2019.12.10

Collaborated event with Tourism Authority of Thailand at school festival

              School festival “Otemon World Expo ~Design Local Community Culture~” was held at Otemon Gakuin University Sojiji campus on November 2nd and 3rd, 2019.  Under the theme of “Osaka World Expo” and “SDGs”, all booths and events were related to SDGs.  In the festival, an event “Thai Experience” collaborated with Tourism Authority of Thailand Osaka was organized by International Studies Division.  

              The event was based on the outcomes of an international program called “International Cooperation Program in Thailand”, and it’s corresponded to SDGs’ goal 8.9 “By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”.

              International Cooperation Program in Thailand is a community engaged program to develop students’ problem-solving ability by contributing to a developing country with the focus on “international cooperation” and “business” in Thai intercultural circumstances.  Khon Kaen located in northeastern Thailand, where is the place for the program, has been developing as a hub city for ASEAN region in recent years and it longs for increasing inbounds along with the development of the city.   Meanwhile, Khon Kaen faces a problem that the city lacks the attractive tourism resources, comparing to other main tourism destinations in Thailand.  In order to resolve the needs and problems of Khon Kaen, participants of the program research possible tourism resources, discuss with students of Khon Kaen University, and develop tour plans through experiencing homestay and farmstay.

              Through the event for two days, over 300 visitors experienced traditional culture of Khon Kaen and students who organized the event committed to encouraging global citizenship of visitors.