Dr. Meng Qu, Associate Professor at the Center for Advanced Tourism Studies (CATS), Hokkaido University, was invited to deliver a keynote speech during Session 4 of the 19th UN Tourism Asia-Pacific Executive Training Programme on Tourism Policy and Strategy. The event took place from May 19th to 22nd, 2025, at the Novotel Ulaanbaatar Hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Themed “Tourism and Culture: Optimizing Beneficial Impacts and Building Resilience”, the programme gathered high-level tourism policymakers from 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In his keynote titled “Future Frontiers for Culture-driven Tourism Development”, Dr. Qu shared insights on sustainable tourism development driven by cultural resources and innovation.

The programme was initiated under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006 between the UN Tourism and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) of the Republic of Korea. Since then, it has become a vital platform for over 400 tourism policymakers to enhance tourism-related strategies and to exchange best practices within the region.

Through this opportunity, CATS aims to foster long-term academic and industry collaborations with tourism policymakers across the Asia-Pacific region.