UNESCO invites ASEAN tech and travel professionals to discuss sustainability and community-based tourism

UNESCO, in partnership with DASTA, ASEAN-Türkiye Cooperation, CRIHAP, K11, ONYX Hospitality Group, The City Connext, and b.Consulting Cambodia, invites participants for the upcoming webinar, Harnessing Digital Tools for Greater Community Involvement in the Tourism Narrative. This is the third event of an ongoing series of webinars and related workshops planned for 2024 by the Culture Unit of the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok and partners, under the umbrella of the UNESCO project, ‘Achieving Sustainable Tourism with Intangible Cultural Heritage and Creative City Network in Waterway Cities of ASEAN’, which was launched in September 2023.

This webinar aims to foster new connections and networking among tourism businesses in the waterway cities of the ASEAN sub-region expressly to foster sustainable and inclusive tourism practices. The webinar will facilitate knowledge-sharing for travel businesses and related professionals, particularly those engaged in community-based tourism across the ASEAN region. Participants will gain insights into collaborative digital solutions and best practices for harnessing digital technology to empower communities and drive positive socio-economic and environmental impacts.

Moderated by photojournalist Korakot (‘Nym’) Punlopruksa and UNESCO Culture Unit programme specialist Montakarn Suvanatap Kittipaisalsilp, the event will feature distinguished speakers and panelists from the fields of sustainable tourism and digital innovation.

• Keynote address: Pattamon Rungchavanont, Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Accelerator Lab, Thailand
• Panel discussion: Following the keynote speech, a discussion will explore various aspects of community-based tourism in Asia and the role of digitalization in adding value to these initiatives. Panelists include:
  • Asst. Prof. Dr Supitcha Tovivich,  Silapakorn University, Thailand
  • Pat Pataranupaporn, MIT Media Lab, Thailand
  • Philip Kao, President, Siem Reap Tourism Club, Cambodia
  • Dr Amran Hamzah, University of Technology, Malaysia
  • Dr Somphavanh Seukpanya, Sustainable tourism and development consultant to WWF and international organizations, Lao PDR
  • Sirada Pichayapaiboon, Co-founder of Roots Routes, Thailand

Topics of discussion will include the importance of storytelling in tourism, innovative technologies for sustainable tourism, digital marketing strategies for community-led tourism, and overcoming challenges in building digital capacity within tourism communities.

Date: Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Time: 10.00 – 12.00, Bangkok (GMT+7)

Please pre-register at: UNESCO’s Zoom

For further information about the preliminary agenda, please visit our Project Portal, or scan the QR code below: