COSTA 2014 - The Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality in Asia

The unprecedented boom in tourism these days is well documented, with over 1 billion international travellers in 2012, accounting for over 9% of the world GDP, and numbers expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2020. Asia, too, has prospered from this trend with Bangkok claiming the coveted title of the most visited city in 2013. These staggering numbers, coupled with the economic benefits associated with them, often overshadow the inherent conflict between the needs of conservation management and tourism. The key to reconciling the differences resides in sustainable tourism, defined by the UN as “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.” Viewed in the past as an ‘alternative’ or ‘fringe’ form of tourism, today it is widely accepted and plays an integral role in generating a green economy.
Conventional tourism, especially in developing countries, is more vulnerable to the industry’s adverse effects from environmental risks like compromised ecosystems to socio-cultural conflicts arising from failure to respect, communicate and include local communities in the planning and benefit sharing. Sustainable tourism, on the other hand, reshapes the landscape by prioritizing the inextricable link between the welfare of people and the preservation of our natural and cultural heritage.
The transition to sustainable tourism challenges all participants to respect host communities’ socio-cultural diversity, fairly distribute the socio-economic benefits between all stakeholders, and optimize the use of environmental resources, among others. Hiroshima, Japan, the City of Peace, is proud to host the 2014 inaugural Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality in Asia.
The three-day international, peer-reviewed conference will provide an interdisciplinary platform for academics, researchers, policy makers, activists, students and professionals. With the theme of Sustainable Tourism: Shaping the Future, the conference will examine and promote a critical understanding of sustainable tourism and hospitality.
The aim of the conference is to foster greater communication and collaboration between scientists, practitioners and policy makers in seeking innovative and pragmatic approaches to sustainable tourism and hospitality. Registered participants with an accepted abstract and/or refereed full paper will be published in the Proceedings (ISSN 2188-6903).
As the fields of sustainable business, tourism and hospitality cross over into multiple areas and disciplines, authors are welcome to submit from a range of topics, perspectives, and disciplines. The range of research submissions may include conceptual, empirical, experimental, and case studies:
Adventure Travel
Agritourism and Culinary Tourism
Climate Change
Crisis Management
CSR
Cultural, Heritage and Dark Tourism
Culinary Arts
Customer Service and Guest Relations
Destination Branding and Promotion
e-Tourism, ICT and Travel Technology
Eco-Friendly Destinations and Attractions
Eco-Friendly Hotel Operations
Ecotourism and Geotourism
Event Management
Food Safety, Quality and Innovations
Food Service and Catering
Gastronomy and Wine Tourism
Green Aircraft and Airlines
Health, Wellness and Medical Tourism
Hotel and Hospitality Management
Indigenous Tourism
Jungle Tourism
Marine And Coastal Areas Tourism
Public Relations
Quality Assurance
Reservations and Sales
Safety and Security
Services Branding
Sports and Special Event Tourism
Theme Parks, Casinos and Resorts
Tourism Accounting and Finance
Tourism Education and Training
Tourism Human Resource Management
Tourism Policy, Planning and Development
Tourism Products and Consumer Behavior
Travel & Transportation
Urban and Rural Tourism
Wine Industry and Education