The ‘11th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting
To be held concurrently with the 60th APEC Tourism Working Group Meeting in Bangkok from 14-20 August, 2022, the event is expected to be attended by over 300 delegates from APEC member economies.
Bangkok, BTNp: THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand (TAT) would like to report that Thailand today confirmed its readiness – in its role as the host of APEC 2022 – to host the 11th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting and the 60th APEC Tourism Working Group Meeting in Bangkok from 14-20 August, 2022.
The concept of ‘Regenerative Tourism’ focuses on a holistic approach to develop and promote tourism by taking into account all possible impacts on the environment, culture, and the local way of life. As well as restoration of tourist attractions, the strategy places emphasis on sustainable tourism development by balancing tourist numbers to suit the attraction, and more importantly, prioritization on providing service quality and consistency over the number of tourists. The aim also is to encourage local people to participate in and benefit from inclusive and equitable tourism, and to stimulate awareness on cultural and environmental preservation.
This is in line with the Royal Thai Government’s Bio-Circular-Green or BCG Economy Model, which is being used to revive Thailand’s tourism industry with the aim for safe, inclusive, and sustainable travel. The BCG Economy Model capitalism on Thailand’s strengths in biological diversity and cultural richness, and conforms to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
By ensuring sustainable development of natural resources and roping in participation from local people with the aim for real distribution of income to the local community, the concept of ‘Regenerative Tourism’ is expected to benefit the APEC member economies in the post-pandemic tourism recovery. In addition, this will help achieve the goal of capitalising on tourism for a better environment, more social creativity, and higher-valued local wisdom knowledge, and ultimately helping to support the local people with better jobs and livelihood. This reflects Thailand’s theme for its hosting of the APEC 2022, which is “Open. Connect. Balance”.
In addition to the APEC tourism ministers meeting and working group, there will also be parallel activities; such as, an academic seminar under the topic of “Co-Creating Regenerative Tourism”, and an excursion centred around Bangkok’s historic Talat Noi neighbourhood, and Nakhon Pathom’s Sampran Model. These are aimed to offer event participants a chance to experience community tourism in line with the ‘Regenerative Tourism’ concept. *BTNewspaper/TAT
