The annual international tourism conference kicks off Wednesday in Ulsan, gathering international and domestic tourism experts and highlighting recent tourism trends.
More than 100 foreign participants including chief editors of major tourism journals ― Rick Perdue of Journal of Travel Research and former editor-in-chief of Annals of Tourism Research Jafar Jafari among them ― are attending the 72nd conference organized by the Tourism Sciences Society of Korea.
Local participants include TOSOK president Oh Ik-guen and former government officials.
Oh Ik-guen, president of Tourism Sciences Society of Korea, speaks at the 2012 TOSOK International Tourism Conference in Ulsan, Tuesday. (TOSOK)
The conference serves as a venue for foreign and local tourism experts to discuss the future of the tourism industry.
“As Korea aims to attract 20 million foreign tourists by 2020, we will discuss ways to make Korea’s tourism industry flourish and help set up tourism strategies,” said Jeong Gang-hoan, vice president of TOSOK and dean of the tourism festival graduate school of Pai Chai University.
The conference consists of six sessions, each focusing on tourism issues and recent trends.
One session will examine how to achieve the country’s tourism potential as Korea looks to reach 20 million foreign tourists annually.
Other sessions touch on the growing popularity of outdoor activities, casino management and the food industry.
The conference organizers expect the sessions will stimulate discussions that can lead to promoting a new type of tourism related to outdoor activities such as camping, hiking and fishing.
A special session focuses on the city of Ulsan, famous for whale-watching, heavy industries and maritime commerce.
“We are trying to make Ulsan the center of whale tourism where people can come for whale-watching and learn about whales at a whale museum and a theme park,” said Jeong, adding that making the city “the mecca for whale tourism” will also contribute to developing the domestic tourism industry.
“This will definitely shed new light on Ulsan as the center of whale tourism and industrial tourism,” said Jeong.
By Lee Woo-young (
wylee@heraldcorp.com)