Minister Hwee-Young Choi to Attend APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Macao

Introduction of Korea's AI Tourism Policies
Discussion on Tourism Exchange with Major Southeast Asian Countries

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 25th that Minister Hwee-Young Choi will attend the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Tourism Ministerial Meeting as the chief representative of the Republic of Korea, which will be held on the 27th in the Macao Special Administrative Region of China.

Choi Huilyoung, Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is speaking at the "3rd Meeting of the Animation Subcommittee of the Cultural Arts Policy Advisory Committee" held on the 12th at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting is a consultative body where tourism ministers from the 21 member economies discuss strategies for the development of the regional tourism industry. It was established in 2000 at the initiative of Korea and is held biennially. This year’s meeting will be chaired by Sun Yeli, Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, the APEC chair economy for 2026.

The theme of this year’s meeting is “Harnessing Tourism for Digital Innovation and Enhanced Cooperation: Advancing an Asia-Pacific Community.” Over 100 delegates, including tourism ministers from the 21 APEC member economies, are expected to attend and adopt a joint declaration for tourism cooperation aimed at shared prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

During the ministerial-level discussion, Minister Choi will present Korea’s tourism policy cases under the theme “Digital Innovation for the Development of the Tourism Industry within the APEC Region.” Key topics will include the Tourism Business Innovation Voucher Support Program, AI agent-based tourism service technologies, AI-driven tourism innovation technology R&D, the Tourism Plus Tech Program, and AI-based leading regional tourism projects.

In addition, Minister Choi will hold bilateral meetings with major Southeast Asian partner countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam during the event, discussing ways to boost tourism exchanges. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to leverage opportunities such as visa relaxation to seek practical cooperation measures aimed at expanding inbound tourism to Korea and improving travel convenience for Korean nationals abroad.

Korea is currently serving as the vice chair economy of the APEC Tourism Working Group. In the post-COVID-19 era, Korea is participating in cooperation among members according to four major priorities: responding to digital transformation, developing human resources, promoting travel and enhancing competitiveness, and advancing a sustainable and inclusive tourism economy, as part of the strategy for tourism recovery.

Minister Choi stated, “This meeting is an important occasion to explore cooperative measures for the sustainable growth of the tourism industry within the APEC region in the era of digital transformation. By sharing Korea’s innovative tourism policy cases and strengthening bilateral cooperation with key countries, we will take this opportunity to enhance travel convenience for our citizens and attract more international tourists.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.