To discuss recent trends and future of the ASEAN ecotourism, tourism experts from the 10 ASEAN Member States and Korea gathered in Seoul for the ASEAN-Korea Tourism Development Workshop on Ecotourism which was held at Lotte Hotel, Seoul on 8 June 2016.

  Organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre (Secretary General Kim Young-sun), the ASEAN-Korea Tourism Development Workshop on Ecotourism, under the theme of ‘Wonders of ASEAN Ecotourism: Developing Ecotourism Cluster Packages’, brought together 100 people from tourism related government ministries, private sectors, and academia including Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture of Malaysia, Benito C. Bengzon, Jr., Chair of the ASEAN Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism Development Committee (ASITDC), as well as Sounh Manivong, Director General, Tourism Development Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR. 

The participants discussed the topics of ‘ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025’, ‘Global and ASEAN Tourism Trends and Issues’, ‘Best Practices of Korea’s Ecotourism Development’, ‘Best Practices for ASEAN Ecotourism Products and Packages Development’, and ‘Ecotourism Packages of Interest to Korean Market.’

Also, in order to provide the ASEAN delegates with an opportunity to experience the ecotourism products in Korea, technical tours were conducted to the Secret Garden, Changdeok Palace on 9 June and DMZ Eco Peace Park as well as Crane Peace Eco Village on 10 June, respectively. 

DMZ Eco Peace Park was recently transformed into an ecology peace park, boasting its beauty of untouched nature as well as unique attractions along the world’s tensest border of DMZ, a buffer zone between North and South Korea over six decades. What made this visit more special was the fact that ASEAN delegates are the first foreign visitors after the Park opened. 

Also, Durumi Peace Eco Village is one of the well-developed ecotourism products, community-based tourism in particular, that enables various experiential activities such as making tofu, making rice cake, finding mines, and security experiences in engagements with local community. 

The ASEAN delegates received briefings on how the village was built up and how they operate the village with the local community, and then experienced making rice cake from the famous rice of Cheolwon region, Odaemi. 

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