The World Travel & Tourism Council’s Asia Summit kicked off its inaugural year by hosting its first gathering at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Tuesday. The WTTC works to raise awareness of tourism and travel as one of the world’s largest industries, generating nine percent of the world’s GDP.

“This dynamic and vibrant city is known for its advancing technology,” said WTTC Chairmen Michael Frenzel. “It is the 11th ranking and fastest growing tourist economy in the world ... so it is only fitting that we hold our opening summit here.”

David Scowsil, president and CEO of WTTC, stated that in the past four years, members of the WTTC have been signaling that Asia is going to be the next big thing in the travel industry.

“This country has been staying ahead of tomorrow since longer than we can remember,” said Scowsil. “We forecast that Asia’s travel economy will expand more than six percent every year. This is faster than anywhere is the world.”

Under the theme of “Staying ahead of tomorrow,” the two-day summit has invited a number of distinguished guests including this year’s keynote speaker Tony Blair, former ten-year U.K. prime minister, to speak about the importance that travel and tourism have on the global economy.

“To say first of all, I’m a happy tourist,” said Blair. “In the work that I do, I see the enormous importance of tourism to the way a country functions today. Important of course, for jobs and opportunity; so the more tourism, the better.”

The former prime minister’s main claim for the importance of promoting the continued increase in tourism is that it is one of the most profitable and reliable keys for economic growth and expansion. Tourism is thought to create more job opportunities as well as reduce the extremes of global inequality.

“The East and West economies must come together,” said Blair. “Globalization is changing the world fast, technology is transforming the world.”

“Power is shifting East, and it’s shifting fast; and it’s shifting even in the realm of tourism,” he went on to explain. “In a world that’s interdependent, in my view, it’s the connected people who are the ones that win.”

Blair went on to state that one of the positive and effective gains from travel is education and knowledge. Tourism can be used as a key function in breaking down the barriers to people’s close-mindedness and lack of understanding of another’s culture, history and religion, which is “crucial for our children’s future.”

“The future belongs to the open-minded,” said Blair. “We need to know about each other, because it is ignorance that breeds fear and fear that breeds conflict; and it is knowledge that opens our minds to others.”

“And that’s why travel and tourism are not just important for enjoyment and for business. People visiting other countries and other cultures, gives them a chance to explore ... to think not just about their identity but about our own.”

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)