About the
Conference

Tourism Development and Investment in Sustainability

The overall disruption in the tourism sector brought about by COVID-19 provides an opportunity to redefine and recalibrate the direction and narratives of tourism investments, aiming to better support the successful implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. The UNWTO has identified investments as critical for tourism's recovery and future growth and development. The UNWTO also highlights the need for better-targeted traditional and non-traditional investments for People, Planet, and Prosperity. It enables tourism to realize its massive potential in providing opportunities for people, building resilience, accelerating climate action, promoting sustainability, and delivering inclusive prosperity through innovation and entrepreneurship.

The UNWTO has identified investments as a critical priority for the sector, serving as the bridge between its Member States, destinations, businesses, and investors. This effort culminates in World Tourism Day 2023, a call to action for the international community, governments, multilateral financial institutions, development partners, and private sector investors to unite around a new tourism investment strategy. This international observance day for tourism will emphasize the vital need to deliver investments that work for People (investing in education and skills), Planet (investing in sustainable infrastructure and accelerating green transformation), and Prosperity (investing in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship).

The following questions are proposed in connection with the abovementioned theme of tourism development:

  • How can tourism contribute to creating and fostering holistic understanding and living systems throughout the entire tourism value chain and ecosystem?
  • How can tourism stimulate collaboration and partnerships among various stakeholders, including different levels of government, the private sector, the voluntary sector, and communities?
  • How can tourism promote diversity in income streams and markets to decrease reliance on tourism income for ecosystems and communities?
  • How can tourism help reduce economic and geopolitical risks and enhance resilience?
  • How can tourism involve local communities in strengthening the ecosystem more inclusively and equitably?
  • How can tourism transform and inspire all stakeholders by creating life-changing experiences for participants?
  • How can tourism responsibly showcase cultural heritage, folklore, gastronomy, local landmarks, wildlife, and other destination resources and characteristics, while recognizing and preserving their uniqueness?
  • How can tourism take good care of the environment through natural resources and biodiversity management and protection?
  • How can tourism protect local cultural heritage, traditions, wisdom, and knowledge for future generations through viable principles and practices of cultural stewardship?
  • Ultimately, how can tourism contribute to creating a better world?

Objectives

The upcoming conference in 2024 revolves around the theme of “Tourism and Investment in Sustainability.” This pivotal platform brings together tourism scholars, researchers, practitioners, and students to explore the vital intersection between tourism and sustainable investments, aiming to shape a better world. Discussions will focus on holistic understanding, fostering collaboration and partnerships, promoting income stream and market diversity, reducing economic and geopolitical risks, enhancing resilience, and involving local communities inclusively and equitably. By examining best practices and sharing cutting-edge research, the conference aims to identify effective strategies for leveraging tourism investments to create sustainable and resilient tourism economies. It will explore how investments can drive innovation, technology adoption, and entrepreneurship while protecting and preserving natural resources, biodiversity, and cultural heritage. The conference will emphasize the crucial role of collaboration and partnerships in mobilizing sustainable tourism investments and attracting responsible investments that contribute to the long-term well-being of destinations and local communities. Ultimately, the conference in 2024 catalyzes shaping a future where tourism and investment coexist harmoniously to create a more sustainable and inclusive world.

Conference Topics

The Conference Organizing Committee welcomes contributions to any topical areas in the field of tourism research, and is particularly seeking contributions to the following areas:

