The world’s largest tourism organization will hold its world congress in Korea for the first time, its organizing committee said on Tuesday.

The gathering of tourism professionals is scheduled to be held Oct.2-7 in Seoul and Incheon this year.

“The event will be a great opportunity for Korea to promote itself as a major tourist destination to tourism experts. It means more as this year marks the last year of the travel campaign ‘Visit Korea 2010-2012,’ which expects to reach the goal of attracting 10 million foreign tourists,” said Robert Sohn, chairman for the 2012 Skal World Congress organizing committee.

The 73rd World Congress is expected to draw more than 1,500 members of the organization to Korea and generate economic benefits of 4.5 billion won ($3.8 million), including accommodation, travel and shopping expenses.

Korea is the fourth nation in Asia to host the event after Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.

According to Sohn, the event will have a positive impact on developing Korean tourism programs and their promotion in the global market in the long term.

Established in 1934, Skal International is a non-profit organization, which consists of 500 clubs with 20,000 members in 90 countries.

Korea has clubs in Seoul and Incheon, founded in 1969 and 2010, respectively.

The members consist of officials and experts from airlines, state tourism boards, private travel agencies and related organizations. The membership enables its members to build networks and get the latest updates on the tourism industry by attending trade shows and meetings.

In recent years, the organization has been focusing on eco-tourism aimed at developing tourism along with environment protection and raising young tourism experts.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)