The event gathered eight member provinces of the EATOF and other EATOF stakeholders.
With the theme related to green tourism, IlSub Jeong, EATOF Secretary General, affirmed the importance of developing green tourism and providing principles for sustainable tourism development.
According to the statistics, the total number of tourists in 2018 reached 1.4 billion people, an increase of 6% compared to 2017. The figure displays the booming tourism industry worldwide. In the world today, there are many types of tourism. At the conference, EATOF emphasised on a new type of tourism that is green tourism in East Asia. Through the cooperation of EATOF members, it would help maximise the natural advantages of its member localities.
Speaking at the conference, Pham Ngoc Thuy, the head of Quang Ninh provincial Tourism Department, affirmed that the strong and sustainable tourism growth in EATOF countries has demonstrated the linkage among members of EATOF themselves. The effectiveness of EATOF activities contributes to promoting the development of cultural, artistic and economic fields of each locality and each country in the forum.
Namjo Kim, from the Hanyang University, the Republic of Korea, suggested that sustainable tourism development needs to rely on the community. Accordingly, sustainable tourism will be environmentally friendly tourism, which promotes socio-cultural and historical values, towards the local population community.
Ike Janita Dewi, from the Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia, said that tourism development strategies need to link economic development with the preservation of culture and natural resources, and there should be regulations and policies from governments to bring sustainable tourism development principles into tourism development strategies.
The Quang Ninh event aims at allowing members of EATOF to discuss ways to develop green tourism in a sustainable manner and clarify the responsibilities of members in the future, towards the 17th EATOF General Assembly scheduled for Quang Ninh in 2020.
