THE 22nd Inter-Islands Tourism Policy (ITOP) Forum which is held at St. Giles Hotel in George Town over the next 2 days beginning on Oct 24 attracted the participation of many tourism industry players, delegates and academicians not only from Penang but also from the region.
Divided into two main segments for each day – ‘Forum On Connecting Culture, Arts and Nature in George Town Heritage’ as well as the ‘University Symposium’ covering the same aspects – some of the notable speakers and the topics they would cover include The Habitat Penang Hill managing director Allen Tan (Heritage & Arts in Eco-Tourism: The Habitat Penang Hilll), Joe Sidek Productions Sdn Bhd managing director Joe Sidek (The Intangible George Town and the Business of Heritage), Think City programme director Murali Ram (Q&A session on Place, Identity & Authenticity), Assistant Professor Dr. Orathai Krutweisho from Phuket Rajabhat University (Connecting Culture, Arts & Nature), Professor and the Dean of International Tourism College of Hainan University Ms Wang Lin (Tourism in Hainan, a belt connecting culture, arts and nature) and Jeju Studies History & Culture of Jeju Island centre director Chansik Park (History & Culture of Jeju Island).
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, in his welcoming speech to all the delegates, remarked on the timely and suitability of ITOP objectives to capitalise on the opportunities provided by the global tourism market.
“The tourism growth was driven by strong demand from the tourism source market which are dramatically changing the nature of the international travel market. To tap into the opportunities offered in the global tourism market, ITOP aims to develop policies to generate more wealth for the local communities especially with the emergence of travel and tourism industry into one of the world’s largest industries,” he said.
“This is especially for islands with limited resources as the rise in tourism markets contributes to the economic impact of the industry, whether directly or indirectly. Many emerging countries now share a similar interest to tap into the global travel and tourism industry for economic benefits. It’s in tandem with the growing purchasing power in emerging economy markets and we have seen an increase in air connectivity and affordable travel,” the chief minister added.
Also present were exco member for Tourism Development, Heritage, Culture & Arts Yeoh Soon Hin, assemblymen Ong Ah Teong (Batu Lanchang), Daniel Gooi (Pengkalan Kota) and Goh Choon Aik (Bukit Tambun), Vice Governor of Hainan Province Liu Pingzhi, Governor of Southern Province Perera Marshall Romanis, Jeju Tourism director-general Yang Gi Cheol, Bali Tourism director A. A. Gede Yuniartha Putra and Deputy Director-General of Tourism Policies Okinawa Kenichi Arakaki.
Story by Victor Seow
Pix by Alvie Cheng