The World Tourism Conference 2010
Background
With a record breaking success of World Tourism Conference 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, the Government of Malaysia and the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) will once again jointly organise the World Tourism Conference 2010 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia from 4 to 6 October 2010.
The conference is very timely as the tourism industry is poised for a rebound in view of the pent-up demand for travel arising from the global economic crisis in 2009. In this regard, the negative growth of 4.3% rate for 2009 in international tourism is beginning to indicate positive outlook with 2% growth during the last quarter of the year. This momentum has continued and reflected favourably by an intensifying upward trend for the first four months of 2010. International tourist arrivals are expected to grow between 3% and 4% in 2010.
Tourism is a principal catalyst of the global economy and one of the most important tools for socioeconomic development throughout the world. It is imperative, therefore, that the industry is positioned and well equipped especially in the light of the increasingly challenging and competitive environment.
However, what has made some destinations and organisations weather the storm more successfully than others?
The aim of the conference is thus to uncover the secrets of leading destinations and organisations in the tourism industry which can be adopted and adapted to generate income and accelerate growth in the industry. The conference will also draw attention to innovative product development and marketing strategies for tourism to chart the strategic directions to enable the public and private sectors to harness and maximise the potential of tourism.
Towards this end, this conference is designed for policy makers, industry players and relevant stakeholders to share experiences and information on tourism mega trends and innovation, government initiatives and tourism business success stories.
Objectives
The main objectives of this conference are to analyse the strategies of those destinations and organisations which have been successful in tourism business and marketing. The key areas for discussions will be:
- Mega Trends and Innovation: featuring the views of experts on tourism outlook and mega trends and understanding the success factors for tourism products innovation.
- Tourism Business and Service Excellence: learning from the leaders in tourism business on competitiveness and yield; exploring the dynamics of service excellence; and maintaining the success of a tourism destination.
- Tourism Product Development and Marketing: featuring the emerging markets and leaders in special interest products, destination positioning; identifying the right marketing tools and the evaluating of marketing efficacy; exploring the successful branding of countries and products; and analysing how to protect the brand when crisis strikes.
Each of these 3 sessions will be followed by a panel discussion in which the ideas presented will be analysed and practical recommendations for action will be developed.
Participants
This conference will bring together a wide range of reputed world leaders in tourism, high-level policy makers, specialists and experts from both the public and private sectors, to share experience, put forward valuable ideas and provide guidance for future tourism development. It will be of particular interest to national, regional and local tourism organisations.
Registration
Registration for World Tourism Conference 2010 closed on Friday, September 24
