Taiwan has won the right to host the 2022 World Indigenous Tourism Summit, the Council of Indigenous Peoples said on Thursday after signing a memorandum of understanding with the organizers earlier in the day.
Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said at the ceremony that the nation has 16 recognized Aboriginal peoples, who host unique festivals almost every month of the year, and the festivities were a huge selling point and ultimately helped the nation win the bid to host the biennial summit.
“We hope the summit will help lift the international profile of Taiwan and its Aborigines, and provide an opportunity for us to learn from other nations that have greater experience in indigenous tourism,” Icyang said.
Taiwan only began focusing on indigenous tourism in 2015, the council said.
Benny Sherman, chairman of the leadership council of the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance, which organizes the summit, said that he gained a favorable impression of Taiwan after spending just one week in the nation.
Sherman said that he also participated in the International Indigenous Economic Development Forum and visited several Aboriginal townships, where he was treated to delicious food.
During his week-long stay, he was reassured that the decision to award Taiwan the right to host the summit was fully justified, Sherman said.
After participating in last year’s summit in Waitangi, New Zealand, the council in January applied to host the 2022 event and Taiwan won the right in April, it said.
The biennial event, first held in Canada in 2016, attracted about 250 delegates from 12 nations last year.
It aims to bring together indigenous tourism operators and leaders of Aboriginal groups to discuss economic, environmental, social and political advances, and challenges in indigenous tourism, the alliance said.
The third edition of the summit is to be held in Perth, Australia, from April 5 to April 9 next year.
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