From 01 to 03 February 2015, the Greater Tumen Inititative (GTI) organised a Capacity Building Training Programme aimed at participants from the region working in tourism in Arxan City, Inner Mongolia, PR China.
Representatives from the public and private tourism sector of all GTI member countries participated in the event in order to discuss new tourism products as well as existing problems of cross-border tourism in the Greater Tumen Region (GTR). GIZ contributed to the training with a presentation on the subject of “Sustainable Tourism”, stressing the importance of a sustainable development to balance economic, ecological and social needs.
In addition to several presentations by experts and officials from the GTI countries, group discussions took place on day one of the event. Subsequently, a round table conference enabled representatives to share the outcomes of the previous talks. Furthermore, it was a platform to discuss current issues and future activities, such as the 4th GTI North East Asia Tourism Forum.
All participants agreed that the facilitation of visa procedures, better information sharing and an enhanced inclusion of the private sector are essential for the future development of the tourism industry in the GTR. Under coordination of the GTI Secretariat in Beijing, those issues are supposed to be addressed as soon as possible in order to make sure that further improvements in the tourism sector will be achieved to support regional integration in Northeast Asia (NEA).