The 4 th UNWTO Asia/Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and Strategy

Transcription

1 BACKGROUND AND PROGRAM INFORMATION The 4 th UNWTO Asia/Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and Strategy Co-organized by TPO (Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia-Pacific Cities) April 2010 / Gyeongju, Republic of Korea 1. Background According to the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer international tourist arrivals for business, leisure and other purposes are estimated to have declined worldwide by 4% in Growth returned to international tourism in the last quarter of 2009 contributing to better than expected full-year results and showing one more time the resilience of the tourism industry. After a year 2009 of unprecedented economic recession in the western countries, Asia and the Pacific is becoming a rising star in the tourism industry. Indeed Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East lead the recovery in international tourist arrivals with growth already turning positive in both regions in the second half of Asia and the Pacific had a negative growth in international tourist arrivals in 2009 of -2%, with a decline of -7% between January and June, and an extraordinary rebound in the second half of the year showing a positive growth of 3% reflecting improved regional economic results and prospects. Asia and the Pacific has consolidated as the second largest region in terms of international tourist arrivals, the tourism industry in the region is growing at an unprecedented rate and becoming more crucial to the economy of many countries. UNWTO forecasts a growth in international tourist arrivals between 3% and 4% in 2010, with Asia expected to continue showing the strong growth. These improved prospects are confirmed by the rise in the UNWTO Panel of Experts Confidence Index for However, these positive perspectives must be maintained with proper and relevant tourism policy. With the current pace of tourism growth, the need to update and review the tourism policy of each country becomes increasingly urgent. Tourism is a very dynamic industry with constant changes and policy makers should be able to anticipate the changes occurring in the market and react properly to them in order to take advantage of the opportunities that appear in the market every time a crisis occurs. Through a series of lectures, group discussions, debates, and presentations, the 4 th UNWTO Asia-Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and 1

2 Strategy will help policy makers in gaining a better understanding of the latest trends in tourism management and through the sharing of their experiences and best practices, the participants will be able to improve their tourism management skills. This training program would serve as a forum for executives in the tourism sector to exchange their knowledge and experiences in successful policy making and implementation As a follow up of the training, UNWTO will compile the conclusions and learnings from the discussion panels in a comprehensive report which can ultimately be used as a guide for future actions and strategies in the tourism policy. 2. Aims Tourism Policy should be flexible and adaptive to changes within the market and suiting the needs of the concerned governments themselves. In that regard, tourism policy should always be updated to suit the changing market trends. The crisis provides always an opportunity to improve and address structural weaknesses of the tourism sectors, to implement strategies fostering sustainable development and to develop a stronger tourism industry. Therefore, discussing the perspectives of a group of international industry experts and sharing the views and the cases of best tourism policy achieved by countries and cities in the Asia Pacific region is beneficial as an overall evaluation and improvement of tourism policy. 3. Objectives Major objectives of the training program are as follows: To deepen the understanding of the impact of the current economic downturn and help each participant formulate a more integrated tourism policy (central government level & city government level) confronting the crisis. To share successful tourism policies of several countries & cities, regarding their initial policy making and implementation. To provide insights and broaden policy options as well as opportunities on tourism policy making 2

