The program poster for the ASEAN-Korea Centre's tourism development workshop / Courtesy of ASEAN-Korea Centre

The ASEAN-Korea Centre is set to host a community-based tourism development workshop for three days from Thursday to Saturday in Malaysia, in cooperation with the Southeastern Asian country's Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

Under the banner of "Harnessing Local Potential: Best Practices in Community-based Tourism Development," the international workshop will be held at Raia Hotel & Convention Center in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

Aiming to address the evolving demands of tourism businesses for digital promotion and branding, the three-day workshop will be a platform to facilitate collaboration and networking among various tourism stakeholders from both countries, sharing best practices of the two sides.

The workshop will feature presentations from professor Amran Hamzah of Universti Teknologi Malaysia, Kim Bok-ki of the Korea Tourism Organization and representatives from various community-based startups and social ventures, including Do Hyung-ho of RN1, Park Jin-seo of Puzzle Lab and Kim Ha-won of Haenyeo's Kitchen.

The sessions will provide community-based tourism case studies, ASEAN and international tourism trends and insights on leveraging digital tools and branding methods for sustainable tourism.

"Tourism exchanges between Korea and Malaysia have recovered to over 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with a growing demand among Korean visitors to experience Malaysia's culture through community-based tourism such as homestays," Kim Jae-shin, secretary-general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, said.

"This trend highlights the growing need for diverse tourism programs that promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and I hope that this workshop will both promote and strengthen the tourism competitiveness in lesser-known destinations," he emphasized.

Echoing this view, Dato Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman, secretary general of the Malaysian tourism ministry, said, "Malaysia has seen a steady recovery in tourist arrivals since COVID-19, with over 5.8 million foreign tourists in the first three months of 2024."

"Thus, Malaysia welcomes this workshop as an opportunity to promote lesser-known destinations and Malaysia's CBT program to the Korean audience and looks forward to further strengthening bilateral relations through cooperation in various culture and tourism programs in the future."