- Following his welcome statement and the introduction of invited speakers of the Session, Mr. Lokuhetty made a presentation titled “Tourism Open Gates to Spring of Opportunities.” Mr. Lokuhetty shared with the audience the tourism industry’s current world status highlighting the international tourism growth, its contribution to the world GDP, as well as the trends in the world. In addition, Mr. Lokuhetty explained with statistics how the tourism has improved over the years together with the forecast of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the next 20 years.
- While reviewing the growth in Asia Pacific region and the future growth pattern for the Asia Pacific, Mr. Lokuhetty and the participants discussed how tourism had helped to improve several countries’ economic growth. Furthermore, Mr. Lokuhetty presented as a case study how Sri Lanka’s tourism growth within last 7 years and Sri Lanka as a tourism product, along with a four-minute video highlighting the country’s natural beauty, rich culture, adventure and the advantages for the traveler when visiting Sri Lanka due to its compactness authenticity and the diversity.
- The first invited speaker of this Session was Mr. Eric Lin from the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan who made a presentation on “The Next Big Opportunity for Taiwan Tourism.” In his report, Mr. Lin emphasized that to promote Taiwan in the international tourism arena, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau plans to develop “multiple sources of inbound tourism on a global scale.” This means that it will continue to invest in Taiwan’s current main tourism markets, while at the same time, it will also actively develop high-potential markets within ASEAN countries, including Muslim travelers.
- Featuring the theme of “Promoting Development and Growth of Tourism in the Philippines,” second speaker Ms. Aileen Clemente from the Philippines analyzed the latest development of the tourism industry in the Philippines, ASEAN region and the world. Despite the challenges domestically, Ms. Clemente took her own company’s projects as an example to show how the Philippines has implemented its national tourism development plan. Among all the events, Ms. Clemente introduced to the audience her company’s “Lost Pieces of History Advocacy,” beginning with the Palawan Liberation: A Salute to Valor.
- During the Q & A Session, Mr. Lokuhetty, altogether with Mr. Lin and Ms. Clemente, conducted interesting and lively discussions on the challenges and opportunities of the tourism market with all delegates.
