THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The 12th UNWTO Asia/Pacific Executive Training Program on Tourism Policy and Strategy will be organized from March 18 to 22 at the Hotel Leela Kovalam. To be held under the aegis of Regional Program for Asia and the Pacific, UNWTO’s operational arm, the Executive Training Program will have ‘Tourism & Technology’ as its theme.
The overall objectives of the program would be to enhance participants’ understanding of how to maximize the use of technology for the benefit of tourism with a focus on how to inform national tourism authorities on the importance of technology so as to support the management of the unprecedented growth of sector growth in the region; prepare national tourism authorities for the continued expansion of technology as a tool for destination development, management and innovation; adapt technology towards supporting inclusive and sustainable growth of tourism in the region; deploy technology and social media support in contributing towards destination marketing and quality assurance; and adopt policy level decisions so that they can help improve the effectiveness of the use of technology to ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of a tourism destination.
Besides, the training program would strive to enable UNWTO’s Asia and the Pacific Member Countries to share successful tourism good practices in the use of technology. The ultimate objective is to strengthen the capacity of destinations at the regional, sub-regional, national and destination levels.
The Training Program will kick off on March 18 evening. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation, and Devaswoms, Government of Kerala, will welcome the delegates while K J Alphons, Minister of State for Tourism, Government of India, will deliver the inaugural address.
Presentations from various countries on day one (19 th March) will detail national policies and strategies to utilize technology to augment marketing efforts, improve sustainability measures, and spur innovation. Tourism partners from Kerala have will also take part in this session. The subsequent days (March 20 and 21) will have presentations on good practices in tourism & technology.
Rani George, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, will deliver the closing remarks on March 21. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswoms, said, “The advancement of technology has been playing a crucial role in the perennial growth of the tourism sector. Technology has been transforming the way in which the travel and tourism sector conducts its
business. Indeed, technology and digitization have the potential to enhance travellers’ experience by providing relevant information before and during their journey.
Henceforth, Kerala Tourism has been working towards utilizing the technology and digital media in the best possible way to promote state tourism across the globe”. The last day of the Training Program (March 22) has been set aside for a Technical Tour organized by the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala.
