4th UNWTO Euro-Asian Mountain Tourism Conference
18-04-2019
The Future of Mountain Tourism” is the theme of the 4th edition of the UNWTO Euro-Asian Mountain Tourism Conference. The conference spotlights the significant opportunities to be seized and the challenges facing the development of mountain tourism. It highlights the need for collective efforts in overcoming current challenges that mountain destinations are facing to adapt to new consumer trends and market changes, to address seasonality by diversifying tourism products in an innovative manner while protecting natural and cultural resources. It is conceived to create a long-term and shared vision for mountain tourism and it features some 15 international speakers from Europe and Asia and includes a session on the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme and the Sustainable Development Goals, as a framework to align actors across sectors and borders on policies and actions. The Bavarian Minister for Economics, Development and Energy, UNWTO Secretary-General, and the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, inaugurate the conference, alongside the Chief Executive of the Berchtesgaden District and host of the event. A total of six panel debates and various thematic presentations provide the opportunity for participants to address themes such as the new tourist, the impact of demographic change, digitalization and mobility, tourism experiences for all four seasons, transnational cooperation and the contribution of tourism to the Sustainable Development Goals, among others. The conference is organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Berchtesgadener Land Region, with the support of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany. This edition follows the conferences held in Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea and Georgia over the past decade.