KOTA KINABALU: Information on decoding tourism futures, discovering niche opportunities, redefining tourism success and rebuilding tourism resilience and readiness will be the main topics in a coming tourism conference here.
These will be highlighted during the 6th World Tourism Conference (WTC) held from Nov 28 to Nov 30 at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.
Jointly organised by the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), this conference is expected to host over 700 international and local participants.
“We are expecting foreign dignitaries, tourism industry experts and WTC participants from all over the world to visit Sabah for this exclusive event,” said Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Noredah Othman.
She said the STB as a strategic partner has been working closely with the ministry, Tourism Malaysia and industry stakeholders to prepare and welcome these delegations.
“Sabah is proud to host another big-scale international event as we are committed to being a key business events destination in this region. I am confident with the facilities, skills, talents and experience we have, the Sabah business events industry could flourish,” she added.
Sabah last hosted this event in 2010 and the selection of Sabah as the host state once again shows the commitment and leadership of the state government which has always led to the sustainable and constant development of the tourism sector, Noredah said.
She said this was among efforts to successfully position Sabah as a major tourist destination on the world stage.
The conference with the theme “Tourism Futures Reimagined”, aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform which champions thought leadership on tourism futures and strategies driving tourism’s recovery and resilience in a post-pandemic world.
WTC will feature a line-up of world-renowned speakers to speak on the selected topics in four sessions.
Applications to attend the event are currently open through the official UNWTO website and will be vetted through by the ministry.
More physical events can be expected in Sabah soon, including the Malaysia Borneo Football Cup, Borneo Bird Festival, Borneo Safari and the WWF - Malaysia 50th Anniversary Conference.