3 4. Provisional Programme In order to achieve the aforementioned aims and objectives, this training program is designed to specifically focus on a more practical than theoretical implementation of tourism policy. Session 1 Tourism and Poverty Reduction. o Speaker: Madam Narzalina Zaldivar Lim, Former Secretary (Minister) of the Department of Tourism, Philippines. o Preparation Questions: (1) Is poverty reduction integrated in the tourism policy of your country? (2) Do you have examples in your country or city of how tourism was used to help reduce poverty? (3) What approaches would you adopt for future projects of using tourism to reduce poverty? What would you do differently? Session 2 Assessing the Competitiveness of Destinations Using Customer Satisfaction Indexes. o Speaker: Dr. Haiyan Song, Professor of the Hing Kong Polytechnic University. o Preparation Questions: (1) Why does tourist satisfaction determine a destination s competitiveness? (2) What are the factors that influence tourists satisfaction towards a destination? (3) As a tourist destination, has your country or city carried out any tourist satisfaction evaluation? Session 3 Developing a Long Term Strategic Planning in the Tourism Policy. o Speaker: Dr. Ramon Diaz-Bernardo, Professor of IE Business School. o Preparation Questions: (1) Has your country or city developed a long-term tourism strategic plan? If yes, how was it done? (2) What are your long-term objectives as a tourism destination? (3) What do you think are the main challenges / difficulties when developing a long-term tourism strategic planning for your country or city? Session 4 How Destinations Can Become More Competitive Through Innovation and Management. o Speaker: Mr. Angel Diaz, President of Advanced Leisure Services. o Preparation Questions: (1) What do you believe innovation in tourism is? How would you define it? (2) Which are, according to your experience, the most important variables in order to foster development and innovation in a tourism destination? (3) How would you compare the possibilities for development and innovation of mature and emerging tourism destinations? In addition to the training, a one-day technical tour to a location in Gyeongju (to be announced) will take place at the end of the program. 3

4 5. Participants Involvement Senior director level officials from the national tourism administrations of UNWTO Member States and the TPO member cities are invited to participate in the program. The participant should have an excellent command of English. In order to increase the participation level and to have a useful and practical learning experience, the participants are required to choose one topic among the following four topics related to each session and to submit his/her presentation file by 26 th March. 1) Examples in your country or city of how tourism was used to help reduce poverty 2) Examples of the tourist satisfaction evaluation conducted by your country or city 3) Examples of the long-term tourism strategic planning conducted by you country or city 4) Examples of innovation in the tourism sector of your country or city All the presentation files will be distributed to every participant to facilitate efficient discussion. And some of participants will be requested to conduct the short presentation in the main session or group discussion. Also participants are required to be prepared for answering all the preparation questions listed in 4. Provisional Program. 4

5 6. Provisional daily schedule Date Program 13/April (TUE) Arrival and Check-in 09:00 13:00 Arrival and Check-in 13:30 14:10 Opening Ceremony 14/April (WED) Session 1 14:30 15:50 Presentation : TOURISM AND POVERTY REDUCTION 15:50 16:10 Q&A 16:10 16:30 Coffee Break 16:30 17:50 Small Group Discussion 17:50 18:40 Report Back Session 19:00 21:00 Welcoming Dinner (Host City) 15/April (THU) Session 2 09:00 10:30 Presentation : ASSESSING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF DESTINATIONS USING TOURISM SATISFACTION INDEXES 10:30 10:50 Q&A 10:50 11:10 Coffee Break 11:10 13:00 Small Group Discussion 13:00 14:30 Lunch 14:30 16:00 Report Back Session 19:00 21:00 Dinner 16/April (FRI) Session 3 09:00 10:30 Presentation : DEVELOPING A LONG TERM STRATEGIC PLANNING IN THE TOURISM POLICY 10:30 10:50 Q&A 10:50 11:10 Coffee Break 11:10 13:00 Small Group Discussion 13:00 14:30 Lunch 14:30 16:00 Report Back Session 19:00 21:00 Dinner 17/April (SAT) Session 4 09:00 10:30 Presentation : HOW DESTINATIONS CAN BECOME MORE COMPETITIVE THROUGH INNOVATION AND MANAGEMENT 10:30 10:50 Q&A 10:50 11:10 Coffee Break 11:10 13:00 Small Group Discussion 5

6 13:00 14:30 Lunch 14:30 16:00 Report Back Session 17:30 18:30 Dinner 19:00 21:00 Participating in the local festival (Host City) 18/April (SUN) 09:00 18:00 Technical Tour 19:00 21:00 Farewell Dinner (Host City) 19/April (MON) Check-out and Departure 6