  • Creating and fostering a holistic understanding of the tourism system, including its interrelated components and interactions, through sustainable investments.
  • Stimulating collaboration and partnerships between various stakeholders, including governments, businesses, investors, and local communities, to drive sustainable tourism practices and investments.
  • Promoting socio-economic diversity and resilience by reducing over-reliance on a particular sector or activity through targeted sustainable investments.
  • Mitigating various economic and geopolitical risks while enhancing resilience in tourism through strategic and responsible investments.
  • Involving local communities more inclusively and equitably to strengthen the overall tourism ecosystem, ensuring their active participation and benefit from sustainable investments.
  • Transforming and inspiring all stakeholders by creating life-changing experiences through sustainable tourism investments that prioritize people, planet, and prosperity.
  • Identifying and responsibly showcasing the uniqueness of cultural heritage, folklore, gastronomy, local landmarks, wildlife, and other destination resources and characteristics through sustainable investments.
  • Implementing and studying adequate natural resources, biodiversity management, and protection strategies through sustainable tourism investments.
  • Safeguarding and transmitting local cultural heritage, traditions, wisdom, and knowledge from generation to generation through viable principles and sustainable practices, supported by responsible investments.

Your presentations can be based on a range of tourism forms:

Community-based tourism
Cultural and heritage tourism
Dark tourism
Festival and event tourism
Film tourism
Food and culinary tourism
Medical, wellness and health tourism
MICE tourism
Nature-based tourism, ecotourism and geotourism
Pilgrimage and spiritual tourism
Pro-poor tourism
Research and education tourism
Responsible and ethical tourism
Rural and agro-tourism
Smart tourism
Special interest in tourism
Sport tourism
Urban tourism
Visiting-friends-and-relative tourism
Volunteer tourism
Others

History

Since 2012, the Department of Geography and Resource Management (GRMD) and the Master of Social Science in Sustainable Tourism (MSSST) Programme of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has organized thematic international conferences on sustainable tourism annually. These conferences have attracted well-known and reputable international tourism academics as keynote speakers, invited speakers, and presenters to share knowledge and exchange ideas. Apart from researchers and practitioners, students from international, regional, and local institutes have also attended the conferences to widen their learning scope and gain global perspectives on the development of the tourism industry. All participants have brought together novel ideas and empirical evidence surrounding sustainable tourism issues.

2016

The 2016 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Global-Local Understanding with 150 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. Alan LEW (Northern Arizona University, U.S.A.), Prof. Amran HAMZAH (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), Prof. Geoffrey WALL (University of Waterloo, Canada), Prof. Jaume GUIA (Universitat de Girona, Spain), Prof. Richard BUTLER (The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, U.K.), and Prof. Trevor SOFIELD (University of Tasmania, Australia).

2017

The 2017 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Development with 120 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. Alan LEW (Northern Arizona University, U.S.A.), Prof. Amran HAMZAH (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), Prof. Geoffrey WALL (University of Waterloo, Canada), Prof. Honggang XU (Sun Yat-Sen University, China), Prof. Jaume GUIA (Universitat de Girona, Spain), Prof. Philip Feifan XIE (The Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China), and Prof. T. C. CHANG (National University of Singapore, Singapore).

2018

The 2018 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Innovation with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Dr. Dora AGAPITO (University of Lincoln, U.K.), Prof. Amran HAMZAH (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia), and Prof. Geoffrey WALL (University of Waterloo, Canada).

2019

The 2019 International Conference on Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. T. C. CHANG (National University of Singapore), Dr. Cristina Ortega NUERE (Ppen University of Catalonia, Spain; and World Leisure Organization), and Jarkko SAARINEN (University of Oulu, Finland).

2021

The 2021 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development and Global Crises with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Prof. Yingzhi GUO (Fudan University, China), Professor Perry HOBSON (Sunway University, Malaysia), Professor Mike PETERS (University of Innsbruck, Austria), and Professor Gabriela TIGU (Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE), Romania).

2022

The 2022 International Conference on Sustainable Tourism for Inclusive Growth with 100 participants. Keynote speakers included Professor Simon DARCY (University of Technology Sydney, Australia) and Professor Trevor SOFIELD (University of Girona, Spain).

2023

The 2023 International Conference on Sustainable, Transformative and Regenerative Tourism with 120 participants. Keynote speakers include Professor M. Kazem VAFADARI (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan), Professor Stewart BARR (University of Exeter, UK) and Professor Honggen XIAO (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China).