In celebration of the 11th anniversary of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF), the Asia-Pacific Regional Ecotourism Conference (APREC 2009) will be organized and hosted by SLEF, in association with Sri Lanka Tourism and other international, regional, ecotourism and conservation organizations.
APREC 2009 will be held at the Galle Face Hotel from May 7 to 9. Already, highly educated and eminent resource persons from the region who are well qualified and experience in this field have expressed their willingness to contribute to the conference.
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| Palitha Gurusinghe |
Ecotourism is often seen by the poorer communities as one of the few livelihoods which are open to them. Communities whose people live in poverty invariably find their young people migrate to urban centers, due to the lack of attraction/ decline in traditional industries such as agriculture and fishing.
‘Ecotourism’ can prevent this urban drift and provide an essential alternative income. Ecotourism could act as a catalyst to mitigate the community setbacks and to assure economic justification to the communities living around protected and natural areas and cultural sites in the Asia-Pacific Region’ said Palitha Gurusinghe, the Chairperson of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation.
The event will be the first ever Regional Conference to be held in Sri Lanka on Sustainable Tourism which will go down well in the annals of the tourism history of Sri Lanka
This will help to promote and position Sri Lanka as an attractive destination for ‘Nature, Adventure and Ecotourism’, Promote vibrant nature and adventure tourism sites and attractions in Sri Lanka in comparison to the other countries of the Region.
- Build up a strong marketing hub for Sri Lanka’s Nature, Adventure and Ecotourism business
- The great opportunity of establishing a ‘Research, Education and Training Institute for Sustainable Tourism for the Asia-Pacific Region’ based in Sri Lanka, which will help boost the image of Sri Lanka as an Academic Hub in Researches such as devising and promoting Green Certification /Accreditation Programmes, Eco Labelling, Training of Eco Guides and Interpreters for the Region, and supporting academic fraternity in the Region financially in learning and researching of Sustainable Tourism
- To dispel the adverse image painted by international organizations and international media on Sri Lanka and place the country on a sound marketing platform.
- To promote Sri Lanka as a ‘safe destination’ among the international community
- At a time of Global Financial Crisis, economic recession and travel adversaries (to Sri Lanka) the country has the opportunity to show its resilience by hosting APREC 2009 successfully.
The thrust of APREC is to promote a pragmatic pathway to strengthen Community Based Ecotourism (CBE) in the Asia Pacific Region and to increase competitiveness of CBE products and services with special emphasis on ‘pro- poor’ tourism concept. If communities are to fulfil their role as key custodians of natural resources and derive economic and social benefits from Ecotourism, they have to be incorporated into the planning process. The conference and its follow up activities will definitely go a long way in enhancing the pro-poor tourism concept.
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SLEF, the host organization of APREC seeks a wide spectrum of stakeholder representation from those actively engaged in ecotourism and related fields to persons from professional backgrounds such as academics and consultants. The plenary sessions and workshops will be a two way street enabling the participants to voice their views and make their contributions just as much enriching themselves from the experience and the exposure of the Resource Persons from the Region.
Another important Objective of APREC is to formulate a ‘Research, Education and Training Institute for Sustainable Tourism for the Asia-Pacific Region’ which will help boost the image of Sri Lanka as an Academic Hub in Researches on Sustainable Tourism. Once this Research Institute is established, we do hope to work hand in hand with Universities and other Higher Education Institutes of Sri Lanka and the Asia Pacific Region. Through this Institute we hope to introduce diverse Research and academic programs which will eventually benefit in widening the horizons of academic fraternity of the Region.
The proposed Institute would initiate programmes such as devising and promoting of Green Certification /Accreditation Programmes, Eco Labelling, training of Eco Guides and Interpreters for the tourism industry, and arranging funding support for academic fraternity in the Region in learning and researching of Sustainable Tourism.
The Registration of Sri Lanka Participants and Speakers is now open. Please email to sleco@sltnet.lk or log in to the conference web site; www.aprec2009.com / www.ecotourism-srilanka.com and click on ‘Conference Brochure’ for more information.
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