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SPEAKER GUIDELINES

Thank you once again for agreeing to take part in the ASEAN-Korea Roundtable in Tourism (AK-RT) 2025, held at Duy Tan University, Danang.

To ensure the smooth flow and structure of the panel discussions and to allow your valuable contributions to receive full attention we have prepared the following guidelines. Please review them carefully in advance of the session.

Dear Participant,

Introduction and background

Before the pandemic, the annual average growth rate of mutual tourist visits between ASEAN and Korea over the past decade exceeded 10%. Leveraging more than 700 million strong potentials of the ASEAN-Korea tourism market, this project aims to rapidly recover and surpass past trends, contributing to the enhancement of ASEAN-Korea FTA economic cooperation in the field of tourism. Ultimately, we aim to create conditions to increase the ASEAN-Korea tourism exchange from 13 million to 20 million.

This roundtable was designed to serve as a discussion platform for tourism stakeholders from both Korea and ASEAN, with the aim of developing policy recommendations to enhance tourism exchange between the two sides, which will ultimately contribute to enhancing economic value as well as mutual understanding and trust between Korea and ASEAN in the post-corona era. Relevant stakeholders from both sides, including policymakers, the tourism industry, experts, academia, and media, will discuss four key issues hindering active tourism exchanges between Korea and ASEAN and propose solutions.

DAY 2 – 2 JULY, THURSDAY

In the post-pandemic landscape, it's crucial to innovate various digital border control methods to accommodate the surge in travel demand. Concerns raised by ASEAN Muslim visitors to Korea, notably from Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim tourism market, emphasize the need for Muslim tourist friendly environment such as more halal restaurants and prayer rooms. Enhancing tourism exchanges can be achieved by reinstating previous air routes and expanding direct flights between tourist destinations by ASEAN and Korea.
• The utilization of digital border control methods to handle increased travel demand, including digital traveler identities with biometrics, eGates, kiosks, and e-visa systems.

• Address a Muslim-friendly tourism environment such as Halal restaurants and places of worship for ASEAN Muslim tourists to Korea

• Ways to expand air routes between tourist destinations and source cities between ASEAN and Korea
• What are some best practice examples utilizing border control measures such as digital traveller identities supported by biometrics, eGates & kiosks, and e-visas to ensure tourist safety and seamless travel? (e.g., passport-free airport in Dubai, ICAO TRIP, etc.)

• What measures can be implemented to enhance mutual border control between Korea and ASEAN using cutting-edge technologies to facilitate seamless travel, and what are the barriers to implementation? How can these challenges be addressed through mutual cooperation?

• What are the emerging trends in travel experiences for Muslim tourists from ASEAN visiting Korea?

• What policy efforts are needed to create a more Muslim-friendly tourism environment for ASEAN tourists visiting Korea?

• How does the establishment of direct flight routes between major tourist destinations and markets in ASEAN and Korea contribute to developing the potential tourism demand between the two regions?

• What roles should central and local governments, airlines, and the travel industry play in opening direct flight routes between key destinations and markets? What policy support measures are necessary to achieve this?
Guiding questions:
Consultant & Moderator: Dr. Daniel Chong, Dean of School of Hospitality and Service Management, Sunway University, Malaysia 

Topics to be addressed:
PANEL 1: ENHANCING SECURITY AND TRAVEL FACILITATION
Discrepancies in visa policies between ASEAN countries and South Korea are notable. For tourists from ASEAN countries who want to visit Korea, a Korean visa is considered one of the important barriers. On the other hand, Korean tourists who want to visit Cambodia, Myanmar, and Indonesia require a visa. Low-priced package tours serve as a significant source of inconvenience for tourists and often encourage unfair business practices, causing disruption within the tourism market. 
• Visa policies for improving travel facilitation between Korea and ASEAN member countries

• Roles of central and local governments, relevant travel associations, travel agencies, DMOs, etc. to prevent the negative effects of low-cost package tour products such as administrative guidance and enforcement, self-cleaning efforts of travel agencies, and consumer guidance and promotion
 Korea
• Evaluate the efforts made to improve mutual visa facilitation between Korea and ASEAN member countries.

• What additional measures are needed to further simplify visa processes between Korea and ASEAN?

• What visa policies can be jointly proposed through close cooperation among ASEAN member states, such as the ASEAN Common Visa initiative?

• How can the negative effects of low-cost package tour products, which disrupt the tourism market order and cause dissatisfaction among tourists, be assessed in terms of their long-term impact on expanding tourism exchanges between Korea and ASEAN?

• What policy tools can tourism authorities, including central and local governments and DMOs, rely on to prevent the adverse effects of low-cost package tour products?

