OECD Tourism Conference to Deal 
with Global Value Chains and SMEs
Will open on Sept. 6 for a two-day run in Gwangju

The OECD-Korea International Tourism Conference will be held at the Mudung Park Hotel in Gwangju Sept. 6-7. The conference will bring together more than 170 tourism officials, including representatives from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries and Korea.
True to the theme titled, "Global Tourism Growth: A Challenge for SMEs," participants of the conference will explore such topics as how to graft global value chains into the tourism industry, Kim Chan, director-general of Tourism Bureau at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), said.
The rapidly changing structure of the tourism-related industries and dual nature of the industry composed of large multinational enterprises and of a majority of SMEs have demanded new ways of cooperation and participation in supply and distribution value chains and networks. In this context, SMEs in the tourism-related industries encounter many challenges and opportunities exacerbated by increasing globalization, organizerss said. The conference would be a crucial attempt to investigate further the role of SMEs in supply and distribution value chains, networks and cooperation in the tourism-related industries, in particular their contribution to sustainable growth and employment, they added.
The key purposes of the conference are i) to clarify the meaning of global value chains in the tourism-related industries and their contribution to sustainable growth and employment, ii) to change views on how to optimize the role of SMEs in the tourism economy in the framework of globalization, in particular by examining the organization of GVSs at national and sub-national levels as well as at industry level and the role of innovation in new business models, iii) to increase the participation of tourism-related SMEs in the supply and distribution value chains and networks, through a better understanding of the cooperation issues among tourism enterprises and with the destinations; and iv) to identify the related policy implications and preliminary policy recommendations.
The conference will be organized by the MCT and the OECD Center for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development.
Lim Byoung-soo, assistant minister of the MCT, and Marie-Florence Estime, deputy director of Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development at OECD, will deliver opening remarks during the opening ceremony on Sept. 6.
Peter Leller, chairman of the OECD Tourism Committee and head of the Tourism Service, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland, will deliver a keynote speech titled, "Global Value Chains in the Tourism Industry: What Does It Mean?,"while Renzo Iorio, vice president of Federturismo/Confindustria, Italy, will speak about "Overview of the Structural Changes in the Tourism Industries: the Perspective of SMEs."Paul Dembinski, executive secretary of the Financial Monitoring Centre and professor at the Fribourg University in Switzerland, will also make a keynote address titled, "Enhancing the Role of SMEs in Global Value Chains."Speakers of Session I: The Structural Changes in the Tourism-related Industries include Mike Hatton, president of World Travel Agents Association Alliance (WTAAA), "The structural Changes in the Distribution System,"; John Koldowski, managing director of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), ?he Structural Changes in the Tourism Industry; the Perspective of the Asia-Pacific Region,"; David McMillan, chief executive officer of International Hotel & Restaurant Association, "The Structural Changes in the Hotel and Restaurant Industries,"; and Oh Chang-hee, president of Global Tour Ltd., Korea, "The Structural Changes in the Tourism Industry; the Perspective of the Entrepreneur."Session II is titled ?he Importance of Value Chains, Networks and Cooperation as Drivers for SME Growth, Employment and Performance in the Tourism-related Industries."
The speakers will include Matias Llabres Aloy, director of the Centre for Innovation and Research in tourism Balearic Islands (CITTIB), Spain, "The Cooperation of Tourism Enterprises with the Destination: the Example of the Balearic Islands,"; Prof. Alexandros Paraskevas, senior lecturer of "Oxford Brooks University Business School, United Kongdom,"; Prof. Cho Min-ho, of School of Tourism at Hanyang University, "The Key Factors for a Successful Cooperation between SMEs and Global Players in the Hotel Industry,": Patrice Braun, research fellow of the Centre for Regional Innovation & Competitiveness (CRIC), Australia, "Creating Added Value to Tourism Products through Regional Tourism Network and Clusters,": and Prof. Lee Jin-hyung, of Honam University, Korea, "Enhancing Tourism SMEs'competitiveness and Cooperation in the Gwangju Area through Human Resources Development."Session III is titled "Sharing Experience: Illustrative Examples of Value Chains and Networks in the Tourism-related industries in OECD and non-OECD Economies." The speakers will be Patricia Francis, president of Jamaica? Investment and Export Promotions Agency, "The Tourism Mega Cluster in Jamaica; a Driver for the National Export Strategy,": Ian Kean, executive director of APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism, "An Asia Pacific Network Model Total Tourism Management,"Prof. Kim Jong-bumm, of Sejong University and Prof. Kim Chul-won, of Kyunghee University, "The Austrian Model for Financing and Developing Tourism Destination-oriented SMEs,"and Masami Takahashi, managing director of Japanese Inn Group, Japan, "Regional Alliances for Tourism Competitiveness - Japan's Experience."nw