A Study on the sustainable improvement of Korea-ASEAN tourism cooperations: focus on the training and education programs
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Park Hyo-Yeun , Jo Hannah , Kim Bong-Seok , Kim Dae-Kwan 
Published: June 2018

ASEAN is one of the most important partner in investment and trade with Korea. Especially, ASEAN is a new emerging market in tourism. Korea-ASEAN tourism exchange will be expanded and relationship will be strengthened. To expand effectiveness of international tourism cooperation between Korea and ASEAN countries, tourism education and training program should be emphasized and operated to improve capacity of human resource in ASEAN countries.
The purpose this study was to determine ways for sustainable improvement of Korea-ASEAN tourism cooperation, especially focusing on the training and education programs. Detailed objectives were; 1) to understand international cooperation in tourism field; 2) to identify overall status, conditions, issues, and features relating to the tourism cooperation between Korea and ASEAN; 3) to determine demands of ASEAN countries on tourism training and education programs through inquiries; 4) to identify the status and issues of tourism cooperation which were made through various channels and best practice relating to the tourism training and education programs through in-depth interviews to the specialists in the fields of tourism, international relations, cooperations, and ASEAN.
It was found that tourism related training and education cooperation programs which have been conducting were mostly sufficient to achieve their goals to alleviate recipient countries’ poverty. However, the scales of those programs were small and the frequencies were significantly lower. In the operating aspects, it was verified that those programs were not comply with the new direction of international cooperation which should reflect government’s international cooperation policies, respond to the participating countries’ demands and their needs, and administer program achievements or fruits.
A survey with a total of 38 employees in tourism related businesses in six countries of ASEAN countries was conducted. They prefer field oriented and practice based training and education programs which can be applied in their home countries, and can strengthen their personal empowerment. They also emphasized that accommodation facilities and careful concerning on cultural differences are very important factors in training and education conditions.
In-depth interviews were also conducted with 8 experts in the fields of international cooperation, tourism training and education, international relations, and ASEAN. They mentioned that it is very required to sustainable improve of tourism training and education programs. Those are establishing identification through program branding, managing instructors’ pool, developing and operating the programs based upon consumers’ needs, operating post-programs, maintaining expertise, and so on.
This study is a kind of pilot study to deal with tourism training and education cooperation programs for ASEAN countries which expect to further expansion expecially in tourism fields.
The results of this study could provide basic data and information for further researches on structuring international tourism cooperation and tourism training and education cooperation programs for ASEAN countries and other developing countries, and could contribute to develop and expand researches on international tourism cooperation models.