• What collaborative efforts are needed among related travel industries, travel agencies, and consumer organizations to prevent the negative effects of low-cost package tour products? How can consumer feedback and reviews be effectively utilized?
Guiding questions:
Consultant & Moderator: Dr. Daniel Chong, Dean of School of Hospitality and Service Management, Sunway University, Malaysia 

Topics to be addressed:
PANEL 2: IMPROVING SYSTEMS TO ADDRESS TOURIST INCONVENIENCES

DAY 3 – 3 JULY, THURSDAY

The service level of personnel working in the tourism service sector has a significant impact on the evaluation of tourist facilities and tourist destinations and on their sustainable growth. Despite the high level of mutual satisfaction among ASEAN and Korean tourists visiting each other’s countries, there is a growing demand for well-trained tourism professionals due to issues such as a shortage of tour guides who speak the source country's language and concerns about the quality of tourism services provided by tourism workers. Furthermore, there's a pressing need to enhance and expand tourism promotional materials, social media content, and Destination Management Organization (DMO) promotional platforms in the languages of the source countries.
• Development of specialized education and training programs for tourist services between Korea and ASEAN countries

• Education and training programs for tour guides who can guide in the language of the source country

• Improvement of promotional materials, SNS promotional materials and DMO publicity sites made in the language of the source country for tourists from Korea and ASEAN countries
• What role can the training and education of specialized tourism service professionals in Korea and ASEAN play in expanding tourism exchanges?

• How effective are the efforts by Korea and ASEAN member countries to improve the quality of tourism service professionals for mutual visitors?

• What are best practices of public-private partnerships for training and educating tourism service professionals for mutual visitors, and assess the potential for scaling these examples.

• How can cutting-edge technologies such as AI be leveraged in the training and education of specialized tourism professionals in Korea and ASEAN?

• What policy alternatives are available to train tour guides proficient in the languages of Korea and ASEAN source countries?

• How can promotional materials, SNS promotional content, and DMO publicity sites in the languages of Korea and ASEAN source countries be provided in a cost-effective manner?

Guiding questions:
Consultant & Moderator: Dr. Paithoon Monpanthong, Dean of Graduate School of Tourism Management, National Institute of Development Administration, Thailand

Topics to be addressed:
PANEL 3: TRAINING TOURIST PERSONNEL
The 2021 survey conducted by ASEAN-Korea Centre shows a strong positive perception of Korea among ASEAN youth (70%), contrasted with lower Korean youth perception of ASEAN (41.6%), shaped by regional traits. To foster enhanced interaction and tourism exchange, it's imperative to comprehend and appreciate cultural differences, thus averting potential misunderstandings.
• Policy measures for expanding exchanges, shared experiences, and study opportunities among Korean and ASEAN youth

• Promoting awareness of cultural diversity between Korea and ASEAN

• Measures to increase mutual exchange in areas such as traditional and modern culture, performing arts, food, broadcasting, exhibitions, etc.
• Evaluate the mutual efforts of Korea and ASEAN to enhance awareness of cultural diversity and examine how this awareness has influenced people-to-people exchanges between the two regions.

• What actionable policy measures can be implemented to expand exchanges, shared experiences, and study opportunities among Korean and ASEAN youth to overcome mutual perception gaps? (e.g., a Korea-ASEAN version of the EU Erasmus Program)

• Introduce success stories of public-private partnerships that have promoted awareness of cultural diversity between Korea and ASEAN, and explore ways to scale these initiatives.

• What collaborative measures can Korea and ASEAN implement to promote joint efforts in areas such as traditional and modern culture, performing arts, cuisine, broadcasting, exhibitions, youth exchange, and academic exchange?

• How can advanced technologies like AI be utilized to enhance awareness of cultural diversity between Korea and ASEAN?

• What strategies can be employed to leverage social media and influencers to promote cultural diversity between Korea and ASEAN?
Guiding questions:
Consultant & Moderator: Dr. Pham Hong Long, Dean of Faculty of Tourism Studies, VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam

Topics to be addressed:
PANEL 4: UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Format and Requests for the Panel Discussion

• The room set-up will be theatre style.

• The speakers and the moderator will be seated in armchairs on the stage (set format).

• The format will be a dynamic, in-person panel discussion, with the Moderator expected to proactively guide the debate.

• The Moderator will manage the panel, indicating who should speak. The moderator will also control the time of the answers. There is a strict limit of 5 minutes per contribution.

• The Moderator is expected to ensure these time limits are adhered to. Answers to the Moderator´s questions should be to the point and be as concrete and concise as possible to ensure a lively and engaging debate.

• All panelists may exercise their freedom of speech to articulate their opinions and ideas. Panelists are requested to not make formal presentations, including PowerPoint presentations. Interventions must remain short and engaging.

• The language of the discussion will be in English.

• The entire event will be filmed, and photographs and recordings will also be taken during the event. Participants may be asked to share testimonials for AK-RT social media.

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Steering Committee for AK-RT 2025

  • Address: Duy Tan University, Danang, Vietnam
  • Website: https://ak-rt.org