World Tourism Organization admits 17 new members

On the afternoon of September 5, in Ho Chi Minh City, the 12th General Assembly of the Tourism Promotion Organization for Global Cities (TPO) unanimously approved many contents.

The meeting adopted proposals to amend the TPO charter and the Chairman's Statement of the 12th TPO General Assembly and related meetings.

At the meeting, the TPO Executive Board for the 2026-2027 term was elected. Busan City (South Korea) continues to serve as TPO Chairman; Gimhae City (South Korea) and Kota Kinabalu City (Malaysia) serve as Vice Chairs. At the same time, Gimhae City was selected to host the 13th TPO General Assembly in 2027.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, Chairman of the 12th TPO General Assembly, said that the opinions shared and discussed at the Conference of leaders of TPO member cities were summarized into the content of the Chairman's Statement of the 12th TPO General Assembly and related meetings, including 3 main contents: Digital transformation in urban tourism; Green and sustainable tourism strategy; TPO Green Horizon platform initiative.

Mr. Dung emphasized: “Ho Chi Minh City has introduced the Green Horizon strategic platform. In which, digital cooperation platforms are proposed to create green communities and promote sustainable tourism initiatives across the entire TPO network through technological cooperation."

Within the framework of the 12th TPO General Assembly, the Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia- Pacific Cities admitted 17 new members, bringing the total number of members to 204, including 144 government members.

Notably, 13 administrative cities including Aktau (Kazakhstan), Umnugovi (Mongolia), Miri (Malaysia) and 10 localities in South Korea (Changnyeong, Geochang, Goseong, Gyongsangnam-do, Haman, Hamyang, Hapcheon, Jinju, Sancheong and Uiryeong.

TPO Secretary General Kang Da-eun affirmed that the expansion of the network of members to 204 is an important milestone, creating a foundation for new cooperation opportunities and strengthening TPO's role as a global tourism cooperation forum.

Regarding the 2026 work program, TPO plans to organize 8 conferences, the highlight of which is the 10th TPO Forum in Taichung City (Taiwan, China). In addition, delegates also agreed to choose Ulsan City (South Korea) to host the 11th TPO Forum in 2028.

Ho Chi Minh City is one of the founding cities and the only city in Vietnam to hold the role of Executive Board Member, actively participating in TPO activities, effectively contributing to strengthening and expanding cooperation relations, exchanging and learning experiences in tourism development among member cities.

In particular, through the TPO Organization, Ho Chi Minh City has been proactively and positively introducing its destination image to the world tourism community, contributing to attracting more and more international visitors to the City, especially visitors from key markets of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/to-chuc-xuc-tien-du-lich-toan-cau-ket-nap-them-17-thanh-vien-moi-post1060128.vnp