Presentation at Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) Hokkaido/Japan Kick-off symposium

Date:2021/09/08

Place:Online – Eventtia and YoutTube platforms

Organizers: Hokkaido Government & Hokkaido Tourism Organization

Name of the event：Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) Hokkaido/Japan” Kick-off Symposium

Theme： Adventure Tourism
Your lecture theme：Sustainable Tourism and Adventure Tourism

Number of participants：513 participants, mainly from local governments, DMOs and Tourism

The Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS) Hokkaido/Japan Kick-off Symposium was organized by the Hokkaido Government and Hokkaido Tourism Organization on 8^th September 2021 in preparation for the 7^th ATWS due to be held on 20-24 September 2021. The event was conducted in cooperation with the ATWS 2021 Hokkaido Steering Committee and under the auspices of JTA and JNTO.

The ATWS is a yearly event organized by the Adventure Travel Trade Association and it gathers representatives from the adventure travel industry worldwide to talk, get inspired and enjoy adventurous destinations everywhere in the world. The event typically attracts Tour operators, Adventure Travel writers and influencers, Tourism Boards and other industry partners. Hokkaido Prefecture was the 7^th destination to host the event after Sweden (2019), Tuscany (2018), Argentina (2017), Alaska (2016), Chile (2015) and Ireland (2014); due to COVID-19, this ATWS edition will be held virtually.

With the Kick-off Adventure Travel Online Symposium, Hokkaido sough to set the scene to introduce attractive Adventure Travel experiences Japan is proud of to the rest of the world.

The Symposium started with the Opening Address of Mr. Masao Yamazaki, Tourism Promotion Department, Economy Division of Hokkaido Government and the introduction to ATWS by Mr. Tatsuo Nakajima, Secretary-General of ATWS 2021 Hokkaido Steering Committee. Ms. Orianne Derrier, Programme Officer for the Regional Support Office for Asia and the Pacific (RSOAP) of UNWTO delivered a key note speech on the overview of sustainable tourism activities of UNWTO and adventure tourism. The presentation was structured as follows:

• Introduction to UNWTO, RSOAP and the importance of tourism for the achievement of the SDGs;
• Current situation of international tourism under COVID-19;
• Sustainable tourism and Adventure tourism: definitions, characteristics and trends amidst COVID-19 period;
• UNWTO initiatives and efforts to advocate for a sustainable recovery of the tourism sector post COVID-19;
• UNWTO tools and resources about sustainable tourism and COVID-19.

The rest of the Symposium was followed by presentations from the Tourism Promotion Organizations of Tohoku, Nagano, Shikoku, Kyushu and the Central Japan Tourism Association, and ended with a Panel Discussion and Q&A session on the theme of: “What is necessary to expand the Adventure Travel market?” which gathered adventure travel stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

The Symposium was attended by a total of 513 participants from government offices, DMOs, tourism associations, tourism stakeholders from the private sector (e.g. accommodation, tour operators, guides, etc.) and other adventure travel partners.