Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City to Accelerate Preparations for the 2nd Global City Tourism Summit, Expanding Global Networks

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon), together with the Tourism Promotion Organization for Global Cities (TPO, Secretary-General Kang Da-eun), announced that it will officially begin preparations for the successful hosting of the 2nd Global City Tourism Summit, aimed at strengthening tourism cooperation networks among major global cities and exploring the future vision of urban tourism. A kick-off report meeting will be held today (7th) at 10:00 a.m. in the 26th-floor conference room of City Hall.

The meeting will be attended by Na Yun-bin, Director General of the Tourism MICE Bureau, Kang Da-eun, Secretary-General of TPO, a co-host organization, and other experts including executives from the Busan Tourism Organization, who will discuss the direction and core strategies for the event.

Participants will review plans to invite mayors of major overseas cities and key figures from the tourism industry to elevate the status of the international conference, and will exchange opinions on overall implementation plans including venue setup and promotional strategies.

Now in its second year, the Global City Tourism Summit aims to be held annually in the last week of October, with this year’s event scheduled for three days from October 26 to 28 across Busan.

Under the main theme “Local Tourism: Connecting Urban Economies and Tourism Innovation,” this year’s summit will bring together city representatives and experts from around the world to engage in in-depth discussions on how the recovery of the tourism industry can lead to revitalization of urban economies and on innovative strategies for a sustainable future in urban tourism.

In particular, the event will present the results of a joint study conducted by participating cities to establish a shared vision for sustainable urban tourism, as part of the implementation of the joint declaration adopted at the first mayoral meeting. Efforts will also be accelerated to develop differentiated collaborative programs to promote tourism cooperation among cities.

The first summit marked a successful launch, with participation from 22 cities across 13 countries and attendance by mayor-level officials from 15 cities including Busan, Nice, and Copenhagen.

Notably, it drew significant attention both domestically and internationally by establishing, for the first time in Korea, a cooperative framework among local governments for regional tourism revitalization, and by being selected as a best practice in the “Regional Signature International Conference” category under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization’s Global K-Convention Development Project.

For the successful hosting of the second summit, the city plans to focus on expanding top-tier global networks, maximizing business outcomes, and strengthening the city brand through Busan’s distinctive local content.

The city will enhance Busan’s and the summit’s international standing by expanding participation from global leaders and influential overseas speakers, while solidifying its position as a “global tourism hub city” leading worldwide tourism trends.

The main program will consist of official events centered on city delegations, including a mayoral meeting, policy sessions, and bilateral and multilateral meetings, as well as customized thematic sessions connecting experts, cities, businesses, and youth, and special sessions involving multilateral international consultative bodies.

In particular, business matching programs with industry will be significantly strengthened to create tangible opportunities between participating cities and companies, while global tourism roadshows and networking programs open to general participants will be expanded.

In addition, local content utilizing Busan’s marine cultural resources will be developed to provide visitors with unique tourism experiences distinctive to Busan, while strengthening practical programs that participating cities can benchmark.

Kang Da-eun, Secretary-General of the Tourism Promotion Organization for Global Cities (TPO), stated, “The Global City Tourism Summit is an open platform for cooperation that connects not only cities and institutions but also businesses and participants,” adding, “TPO will continue to support the establishment of a foundation for sustained exchange and cooperation among diverse stakeholders.”

Na Yun-bin, Director General of the Tourism MICE Bureau, remarked, “If the first summit opened the door to global tourism cooperation, the second summit will serve as an important turning point where the discussed visions and policies are translated into concrete, field-oriented projects,” adding, “We will work closely with related organizations to establish this summit as a world-class international conference and ensure that Busan becomes a leading hub for innovation in global urban tourism.”