Korea Travel Conference
2008 Slated for
Cheongju on March 26-27

Some 1,000 people from the tourism industry expected to attend the fourth annual conference

About 1,000 tourism industry-related people, including those from tour and travel agencies, airlines, hotels and academic circles from Korea and abroad will assemble at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Cheongju on March 26-27 to participate in the Korea Travel Conference 2008.
The annual conference, to be held under the theme, "Tourism Today and Tomorrow"will be organized by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Chungcheongbuk-do provincial government.
KTO President and CEO Oh Jee-chul said, "Korea Travel Conference 2008 will be a place to discuss issues facing the Korean tourism industry and explore options for its development." "Now is the time for Korea to redouble its efforts to attract inbound tourists and reinvigorate the intra-bound tourism industry to draw people's interest in domestic travel,"Oh said. "To this end, Korea will have to solve such tasks as the continuous expansion of the tourism infrastructure, the improvement of awareness toward tourism services, the development of differentiated tourism products,
an upgrade of the tourism brand image and the relaxation of restrictions related to tourism."He added, "The Korean tourism situation is bleak as the nation attracted 6,448,000 inbound tourists during 2007 whereas 13,325,000 Koreans, more than double the inbound tourist figure, went abroad for sightseeing."The conference, celebrating the fourth year since its establishment, has expanded in terms of the number of participants, establishing itself as the nation's largest tourism forum.
It will be composed of domestic and foreign firms'business negotiations sessions, a special session for the World Travel Organization, PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Korea Chapter Annual Conference, a local government's presentation of excellent tourism policies, seminars on four themes including the cruise industry, and a tourism industry job fair for college students.
Korea Travel Conference 2008 will introduce a session in which a select local government will be invited to present their model tourism policies so that local government officials can share information on government policy practices.
The Chungcheongbuk-do provincial government, co-organizer of the conference, will offer participants an opportunity to take a half-day tour to such tourist attractions as Sangsu Herb Land, the presidential resort Cheongnamdae and a cruise on Chungju Lake. The provincial government plans to operate a pavilion designed to publicize the province's tourist resources and offer diverse programs on the development of the local tourism industry. It is striving to make 2008 the first year of its campaign to raise the standing of the province's tourism industry in conjunction with its hosting of the 2008 Korea-China-Japan tourism ministers'meeting slated for June 22-25.
Chungcheongbuk-do Gov't. Chung Woo-taik and 400 officials and business people made their pledge to successfully host international events, develop diverse tourism products and attract tourists during a ceremony to declare a leap forward for the province's tourism industry at the Ramada Hotel in Cheongju on Feb. 1.
The provincial government plans to cash in on the Korea Travel Conference 2008 and the three-nation tourism ministers'meeting in order to publicize the province's tourism industry. It has an ambitious plan to attract an estimated 950 trillion won worth of investments from the private sector to develop a mammoth tourism complex, beef up marketing activities for attracting foreign tourists and invigorate Cheongju Airport.
A provincial government official said the province has pristine tourism resources, including scenic natural attractions, but the tourism industry is underdeveloped due to a lack of diverse entertainment facilities and tourism products. nw

The Chungju Lake and the Beopju-sa Temple in Mt. Songni are among the favorite tourist attractions Chungcheongbuk-do can offer to Korean and foreign tourists alike.Cheongju is the venue of Koreas Travel Conference 2008, to be held in Cheongju on March 26-27.