GSTC has signed a landmark agreement with three Korean public agencies for long-term collaboration in advancing sustainability in travel and tourism throughout Korea, the Asia-Pacific, and globally.
Gyeonggi Province, the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (GTO), and the City of Suwon (capital city of Gyeonggi Province) have agreed to coordinate their efforts in a partnership with GSTC to “encourage and promote cooperation in the field of sustainable tourism.” Following earlier planning discussioins led by GTO’s Mr. Hugh Kim, GSTC CEO Randy Durband returned to Suwon September 8th to meet with city and provincial authorities and to sign the formal agreement.
The agreement was signed in the Office of the Suwon City Mayor by (from left to right): Seungh-Pyo Hong, President & CEO of Gyeonggi Tourism Organization; Tae-young Yeom, Mayor of Suwon; Randy Durband, CEO of GSTC; Hee-kyeum Kim, Vice-Governor of Gyeonggi Province.
The Parties agree to pursue joint development of international conferences on sustainable tourism; projects relating to capacity building and awareness of sustainable tourism; adoption of GSTC Criteria; cooperation in research and education; and the development of a GSTC Asia-Pacific regional office in Suwon.
Following the signing, three key players involved in the planning for the agreement joined GSTC’s Annual General Meeting in Huangshan, China: Hugh Kim of GTO, Dr. Mihee Kang of Seoul National University and GSTC’s Country Representative for the ROK, and Francis Hong of GTO.
Sustainable Tourism players from throughout the world will want to watch for future announcements detailing an October 2016 Global Sustainable Tourism Conference in Suwon, organized by the four partners to the September 2015 agreement.
From the right: Hugh Kim, General Manager, GTO’s Gyeonggi MICE Bureau; Dr. Mihee Kang, Seoul National University and GSTC Country Representative for the ROK; GSTC’s Randy Durband; Byeong-tae Kim, Director of Tourism Division, City of Suwon; Francis Hong, Senior Program Officer, Gyeonggi MICE Bureau.
