview
- [Session 2] Translating sustainable tourism policies into actionable management
- [Session 3] Walking, slow life and sustainable tourism, Olle Trail
- [Session 4] Opportunities and challenges of sustainable tourism in the Asia and Pacific region
- [Session 5] Simulating sustainable tourism policy implementation: Monitoring & Evaluation
- [Session 6 & 7] Sustainable tourism investment and finance
- [Session 8] Policy introduction of sustainable tourism in Jeju
- [Session 9] Culture 21, and case studies on cultural tourism development
- [Session 10] Developing action plan for sustainable tourism implementation
Target Audience
- High-level authorities and experts from central and local/city governments
- Representatives from NGOs, region- & community-based organizations, academic and training institutions, and other local actors within the Asia-Pacific Region
** Participants should be expected to work in the related field for at least one year after the Workshop
** Participants should have sufficient command of both written and spoken English
Event Details
- Event type : workshop
- Date : 17th ? 20th November 2015
- Venue : UNITAR Jeju International Training Center (JITC), Jeju-do, ROK
- Organizers : UNITAR, UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and United Cities and Local Governments - Asia and Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC)
- Collaboration : UNWTO, Jeju Tourism Organization
- Certificate : UNITAR and UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC will jointly issue a certificate upon completion of the training
Requirement
Applicants are required to:
- Summit necessary documents on time, i.e., application forms etc.
- Complete and submit pre-training assignment, i.e., case study description etc.
- Actively participate in the training program
- Be fluent in written and spoken English
How to apply
Send the following documents to cifaljeju.tdev@gmail.com by 7 October 2015 (Wed):
1. Application form
2. Case study description
3. Letter of nomination
4. Letter of commitment
5. Acknowledgement, waiver and release of liability
6. Consent to collection, usage, and disclosure of personal information
7. Curriculum vitae (CV) ※ Your own form
※Document 1,2,3,4,5,6 can be downloaded from http://www.cifaljeju.org/
※ Late application will not be accepted.
Note
- Applicants are subject to the selection process by UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC
- Selected participants will be informed individually
Assistance with travel cost
- UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC provides a LIMITED financial assistance with the airfare to Jeju-do, ROK.
- Expenses in Korea (transportation, accommodation and meals during the workshop) will be covered by CIFAL Jeju/JITC.
- All other expenses are the responsibility of the participants.
- Expenses will be reimbursed in cash on the last day of the workshop (24, March)
CIFAL Jeju's air fare assistance limit
? Eastern Asia US$ 300 (from Mongolia US$ 400)
? South-Eastern Asia US$ 450 (from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar US$ 650)
? Southern Asia US$ 800 (from Sri Lanka US$ 700, from Nepal US$ 950)
? Pacific Islands US$ 1,200
* Other points of departure ? please contact UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC.
* the table represents the maximum amount of financial assistant for a round-trip international air travel.
Application form is attached
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2016.01.14
